Drummers and music lovers rejoice. Here is the complete Buddy Rich with the Boston Pops; May 15, 1981. Strike Up the Band AND the entire West Side Story medley. Enjoy and you are very welcome. RIP to the greatest drummer ever.
This concert was a private, closed to the public concert taping. The audience were graduating students of Berklee College of Music May 16, 1981, and their parents and families. As part of the graduating class, we were invited to the taping, sometime during the day of the 15th. There were several takes of each tune and because the house was not full, they moved groups of us around the hall during pauses in the taping so that cameras could catch the audience shots. What a thrill to know this video exists and I was there and would be graduating from Berklee the next day! Larry James, Berklee College of Music 1981
My favorite part of this magnificent recording, is when the camera catches genius composer and conductor John Williams shaking his head in utter amazement at what he's witnessing on the drums. 16:30
when Buddy Rich performed, he did look like he was fighting a battle to win..and all his thousand of shows were like that , the energy he brought to the stages was absorbed by the audiences
Una Grande Orchestra da Colonna Sonora da Film, il Direttore Spettacolare. Buddy Ha Suonato TUTTI GENERI MUSICALI, TALENTO JAZZISTICO FENOMENALE PER SEMPRE !!! Non legge nessuna partitura tutto a memoria !!! GENIO !
Great seeing the old Boston Pops percussion section again. Fred Buda on drum set, Tom Gauger on snare drum, Charlie Smith on mallets, Frank Epstein on cymbals, and Arthur Press on timpani. Weird seeing Arthur with that beard!
When this was first on TV, I had seen BR a couple of times in person, and I was really struck by the adjustments in style he made to fit in with the orchestra. When he hit that first break (1:39), I was totally blown away by the perfect taste of it. All that build up from the orchestra, over to time on the hi-hat, then the loud CRACK of the snare drum on beat one of the fourth bar. So simple and tasteful. I still love that fill!
Buddy as featured performer, and Buddy as bandleader were very different from one another. Leading his own band, Buddy was In Charge, but playing under another leader as he does here, he takes direction as faithfully as any other member of the ensemble. Not only a great musician, but a great team player.
I LOVE TOO BOTH GREAT DRUMMER AND STUPENDOUS MAESTRO AND CONDUCTOR;BUDDY CERTAINLY A VERY BEST DRUMMER OF THE WORLD.REST IN PEACE NOW HE PLAYS FOR GOD IN PARADISE
Loved this...Buddy is absolutely a team player here...and if he played a better West Side Story the first time with gum...boo hoo...I hope it becomes available...but I absolutely loved it when Buddy dropped his right hand and flew with his left stick around the drum kit for a moment...simply death defying I must say !!! Look for it at the very last chapter of his solo coming to a close...and I once worked inside sales for HAL LEONARD Corporation and got to take a order from John Williams himself one day around early 2001...
Many would disagree that Rich was "the greatest" jazz drummer, however Williams was certainly the greatest film composer. And the difference between Williams and Rich in general? Williams was a true gentleman, and always humble about his success. Rich on the other hand was an arrogant abusive upstart, who only cared about himself. A selfish arsehole. Great drummer, but when your personal demeanor and rudeness, including unfounded criticism of others in your peer group keep getting blabbed out all the time, people soon lose respect for you, no matter how great you are.
@@125sloth The thing is, Buddy was only harsh with his band members. He expected nothing less than the best from them. But as far as I know, he was always kind, considerate and caring towards everyone else.
@@hoozerob All respect to you, and I know many people will share your views, however we will have to agree to disagree on the "caring " thing and that's ok.
I LOVE the sound of that Ludwig Bronze Super Sensitive S.D. Saw one up on EBAY about 8 yrs. ago. Didn't bid on it. Haven't seen another one come up since. 😡😡
Great Example here how Buddy Rich the drummers drummer could adapt to any setting. Here we have a tremendous Boston Pops Symphony and Buddy is driving all of these musicians like a Pilot Driving a Huge Jet Airplane. Buddy always said this and I respect his statement. A drummer is a Drummer. A drummer must be able to play all types of music and play behind any type of a musical group. Here he plays his Dynamite Energetic Drumming to a TEE with the Boston Pops. Buddy also said this in Downbeat and in Modern Drummer. No such thing as I am a Heavy Metal Drummer. I am a Country Western Drummer I am a Rap Drummer and I am a Latin Salsa Drummer A Drummer is a Drummer and he or she must be able to play all styles of music and all types of musical groups. Buddy proves himself here admirably playing with the Huge Boston Pops Orchestra. Enough Said.
The glory of the Boston Pops orchestra and John Williams driven by the prodigious talent of a superman drummer, the greatest ever. Makes me believe there has to be a far better hereafter.
I did not know about a first take disallowed due to gum chewing The tumultuous applause here seems to indicate that the 2nd take was as good as the first
Its clear that John Williams really liked Buddy Rich, and that Buddy was really moved by the thunderous applause. Dont know why he went back to Ludwig, though. Should have pulled out the Fibes snare, or the Rogers dynasonic, or Slingerland Radio King.
He went where the endorsement money was. If the company could provide him a playable set (in his opinion), then that was it. Obviously, traveling around the country and world was a formidable expense for him, so he had to offset that somehow.
Agreed. I saw him at Disneyland with the Luds and they looked cheap and sounded boxy. Rogers, Slingerland Radio Kings were much better. Buddy once said he would play on anything-"it's the drummer not the drums".
george nolte In 1967 Buddy played Trixon/Vox and Fibes...all in one year. In January 1983 he played DW for one month only....something they don’t talk about much, as he did not like them. He went back to his favourite Slingerland Radio Kings, after his heart attack in 1987..after the DWs.
I'll tell you why he went back to Ludwig's. " Suffice to say their better". QUOTE FROM BUDDY TO ME! LOL. True story. I saw him several times. This was st Water Tower Place, Chicago. During the break Buddy was out in the hall/ bridge ares over looking like the foyer frlm above as I remember. He was alone having a smoke. As I approched ,I asked, ...Hi, I was wondering why you switched to Ludwig's? ..... see quote sbove. I knda got the vibe hes been asked before and no I dont really believe the reason. I felt we got off to a bad start so I basically oh ok and left with my tall between my legs. LOL. I guess, it was the endorcement cash. Every other time I saw him he played Slingerland. ....
@@larrysmith6797 Not this arrangement. This is straight from the Leonard Bernstein's composition for the movie/stage play. Certainly nothing like the jazz version Buddy played in concert.
@@erzug You're correct on that, Buddy had several arrangements of WSS for his band, and it grew shorter over the years. But this one was entirely unique to this performance as far as I know, and likely arranged by John WIlliams.
Buddy’s West Side story was written by Bill Reddie in 1966. It had a number of places where he could cut in and out and he would vary them from year to year and even night to night. This version was arranged by Tommy Newsom of Doc Severinsen’s NBC Orchestra. It was written specifically for this event, although Buddy later played it with other pops orchestras around the country.
How did you do the speed correction? This is the first time I've heard this without the wow and flutter. Thank you. The press roll with modulated pitch did sound so cool though...if somebody could actually play that (like Art Tatum and the piano roll...)
Good to see the complete version of Buddy's appearance on the Boston Pops. To me this was not one of Buddy's better solo's and there is supposed to be a reason for that. Does anybody know the true story of what happened that night. I've heard that Buddy was chewing gum and they had to re-start the show and asked him to get rid of the gum, all of which did not make Buddy happy at all. I don't know if any of this is true but someone posted this awhile back on youtube but without any real specifics of what happened. Louie Bellson had a really nice appearance on the Boston Pops several years before .
erzug: I agree, i saw him many times and on youtube also and never saw any gum chewing either., but this is coming from someone else who said it on a youtube comment. Hopefully that person will comment once again and maybe we can get the truth, the story seemed pretty far fetched to me, Steve.
Here's the story on the Pops concert - - - Buddy chewed gum a lot, often during a gig. The big solo seen here on WSS is actually the 2nd take. B was chewing gum and the powers that be at PBS told him it was unacceptable, and they filmed WSS again. It is said that his first solo, with the gum, was mind boggling. This take of WSS is the second take. B was not happy about being "asked' to ditch the gum and do a second take of WSS.
Thanks for the clarification on the Boston Pops situation, would have loved to see that first take, the second one is very good but iv'e seen him do much better. Since Buddy did not read music i wonder how they handled his appearances with symphony orchestras, did he listen to the chart first like he did with his own band on new material, having the pops drummer play what's been written.
Am I mistaken or is that Geena Davis in the audience at 3:35...sitting on the right of the table of women and wearing a blue dress with white print? She could be her twin if not...
the one thing I get is that John Willliams really liked Buddy Rich Williams wrote film scores in Hollywood. hes a big deal and he was overcome by Buddy's talent Bufddys syncopated military style was a perfect match for a classical orchestra. A bebop drummer wouldn't have worked.
Ain't gonna happen, Millennial. 1981 gig recorded off broadcast television on a consumer VCR. Go find some nice HD compressed mp3s to play on your iPhone and ear buds.
Believe me, I saw this when it was on TV for the first time. I videotaped it and recorded the audio to cassette and listened to it over and over. This is good as the audio was on the day of broadcast. With limited bandwidth analog signals, TV's didn't have stereo then, much less anything "HD". Even the picture was 480i! I've often thought, though, that somewhere in the Boston Pops' archives IS a higher fidelity audio recording. Wish somebody was in a position to dig it up!
His name was Wayne Pedziwater. He pioneered the slapping technique, played with Blood Sweat & Tears, tragically died from cancer before his 50th birthday. Wayne was revered in the music industry for his prodigious tecnnique on the instrument, and for being a super nice guy. RIP
