January 1977 - Modern Drummer - Buddy Rich

The club was filled; filled w i t h people of a l l ages, and lots of young wideeyed drummers, there for a glimpse of the l i v i n g legend called Buddy R i c h . MD met up with Buddy and his youthful band at a club in St. Louis. E n t e r - ing informally through the front door, he watched as t h e road crew set up; he signed some autographs and shook some hands. His performance, as usual was flawless.

Colossal technique combined with total control and dynamic propelling drive.

His playing, always alive with i m a g i n a t i o n and humor, was colored w i t h fiery fills and subtle nuances, never losing his i n s t i n c t i v e s e n s i t i v i t y , good taste, and t o t a l musicality. The left hand, always active, interacting with astonishing bass drum work, always in motion, swinging and exciting, executing r h y t h m i c figures t h a t leave the listener wondering if his ears and eyes might be playing tricks on him. That's impossible; nobody can do t h a t ; nobody can do what he does, and y e t , you know he's done i t . To say t h a t Buddy Rich is a phenomenon in the world of drumming is an understatement. In terms of total technical mastery of the instrument, it's probably fair to say t h a t no one has yet come any closer.

It is doubtful that there has ever been a single musician anywhere spark a band the way he does.

who can

W h e n it comes to interviewing Buddy, one must learn to expect the unexpected. You can end up with a first rate story, or no story at all. He's a very intense human being, with beliefs as strong as his hands. He can, at limes be curt, intimidating, cutting if necessary - e s p e c i a l l y if he senses any kind of insincerity. At other times, something will h i t a soft spot and he is c a p a b l e of elabo r a t i n g in t h e most calm and l i t e r a t e manner.

He has some very d e f i n i t e opinions, perhaps controversial. He's outspoken and filled with self-confidence. There is no denying i t ; Buddy speaks the way he feels, no editing; t o t a l honesty at all times. But beneath t h a t tough exterior, one will find a man who's deeply concerned about the state of music and drumming t o d a y . He is well aware of what's going on and he's not always t h r i l l e d w i t h what he sees and hears. He has little patience with bad musicians and bad music. Aloof? U n f r i e n d l y ? Not really. The man made time between shows, to sit with members of a young and r e l a t i v e l y unknown magazine staff to discuss music, drums, and drumming.

Sorry folks, we don't call that aloof or unfriendly. R e l a x e d , in his dressing room, MD was greeted by a most cordial and recept i v e Buddy R i c h . We l a t e r found a line from a piece on Buddy by big band critic George Simon a few years back. It seemed to capture the essence of the man we found. "To some, he is cocky, sometimes overbearing, at times unnecessarily arrogant. They only have the outward, extroverted exhuberance to go by. Calm Buddy down, show him that he doesn't have to spark every gathering the way he sparks every bunch of playing musicians and you've got one of the warmest, most ever met."

sensitive gents you've

MD - Where are you originally from? BR - Brooklyn. MD - Is it true t h a t your parents were in vaudeville and that you were a pretty good tap dancer when you were young? BR

Yes, that's right, I used to be. MD - What about your formal background. Have you ever taken a lesson or been to a music school? No, I've never taken a lesson. As far as music school goes, I walked through Berkeley one time to visit with some people I know. MD - Do you remember the first set of drums you ever had? BR

Well, I've seen pictures of one of the first sets of drums I had. When I first started playing, they weren't making tunable tom-toms, they weren't making sets like they do now. MD - When you were travelling with your parents and they sat you in the orchestra pit, did you always take an interest in drums first?

Yeah. MD - Did you practice much? BR

Well, I never really practiced because I never had the opportunity to practice.

I've been working all my life

I've been playing drums all my life, and now, I'm too lazy to bother with it. I have other things that I have to do - practice my martial arts ... take care of my cars. I don't put too much emphasis on practice anyhow. MD - Would you mind elaborating on that a bit. BR

I think it's a fallacy that the harder you practice the better you get. You only get better by playing. You could sit around in a room, in a basement with a set of drums all day long and practice rudiments, and try to develop speed, but until you start playing with a band, you can't learn technique, you can't learn taste, you can't learn how to play with a band and for a band until you actually play. So, practice, particularly after you've attained a job, any kind of job, like playing with a four piece band, that's . . . on opportunity to develop. And practice, besides that, is boring. You know, I know teachers who tell their students to practice four hours a day, eight hours a day. If you can't accomplish what you want in an hour, you're not gonna get it in four days. MD

You were good friends with the l a t e Gene Krupa, weren't you? BR mine.

Yes, he was a very good friend of MD - Do you consider him an influence? BR

I consider every drummer that ever played before me an influence, in every way.

There were so many individual styles thirty or forty years ago. Every drummer that had a name, had a name because of his individual playing. He didn't sound like anybody else. So everybody that I ever listened to, in some form, influenced my taste. MD - Was there any one person who really influenced your style? Any certain kind of music? BR

Yeah, I think probably Goodman, and the Casaloma band were my first two influences in jazz. And, well of course. Count Basie, and I think all of the black bands of the late thirties and early forties, bands with real players. They had an influence on everybody, not just drummers.

They had an influence on the entire world of jazz. There were so many creative artists, so totally different from one another. MD

Did you like the music you were playing with the big bands of thirty years ago better than you do now? BR

I think I liked everything I ever played. I mean, I think I liked every band I ever played in because each band (continued on following page)