- Buddy Rich
Infobox musical artist
Name = Buddy Rich
Img_capt =
Img_size =
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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Bernard Rich
Alias = Traps the Drum Wonder
Born = birth date|1917|9|30|mf=y
Died = death date and age|1987|4|2|1917|9|30|mf=y
Origin =Brooklyn ,New York
Instrument = drums and percussion
Genre =Jazz ,Big band
Occupation = Musician, songwriter, bandleader
Years_active = 1919–1987
Label =
Associated_acts =Joe Marsala Bunny Berigan Artie Shaw Tommy Dorsey Benny Carter Harry James
Les BrownCharlie Ventura Jazz at the Philharmonic Nat King Cole Ella Fitzgerald Gene Krupa andLouis Armstrong
URL = http://www.buddyrich.com/
Notable_instruments =Bernard "Buddy" Rich (
September 30 1917 –April 2 1987 ) was an American jazz drummer andbandleader . Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" [Yanow, Scott. "Buddy Rich", "All Music Guide" ( [http://wm03.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifqxqy5ld0e link] ) Accessed 2007 August 31] and was known for his virtuoso technique, power, and speed.Early life
Rich was born in
Brooklyn ,New York to vaudevillians Robert and Bess Rich. [Harrison, Joyce. "Buddy Rich Biography", "musicianguide.com", [http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608000243/Buddy-Rich.html link] Accessed 2007 December 3] His talent for rhythm was first noted by his father, who saw that Buddy could keep a steady beat with spoons at the age of one. He began playing drums invaudeville when he was 18 months old, billed as "Traps the Drum Wonder." At the peak of Rich's childhood career, he was reportedly the second-highest paid child entertainer in the world (afterJackie Coogan ). At 11 he was performing as a bandleader. He received no formal drum instruction, and went so far as to claim that instruction would only degrade his musical talent. He also never admitted to practicing, claiming to play the drums only during performances. He expressed great admiration for, and was influenced by, the playing ofChick Webb ,Gene Krupa ,Dave Tough , andJo Jones , among others.He first played jazz in 1937 with
Joe Marsala 's group, then played withBunny Berigan (1938) andArtie Shaw (1939). In 1939, Rich taught drums to the youngMel Brooks , and persuaded Artie Shaw to allow a 13-year-old Brooks to attend Shaw's recording sessions in Manhattan.Big band success and later life
In addition to
Tommy Dorsey (1939–1942, 1945, 1954–1955), where Rich met and performed withFrank Sinatra , Rich also played withBenny Carter (1942),Harry James (1953-1956–1962, 1964, 1965), Les Brown,Charlie Ventura , andJazz at the Philharmonic , as well as leading his own band and performing with all-star groups. In October 1944, at theParamount Theater Rich mentioned to Sinatra that he was interested in starting his own band. Sinatra wrote him a check for $40,000 and said "Good Luck. This'll get you started."Fact|date=August 2007For most of the period from 1966 until his death, he led a successful
big band in an era when the popularity of big bands had waned from their 1930s and 40s peak. Rich also served as the session drummer for many recordings, where his playing was often much more understated than in his own big-band performances. Especially notable were Rich's sessions for the late-career comeback recordings ofElla Fitzgerald andLouis Armstrong , on which he worked with pianistOscar Peterson and his famous trio featuring bassist Ray Brown and guitaristHerb Ellis . Beginning in 1962, Rich was also a frequent guest onJohnny Carson 's "Tonight Show ".Rich continued to play clubs including a high power appearance at the Cellar Door in Georgetown in Washington,D.C. in 1972, in which patrons were treated to Rich's power and dynamics in a small club environment. One of his most seen television performances was in a 1978 episode [http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_522:_Buddy_Rich] of
The Muppet Show , where he engaged Muppet drummer "Animal" (played byRonnie Verrell ) in a drum battle. Rich won handily, infuriating Animal so much that he broke a drum over Rich's head.Drumming technique
Rich's technique has been one of the most standardized and coveted in drumming. His dexterity, speed and smooth execution are considered "holy grails" of drum technique. While Rich typically held his sticks using
traditional grip , he was also a skilled "match grip " player, and was one of few drummers to master the one-handed roll on both hands. Some of his more spectacular moves are crossover riffs, where he would criss-cross his arms from one drum to another, sometimes over the arm, and even under the arm at great speed.He often used contrasting techniques to keep long drum solos from getting mundane. Aside from his energetic explosive displays, he would go into quieter passages. One passage he would use in most solos starts with a simple single-stroke roll on the snare picking up speed and power, then slowly moving his sticks closer to the rim as he gets quieter and then eventually playing on just the rim itself while still maintaining speed. Then he would reverse the effect and slowly move towards the center of the snare while increasing power.
Rich also demonstrated incredible skill at brush technique. On one album, Tatum Group Masterpieces No. 3 along with
Lionel Hampton andArt Tatum , Rich plays brushes almost throughout with a mastery seldom achieved by any other drummer.Another technique that few drummers have been able to perfect is the stick-trick where he does a fast roll just by slapping his two sticks together in a circular motion.
In 1942, Rich and drum teacher
Henry Adler co-authored the instructional book "Buddy Rich's Modern Interpretation of Snare Drum Rudiments," regarded as one of the more popular snare-drum rudiment books written, mainly because of the Buddy Rich imprimatur.One of Adler's former students introduced Adler to Rich. "The kid told me Buddy played better than [Gene] Krupa. Buddy was only in his teens at the time and his friend was my first pupil. Buddy played and I watched his hands. Well, he knocked me right out. He did everything I wanted to do, and he did it with such ease. When I met his folks, I asked them who his teacher was. 'He never studied,' they told me. That made me feel very good. I realized that it was something physical, not only mental, that you had to have."
In a 1985 interviewFact|date=December 2007, Adler clarified the extent of his teacher-student relationship to Rich and their collaboration on the instructional book:
"I had nothing to do with [the rumor that I taught Buddy how to play] . That was a result of Tommy Dorsey's introduction to the Buddy Rich book," Adler said. "I used to go around denying it, knowing that Buddy was a natural player. Sure, he studied with me, but he didn't come to me to learn how to hold the drumsticks. I set out to teach Buddy to read. He'd take six lessons, go on the road for six weeks and come back. He didn't have time to practice."Fact|date=November 2007
"Tommy Dorsey wanted Buddy to write a book and he told him to get in touch with me. I did the book and Tommy wrote the foreword. Technically, I was Buddy's teacher, but I came along after he had already acquired his technique."Fact|date=December 2007
The West Side Story Medley
Perhaps his most popular later performance was a big band arrangement of a medley derived from the
Leonard Bernstein classic "West Side Story ", first released on the 1966 album "Buddy Rich's Swingin' New Big Band"The West Side Story medley is considered by many as one of the most complex and difficult-to-perform big-band arrangements written. Penned by Bill Reddie, Rich received this arrangement of
Leonard Bernstein 's melodies from the famed musical in the mid-60s and found it to be very challenging even for him. It consists of many rapid-fire time changes and signatures and took almost a month of constant rehearsals to perfect. It has since become a staple in all his performances clocking in at various lengths from seven to fifteen minutes. Bernstein himself has had nothing but praise for it.Fact|date=July 2007 In 2002, a DVD was released called "The Lost West Side Story Tapes" that captured a 1985 performance of this along with other numbers. [Bowers, Jack. "Buddy Rich: The Lost Tapes", "All About Jazz" ( [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=20044 link] ) 2005 December 9. Accessed 2007 June 27] These tapes were thought to be lost in a fire.Channel One Suite
After the West Side Story Medley, Rich's most famous performance was the Channel One Suite by Bill Reddie. Like the West Side Story Medley, the Channel One Suite generally was a quite long performance ranging from about 12 minutes to about 26 minutes and usually contained 2 or 3 drum solos. Although 26 minute performances of the Channel One Suite were not incredibly common, they were not unheard of. A recording of one of his live performances was released in 2006 which contained a 26 minute Channel One Suite. [ Channel One Suite DVD " [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372810/ Buddy Rich and His Band: Channel One Suite] " (1985) at imdb.com. Accessed 2008 June 1.]
Personality
Although Rich was usually helpful and friendly, he had a short temper. In many instances, he took advantage of the respect he commanded. While he threatened many times to fire members of his band, he seldom did so, and for the most part he lauded his band members during television and print interviews. Rich's temper, mercurial attitude and imposing personality are attested to in secret recordings members of his band made of some of tantrums on tour buses and backstage.
These recordings, long circulated in bootleg form, have done much to fuel the reputation of Rich's personality. The tapes were popular with comedians
Jerry Seinfeld andLarry David , who used three quotes from them more or less verbatim on "Seinfeld ": [cite video
people =Jerry Seinfeld (Interviewee)
year = 2005
title = Seinfeld Season 6 "Inside Looks" featurette on "The Understudy"
url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0697802/dvd
medium =DVD
publisher =Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
accessdate = 2007-06-24
time = 00:04:04]
* "If I have to tell you again, we're gonna take it outside and I'm gonna show you what it's like!" ("
The Opposite ")
* "This guy - this is not my kind of guy." ("The Understudy")
* "Then let's see how he does, up there, without all the assistance!" ("The Butter Shave ")On one recording, Rich attempts to fire
Dave Panichi , atrombonist , for wearing abeard . [Audio tape recording of Buddy Rich tirade - Transcription by Ientilucci, Emmett J. "Buddy Rich: World's Greatest Drummer, Act 4" ( [http://www.cis.rit.edu/~ejipci/buddy_rich3.htm link] ). Accessed 2007 July 20]Rich's temper was referred in the
Beastie Boys song "Sabotage": "I'm like Buddy Rich when I fly off the handle."In the early 1970s he commentedFact|date=June 2007 how odious he found the emerging American boy band,
The Osmonds , especiallyDonny Osmond . Later, he sometimes wore a Donny Osmond badge on his lapel while performing.Buddy Rich held a black belt in karate, as mentioned in a
CNN television interview withLarry King , c. 1985.Death and legacy
Buddy Rich remained active until the end of his life, appearing with his Big Band on
Michael Parkinson 's British talk show "Parkinson " only a few weeks prior to his death. In the episode, Parkinson kidded Rich about his Donny Osmond kick, by claiming that Rich was the president of Osmond's fan club. ReportedlyFact|date=June 2007, prior to heart surgery, when asked by a nurse if he was allergic to anything he replied, "Yes, Country Music!" Days before he died, he was visited byMel Tormé , who claims that one of Buddy's last requests was "to hear the tapes" that featured his angry outbursts. At the time, Tormé was working on an authorized biography of Rich which was released after Rich's death, titled "Traps, The Drum Wonder: The Life of Buddy Rich". On April 2, 1987, Rich died of heart failure following surgery for a malignant brain tumor. He is interred in theWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery inLos Angeles, California .Since Rich's death, a number of memorial concerts have been held. In 1994, the Rich tribute album "" was released. Produced by Rush drummer/lyricist
Neil Peart , the album features performances of Rich staples by a number of rock and jazz drummers such asKenny Aronoff ,Dave Weckl ,Steve Gadd ,Max Roach and Peart himself, accompanied by the Buddy Rich Big Band. A was issued in 1997.References
External links
*amg|id=11:yi0xlf0e5cqq~T1|label= Buddy Rich (Discography and brief biography)
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