March 16, 2005

• Cool. Animal and Buddy Rich have similar styles b/c Animal was based on Keith Moon, and watching this, you can see just how much Moon was inspired by Rich- the faces while playing, the showmanship, the way he used the cymbals, etc.
• I literally stopped breathing while watching that.
• That's a great drumming site. Much thanks for the link!
• Awesome!
• Moochas Grassyass para el linko.
• Great clip! I saw that when it first aired, and only recently saw Mick Fleetwood on video. I thought the facial resemblances were hilarious! Can't speak for the style, though.
• Fantastic. A friend of mine showed me a video of this a while back, and I've been jonesing for it since. Rock on. )))
• Geez I remember seeing this years ago but not being so impressed as now that I'm older and wiser and have played with some bad drummers!
• Next I'd like to see Animal go against Frank Rich in arts & culture criticism.
• Nice. Cheers to you, Cults.
• best 10 megs i've spent in weeks. A+!
• I knew muppets were good.
• What I think of when I think Buddy Rich. (I can't find the original tapes, but they're worth it, especially the one about the beard).
• Nice. I miss the Muppet Show.
• Holy Moley! )))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
• RAWK!!!!!!!!
• js is right, Buddy Rich was a colossal asshole.
• Sure he was an asshole, but damn! What awesome chops.
• Yeah, but so white. Tony Williams. Dennis Chambers. Billy Higgins. Ed Blackwell. Andrew Cyrille. Elvin Jones.
• oh, come on, Wolof! django reinhardt, bix beiderbecke, glenn miller, benny goodman, dave brubeck, chet baker, stan getz. White guys have, and will stand tall in jazz - even if they are arseholes - because jazz also values musicianship, skill, and passion. Jazz is important because of its black history, and because of white people who played and toured and promoted and did a thousand things that segregation prevented black people from doing in those hard years. And they won - the black and the white - small victories at first then bigger and better. And if the ability of a black person and a white person to stand together on stage and make incredible music and the colour of their skin doesn't matter a bit ain't the greatest thing about jazz, then maybe i'll just have to go back and listen to the music! (what a shame!)
• I can play drums like that. 's'easy.
• They say Animal was really hard to work with too, always destroying dressing rooms, scaring the crew. Had to have a permanent handler, to nake sure he got his naptime. But, of course, that was before he found God and left showbusiness to play bongos in a gospel choir in Chedabucto.
• I remember that clip from when it aired. I thought it ended with Animal throwing his drum kit at Rich.
• Very impressive. Gawd, I miss The Muppet Show.
• Bang on.
• And if the ability of a black person and a white person to stand together on stage and make incredible music and the colour of their skin doesn't matter a bit ain't the greatest thing about jazz, then maybe i'll just have to go back and listen to the music! I don't know about this. When someone says a player "sounds white" or "sounds black," a lot of folks know exactly what that someone means. You're right: It's not about whether the player is black or white. But it is about what the player sounds like, and "sounds white" or "sounds black" can be a quite effective way of describing the player's sound.
• From this month's Mental Floss: (Frank Oz did the voice, but not the drumming) "For that, Henson hired Britain's leading big-band drummer, Ronnie Verrell. Ironically, it was Verrell's turn as the 'WO-man' crazy Animal that would finally allow him to collaborate with drummer/idol Buddy Rich." It's only March but I think we have the post of the year here. Someone go get the Oscar back from wendell.
• When someone says a player "sounds white" or "sounds black," a lot of folks know exactly what that someone means. Thank you, Hawthorne.
• warning: jazz history rant and an excess of Wikipedia links Wolof's list was specifically black drummers (most or all of whom came after Rich, I believe). I still think they were influenced by Buddy's sound. The key thing is that during the '30s and '40s, the drums developed into a soloist role instead of just keeping time, in no small part thanks to Rich. He also wasn't the only asshole from the swing era. Benny Goodman, for instance, gets ragged on for 1) using Fletcher Henderson's (black) arrangements in a white and therefore marketable band, and 2) being an unmitigated perfectionist asshole. None of that obscures Goodman's talent, nor can it diminish the numerous, excellent collaborations he made with black musicians. Speaking of important black drummers, no list would be complete without Max Roach, possibly Kenny Clarke. They practically invented bebop drumming, and are perhaps intermediaries between Rich's sound and the hard-boppers.
• If you're that good (and let's face it, Rich was very good) you can throw asshole tantrums all you want. To be honest I've worked in the entertainment biz for 20 years, & I've heard much worse from far less talented people, usually those who were running a business or had their names on the bill. The Rich tapes are classic, though. He was a control freak, & they are terrible to work for. However, if the band played badly, none of them would be remembered for it. People in the biz might say, though, 'hey you heard Buddy Rich orchestra at Vegas? Man, they played like shit'. When you work with people like Sinatra on a regular basis, you have a very high level of work to live up to. As for the beard thing.. the band leader decides what the band looks like. Rich wasn't a particularly diplomatic person. Big talent doesn't forgive being an asshole, but we're talking about commerce, not hospitality.
• I don't have any BR albums, but somehow I came across his version of "Pick Up the Pieces" and was just floored by the sound he got out of the kit. Way, way, way beyond what I normally hear any kit sound like. Animal rules too. How much more should your Id control you? AAAhhhhaaaaaa!!