Batterie Magazine Battery Magazine # 192 – Why There Will Never Be A Drummer Like Buddy Rich 35 Years Later

June 19, 2022 rognrolla Latest Drum News, Publication Comments Off

Latest Drum News

Editorial

THE GREATEST DRUMMER THAT EVER LIVED?

Today, watching live the performance of a drummer perched on a rotating platform no longer surprises many people. Tommy Lee, Joey Jordison and Travis Barker have accustomed audiences to this kind of stage feat, but imagine the amazement of viewers when they saw Buddy Rich perform his first live loop on American television 30 years earlier! Like his rival and friend Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich was the first great icon of drums, in the “popular” sense of the term. We are not just talking about a musician adored by insiders, but about a personality known to all, young, old, music lovers or not, like a television presenter or a variety star. To understand the phenomenon, you have to go back to a time when big bands reigned supreme in the world of commercial music. They are the ones that young Americans would listen to to let off steam on Saturday evenings. In these orchestras, the drummers were the David Guetta and DJ Snake of yesterday, whose beats punctuated the evenings of youth across the Atlantic. Endowed with an absolutely extraordinary swing, technique and showmanship, Buddy Rich rushed into the breach and knew how to pull out of the game like no one else.

35 years after his death, Batterie Magazine is trying to answer the following question: why will there never be a drumming superstar like Buddy Rich again?

Sebastien Benoits

NB: You may have noticed that we have been forced to increase the price of the magazine by a few cents in order to compensate for the exponential increase in the price of paper and the cost of transport in recent months. The subscription price remains unchanged. Do not hesitate to subscribe and receive gifts from our partners (RLRRLRLL, Zildjian, WeGroove). See you on pages 52-53!