Modern Drummer Buddy Rich interview

J

Jim W

Junior Member
Does any one have a copy of the January 1977 Modern Drummer interview with Buddy Rich? I have one since I did the interview and wrote the article. Just putting this out there to see what interest it might generate.
 
I have the 25 year digital archive so I'd say it's likely I have it (though not loaded currently). I also am fairly certain I had the original magazine at one time way back when.
 
I would love to read it. I would also like to hear your take on the interview and who you are as well as your relationship with the magazine.
 
Thanks for everyone's interest.

My memories of that night are very vivid, although it was 35 years ago. For some strange reason I convinced myself that I could interview Buddy, even though everyone told me that I would have zero chance. Somehow I managed to get his attention and spoke to Buddy for about 30 minutes in the dressing room after his show. I had never interviewed anyone before. I was in total awe, tongue-tied and nervous as hell. And of course Buddy was his usual friendly self, NOT! After about 10 minutes Buddy realized that I was totally over my head and not an experienced interviwer. Maybe he thought that I had balls of steel for trying to interview him, because he eventually became cordial and actually helped me through it. I was proud of the fact that I did some research before attempting this, because he seemed amazed at a few of the things I knew about him. It still amazes me to this day that it really happened. It was truly a once in a lfetime experience. I was an 18 year old kid drummer who just went for it, and managed to pull it off.

I recently listened to the cassette tape from that night - yes I taped it! The tape is in sad shape but still mostly listenable. I was considering possibly putting out the audio interview but Im not sure of the level of interest.

Anyway again thanks for everyone's interest!

Jim
 
Wow I just realized that I wasnt't 18 but 19 at the time. The magazine was published in January of 1977. I guess I've lost my basic math skills as I've aged!
 
Jim W said:
Thanks for everyone's interest.

My memories of that night are very vivid, although it was 35 years ago. For some strange reason I convinced myself that I could interview Buddy, even though everyone told me that I would have zero chance. Somehow I managed to get his attention and spoke to Buddy for about 30 minutes in the dressing room after his show. I had never interviewed anyone before. I was in total awe, tongue-tied and nervous as hell. And of course Buddy was his usual friendly self, NOT! After about 10 minutes Buddy realized that I was totally over my head and not an experienced interviwer. Maybe he thought that I had balls of steel for trying to interview him, because he eventually became cordial and actually helped me through it. I was proud of the fact that I did some research before attempting this, because he seemed amazed at a few of the things I knew about him. It still amazes me to this day that it really happened. It was truly a once in a lfetime experience. I was an 18 year old kid drummer who just went for it, and managed to pull it off.

I recently listened to the cassette tape from that night - yes I taped it! The tape is in sad shape but still mostly listenable. I was considering possibly putting out the audio interview but Im not sure of the level of interest.

Anyway again thanks for everyone's interest!

Jim
Click to expand...

Holy crap, yes, get that tape out there. This is a great story man.
 
Also, I would love to hear how you managed to be published at 18/19. I've been published in a few magazines (unrelated to drumming or music) and I was 30ish before it happened!
 
I gotta say, as much as I love his drumming, he seems so close-minded. The bit where he says practicing doesn't help, or that the only creative musician is the jazz musician. It's simply not true.
 
Talismanis said:
I gotta say, as much as I love his drumming, he seems so close-minded. The bit where he says practicing doesn't help, or that the only creative musician is the jazz musician. It's simply not true.
Click to expand...

Well, the way I read it is that practicing will only take you so far. If you don't know about music and playing in a group your chops aren't worth a damn because you still will be a poor musician. playing with others becomes necessary at a certain point while the need for technical exercises diminishes greatly if one is playing every night. Then again I go for months at a time without touching a pad and then spend 2-3 weeks beating the hell out of it and building everything up again when the next project that requires drumming comes along. The older I get the less chops I seem to loose, years of muscle memory buildup doing it's thing. As to the only creative musician being the jazz musician, well thats a common view actually and in context it's true. He's talking about musicians in symphony orchestras and the like playing every note that Beethoven wrote 200 years ago and nothing else in a concert vs jazz where improvisation is a key element in every performance. In context yes the jazz musician is the more creative musician if only by necessity.
 
Nice to re-read that article again. You got to give Buddy one thing, he is consistant. I had an opportuninty to see him play in the mid-80's. It was a show I will never forget. Funny how he bags on tricks and showmanship when his show was full of them. They guy was a total ass.....but an entertaining ass. LOL

He was pretty harsh on his band that evening. Pretty sure one of them got fired right after the show. All the horn players had music stands way overloaded with sheets music. Buddy would play about two bars of swing on his high hat and yell out a number. The horn players would scurry and sheet music would fly. You could tell if they missed the down beat of the song it was their end. It was all about Buddy.

As crappy of a person he was, I would see him play again in a heartbeat if he was still around. He played without any shame or fear of pulling something off. Something I have never mastered.


DC
 
I think the reason he was great (and considered it) was entirely due to his confidence. There's no doubt the guy thought he was brilliant. Confident players sound better, and many believe having an "I don't give a f**k" attitude helps to achieve this (the idea behind Effortless Mastery). I have a friend who is a great drummer, plays what he does extremely well, and also has that exact same "I'm the man" attitude.


And this:

confidence.jpg


Anyone else see a correlation here?
 
Thanks for all the replies. I'll give more thought to releasing the audio someday. I'm just happy there is still interest.
 
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