I've been playing drums since the early 80s, and that entire time it's been a "known fact" that Buddy Rich was the greatest drummer of all time. Ask any of the big name drummers who the greatest is, and everyone from Neil Peart to Weckl will all pretty much say the same thing.
But is he really the greatest of all time? Taken literally, that means he's the best drummer who has ever lived. But when I see the amazingly intricate polyrhythms and four-limb independence of drummers like Marco Minnemann and Thomas Lang, the extreme creativity of drummers like Gavin Harrison and Benny Greb, and the new crop of ultra-talented jazz virtuosos like Antonio Sanchez, Eric Harland and Keith Carlock, I can't help but think that drumming has really evolved to a whole new level since Buddy's days.
I've watched a lot of Buddy Rich videos, and while he was obviously great, I think his biggest strength was his showmanship. He had a very flashy way of playing that endeared him to audiences, yet to my ears he's a very busy player who relied mostly on his ultra-quick hands, and did little with his feet. Of course intricate double bass drumming didn't really begin to be a thing until years after his death, but to me that's kind of the point. Today's top drummers are doing things that Buddy and his contemporaries couldn't even conceive of back then. So yes, I think drumming has evolved, and perhaps Buddy isn't the greatest of all time.
Is he one of the greats? Of course. Is he the greatest of his time? While I prefer Elvin Jones and Joe Morello, I have no problem giving Buddy that title. I'd even be okay with calling him greatest big band drummer of all time (with apologies to Tommy Igoe). But greatest drummer of all time? I think that may have been the case at one point, but if you really think about it, probably no longer holds true.
A bit sacrilegious, I know.