Today we will tell you about one of the greatest and most influential drummers in the history of music - Buddy Rich.
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Although Buddy Rich did not come from the Rock genre and mainly played Jazz and led big bands, his influence on Rock music was enormous.
To understand the power of Buddy Rich's influence on the world of music, we should note that great and influential drummers like John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), Ian Paice (Deep Purple), Roger Taylor (Queen), Bill Ward (Black Sabbath), Phil Collins (Genesis), Carl Palmer and more mentioned Buddy Rich as the drummer who influenced them the most.
Not only that, but some huge drummers changed their playing style and their drum set under Rich's influence. For example, the legendary drummer Neil Peart (Rush), who was influenced by Buddy Rich, decided to take jazz lessons in the early 1990s, from the well-known jazz drummer Freddie Gruber.
Under Rich's influence, Neil changed his entire perception of playing, when at one point he moved from two bass drums to one bass drum, and on the album "Test For Echo" even played most of the songs with a different stick grip, known mainly from jazz - "traditional grip".
Neil even made a tribute to Buddy Rich, when he organized and produced the tribute album - "Burning for Buddy", in 1994, in which he plays himself, along with other drummers, the works of the legendary drummer. Following the success of the album, the sequel album "Burning for Buddy ... Volume 2", was released in 1997.
Buddy Rich was born on September 30, 1917, to a Jewish family (Shkolnik), in Brooklyn, New York.
Already at a very young age, his unique talent was revealed when his parents discovered in a restaurant that he was able to keep pace when he hit the table with a fork. At just 15, he became the second-highest-paid child in the United States.
Rich never took drum lessons and yet he is considered a prodigy and a maestro. He is a virtuoso and has perfect control over the drum system. He has incredible technique, power, and speed that are considered unprecedented to this day, even compared to other great drummers in the history of music. All this he did with a very modest and minimalist drum set.
What's amazing is that you can still see today, that most rock drummers place their system in the same way as Rich's, who is generally characterized as a jazz player.
Buddy Rich passed away on April 2, 1989.