Traps the Drum Wonder

Here is a great post on the immortal Buddy Rich.  He was arguably the Worlds Greatest Drummer, as he liked to be known, but really lacked the touchy-feely people skills…

http://overit.tumblr.com/post/25779165

 I had the good fortune to see Buddy perform a number of times both on the Johnny Carson show (I was always allowed to stay up late on Buddy night) and also in person toward the end of his life.  The first time I saw him was with Frank Sinatra at ChicagoFest (remember ChicagoFest?) in 1980.  Buddy was in Frank’s band then, and Charlie Calas opened. 

4 Responses to “Traps the Drum Wonder”

  1. valerie Says:

    hey, that’s me! awesome.

  2. linda Says:

    didn’t you and i see him play outside at oakbrook mall in 1986 or so?

  3. Mike Says:

    yep, I saw Buddy Rich and his band at both Oak Brook mall and Old Orchard mall in Skokie. I saw him at the Colony theatre on the South side of Chicago as well. He introduced Chicagoan Barrett Deems (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrett_Deems) as the world’s greatest drummer, a title usually reserved for Buddy or Gene Krupa.

    How that for a long, boring reply??!! ; )

  4. linda Says:

    i love barrett deems - his big band used to play at elbo room and ken and i would see him frequently - i would have never remembered till you mentioned his name. i think i also remember an 80th birthday party for him at elbo room? or some ‘up there’ birthday.

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