Sammy Davis, Jr. show: Buddy vs. Gene

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Great stuff,to bad they did,nt let Sammy sit in,he was a great drummer!
 
Buddy wins! :lol: I Love Buddy Rich, he's my favourite drumer :notworthy: ,BTW what cymbals did he use???
did i mention that
I Love Buddy Rich! :notworthy:
:occasion5:
 
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That is one of my favorite Buddy performances. I read that quite often he would take it easy on some of his peers and mentors during these drum "battles". I don't think that held true in this case! Granted, Gene wasn't in top form at that point in his life. Buddy tore it up on this one.

Chris
 
James N. said:
Buddy wins! :lol: I Love Buddy Rich, he's my favourite drumer :notworthy: ,BTW what cymbals did he use???
did i mention that
I Love Buddy Rich! :notworthy:
:occasion5:


Buddy's cymbals were very standard: A 20" ride, 18" thin and medium-thin crashes, a 10" splash, and 14" hi hats. All were A. Zildjians. He picked them out at the Zildjian factory, of course.
In his latter days, he added a Zildjian chinese cymbal.

He had so much respect for Gene, he usually didn't try to cut him in drum battles. But on this particular occasion, he must have been in the mood to show off. The guy was such a force of nature, it was hard for him to hold back.
 
That's a very cool clip. Kind of unusual to see a large china cymbal in use back then , I guess it was a Zildjian "Swish"

What type of swivo set up is holding Buddy's mounted tom? Doesn't appear to be the normal swivo type mount...almost looks like an "L" shaped hex rod and a Knobby bracket on the side of the tom but I couldn't see it that well.

Both of them were Zildjian users back when there was just one type of Zildjian Cymbals (from the A. Zildjian Co.)
 
This was in 64 or 65, Buddy was still a relatively young man at 47 or 48. Gene was 8 years older and it showed in the effort he had to make to really start rolling during his solo. But Gene had an elegance and flair to his style that was unmatched.


That tom arm setup was probably something Buddy cooked up, maybe because he felt the Swivo ball-and-socket arm was not stable enough for him. It looks like a leg mount on the tom and on the bass, using a simple piece of hex rod stock, in an 'L' shape, to connect the two drums. If the mount was placed on the bass in the right spot, he could easily get the tom where he wanted it with this setup. And it would be very solid, with no worrying about snapping off the key bolts on the Swivo arm to make sure they were tight. He was a pretty forceful player, so rigidity was likely a major concern.

Since he was THE major Rogers endorser, I'm sure someone inventive at the plant in Covington got the job of working with him to cook up that arrangement. Maybe Joe Thompson himself...
 
Great clip. Buddy's one of my favs too! And Gene was no slouch in his day either.
 
blkcortex79 said:
And Gene was no slouch in his day either.


Every clip I've ever seen of Gene, he was slouching over his drums :wink:
 
I have read several stories where it mentioned an ongoing friendship between Gene and Buddy all the way up to Gene's death. Buddy supposedly gave Gene some new drums for some event or something. And there is still the quote from the liner notes on the Krupa & Rich album that I have where it's mentioned that Buddy told Gene that the audience comes to watch Buddy, but they come to HEAR Gene.

BTW Rich wouldn't let that album be called Rich VERSUS Krupa.

I agree with Chris that Rich would sometimes go easy on people and most of the time he did go easy on Gene but once in a while things got a little carried away.

All in all Buddy respected Gene as much as he liked him. Probably knew that Gene was one of the ones who got the drummer out front .... even though Buddy pushed the envelope.



Robb
 
I prefer Krupas playing, it grooves harder
 
When i met GK in Toronto in the 70,s,i asked him about BR and he just shook his head and said "what can you say about him,he,s one of a kind"Gene knew he was showman,thats what paid the bills then.When you think about it,we are in "show" business.Buddy knew how to size up people pretty fast apparently,and if someone wanted a go at him,and had an "attitude",he,d rip him a new one on the kit,then walk away w/o ackknowledging the opponent 8)
 
Buddy and Gene were friends for decades and yes, Buddy would usually go easy on him, but in this case, he gave no quarter. Right way, he starts with the blinding single stroke rolls and you know it's no contest.
 
You could see GK stall a few times.He was intimidated im sure or not on his game,either way Buddy had something to say that day.
 
I have seen this clip numerous times and Buddy was just unstoppable. I loved the sound from his Rogers kits ,most of all the kits I have heard him play.
 
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