Song:Groovin' Hard
Album:The Best Of Buddy Rich: The Pacific Jazz Years
Buddy Rich was known as The World's Greatest Drummer. Well, he was certainly one of the most powerful drummers and a tremendous showman. He came by that naturally. He was born Sept. 30, 1917 in Brooklyn, NY. His parents were vaudeville performers Robert and Bess Rich. His father noticed that Buddy could keep a beat with spoons at age one so it wasn't long before he was performing in the family act as Traps The Drum Wonder. He was the second highest paid child performer after Jackie Coogan. He was a bandleader by age 11. Keep in mind that Rich never took music lessons. His main influences were Chick Webb and Gene Krupa. In the late 30s he played with Bunny Berigan and Artie Shaw and into the 40s with Tommy Dorsey, Harry James and Jazz At The Philharmonic. Of course he worked with Frank Sinatra in the Dorsey band. And when Rich told Sinatra that he wanted to start his own band, Sinatra cut him a cheque for $40K. Buddy Rich's prime started when he formed a big band in 1966. This was at a time when big bands were dead. At the time, Rich recorded for Pacific Jazz. Groovin' Hard is from his 1970 album Keep The Customer Satisfied recorded live at the Tropicana in Las Vegas. The song was written by arranger Don Menza and became a standard for the Rich band. This Blue Note comp is a good sampling of his Pacific Jazz recordings. Also, Blue Note released Keep The Customer Satisfied on CD with bonus tracks in 2000. Though Rich had a history of heart problems (he suffered his first heart attack in 1959), he continued to record for RCA and other labels and tour very successfully until his death of heart failure on Apr. 2, 1987 at age 69. Here's Buddy Rich performing Groovin' Hard in 1980.
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