Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Purdie Shuffle
Right up there with the James Brown's Funky Drummer. Spotted via Crate Kings..

A must read article about legendary drummer Bernard Purdie, the most recorded drummer in history who appeared with over 2,500 artists on over 4,000 albums. Vinyl diggers will know the name… others will need to do some homework.

The New York Times highlights the birth of The Purdie Shuffle along with other great stories including his being incorrectly fined by James Brown and his desire to leave recording sessions as soon as he was done with his part.

“You’d do a first take, and he’d put on his overcoat as if he was about to leave,” said Donald Fagen, the Steely Dan keyboardist. “The problem was that some of the other musicians had just become comfortable with the chords. You had to cajole him to do some other takes so everyone else could polish up their parts a bit.”

"Also be sure to watch the Purdie interview video at the middle of the page… very insightful.

Read the full NY Times article."

ADDED "Uriel Jones, one of the original members of Motown band the Funk Brothers, has died after suffering complications from a heart attack. He was 74. The drummer, who lent his talents to the music of Marvin Gaye, the Temptations and numerous others, passed away in hospital in Dearborn, Michigan, on Tuesday." Passed Tuesday 24 March.

Link. Hat tip to Ms Jen for this.

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