{"id":661,"date":"2011-03-17T17:11:44","date_gmt":"2011-03-17T17:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net"},"modified":"2018-08-04T14:36:35","modified_gmt":"2018-08-04T13:36:35","slug":"bernard-purdie","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thedrumdoctor.net\/inspired\/bernard-purdie","title":{"rendered":"Bernard Purdie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWell hell-owwwwwwwe!\u201d<\/em><\/strong> is the boom-box voice introduction you can expect to hear from the larger than life, Bernard \u2018Pretty\u2019 Purdie; should you ever be in his live presence. Here is yet another drummer whose unique playing and personality escaped my limited radar for far too long.<\/p>\n

\"BernardAlthough by the early 1990\u2019s I\u2019d seen snippets of both the Jeff Porcaro and Bernard Purdie instructional VHS videos, the aroma of wake-up call coffee didn\u2019t hit me until the latter part of that decade. Maybe it was my final conversion to full-on Bonham awareness that made me re-explore the videos for answers to the \u2018Fool In The Rain\u2019 groove; or maybe it was listening to Steely Dan\u2019s \u2018Alive In America\u2019 album that prodded me to search for the original \u2018Babylon Sisters\u2019 studio take. Whatever the medium, it\u2019s never too late for any<\/em> drummer to discover Bernard Purdie. Whether it\u2019s the raw-nasty fill before \u201cand now we need a pound of fat-back drums!\u201d<\/em> from King Curtis\u2019 \u2018Memphis Soul Stew\u2019 or the warm, treacle-laced groove on Aretha\u2019s \u2018Rock Steady\u2019 that draws you into Purdie\u2019s world; once he\u2019s nailed your white-boy ears back, there\u2019s no escaping his feel-good factor playing. If ever there was a man who could channel his persona into an instrument and permeate a whole room with infectious positive vibes, Bernard Purdie surely tops the list of such practitioners.<\/p>\n

Possibly one of the most revelatory 70 minutes of the latter part of my 20th<\/sup> century, was sitting down to watch his \u2018Groove Master\u2019 video in its entirety. Compared to the gross, tasteless, technique-driven drum instructional video releases that have plagued the tuition market since the late 1980\u2019s, this simplistic work of beauty remains a beacon of light in a continuum of darkness. It proved to be a lifeline from a world dominated by drum-slingers, a personal passport back to into a country named Reality, where drums are played to make people feel good, as opposed to confusing them.<\/p>\n

Whether or not Purdie does hold legitimate claim to the title of \u2018World\u2019s most recorded drummer\u2019, or as the controversial hired hand to redo drum parts on pre-Ringo Beatles recordings, there can be no question over his expressive uniqueness when he channels his soul through the medium of music.<\/p>\n

A friend told me a story about a sound-engineer he knew who once had the pleasure or recording Purdie on a session. Having asked him to line check the kit for levels just the once, a request was made to focus on a particular drum and tweak its sound further, to which, Purdie retorted, in the nicest possible way:<\/p>\n

\u201cBoy, if you ain\u2019t got it by now, you ain\u2019t never<\/strong> goin\u2019 to get it!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

That\u2019s Bernard Purdie for you; no-nonsense, one-of-a-kind, joyful drumming made to make the human race feel good and bring the gift of wisdom to foolish drummers; better late than never.<\/p>\n