Well, I was actually talking about all of The Beatles. I was never influenced by Ringo to pick up the sticks. I was nine when I saw them on Ed Sullivan and I just fell in love with the music, I didn't really start getting the drum bug until my early teens after seeing drums in a Sears catalog. When I first started playing I was influenced by Gene Krupa. I wanted to be him and imagined myself playing big concerts when I grew up.

I saw the Gene Krupa Story on tv and that was it.

Tommyp, do have a website with videos of your big band? I'd love to see and hear your beautiful wmp Rogers kit.

Dan!

Good eye!... as the toms have always "looked" larger to me too, although I couldn't ever definitively say... but I have always thought that! The main ones.. ( and you hit a couple! ) .. and these are based on his personal sets .. are:

Single spurs ( BR model bass drums were always twin spurs while he was with Slingerland )

"L" arms have tilters as you mentioned, plus... the splash "L" arm is a Slingerland whereas BR always used a Rogers "L" arm on all his personal sets, and right on through 'till his 2nd Ludwig endorsement in 1977!

Wing nuts in place of the Zildjian "Cymbal Snaps" . Buddy ALWAYS used "Cymbal Snaps" starting with his Slingerland endorsement in 1968. He used those right up 'till the end in 1987!

Snare drum: This particular performance has always been tough to really SEE what he's got there. Given the date.. ( 1974 ) .. it would most probably not be a COW model, nor is it his Fibes SFT 690/COF, and the Buddy Rich TDR Model wasn't cataloged yet, although Buddy HAD that drum in 1973!, but it was always in WMP. So... I always thought this was a supplied Gene Krupa Sound King. Looks like it! He would NOT have brought his own snare drum... he never did. He just played what was there/available!

GREAT pic from Lennie's Dan!!! Early too... probably PRE Trixon/Vox as they do indeed look like Rogers Mardi Gras. Certainly Beavertail lugs, as those are easy to see. Jay Corre and Ernie Watts in the sax section would date this from approx. 1967, especially so if BR is still playing Rogers. Could have been right at the end just before he split for Trixon/Vox. GREAT pic, and one I have never seen... in itself rare!

Tommyp

I would say that the FT there is an 18".. (Guided by what appears to be 4 leg mounts) ...

Cheers

John

JR!

Yes there is a website. I play/work with a Frank Sinatra show, so it's not a big band per se... although the arrangements/charts are written in that style of course. There are usually two horns, but sometimes three. I am playing the 1965 Rogers Buddy Rich Celebrity's, and there are many clips. By all means have a look/listen! www.thesoundsoffrank.com I want to add that December is pretty full gig wise.. ( 7, 12,13,18,19,27, and 29! ) .. but the calendar isn't registering the December dates, except for the 19th. Don't know why. "Cute" is a small drum feature, and played with brushes as per the original. Otherwise, you probably know a lot of the others!

Tommyp

Thanks Tommyp, the whole band sounds great! I'm curious, how do you tune those toms, batter side higher, lower or the same as resonant side? The kit sounds fantastic!

JR!

Thanks for visiting the site and the kind words! That was filmed at a 500 seater we did back in 2011 actually. Reason I make mention of that is, in the three years that have passed, we have played a TON of shows, and have really dialed in the material/arrangements. Back then, everybody was still reading charts! We have also added material by some other artists of the era: Bobby Darin, Michael Buble, Sammy Davis Jr., etc. It's been a great gig actually, and a ton of fun for me. Goes without saying, the gig can't be over-played drum wise. It has to be stylistically correct and swingin'... but I do get my spots to let loose within the framework of the show. Glad you enjoyed!

Tuning on the toms: The bottom/resonant heads are TIGHT... tighter than one might think they would be. So, they are always HIGHER than the batters in tension. That gives a nice "jazz" tuning, yet with just enough resonance to remain contemporary. Good thing too as I also use these drums for the other two groups I work with, and those groups are NOT specifically in the "swing idiom" at all. Lot more straight eighth/latin/funk stuff there!

Tommyp

Great info ! I just wanted to mention that Jay Corree passed away a few months ago here in Stuart FL. I had met him at the local jazz night here in Port St. lucie, FL. Where for several months I was the house drummer.

Then he had me play drums for his combo he was putting together some tunes for a performance. Sadly after a couple rehearsals he was not able to continue but gladly I have recordings of those rehearsals as we were rehearsing in my studio and I had everything mic'ed up and recorded a lot of it. He was wailing till the end. I listen now and he is just great. He told some good Buddy stories too. He said that underneath Buddy's hard exterior he was really a, in Jay's words, "a sweetheart of a guy".

vibes!

I did know that Jay Corre had passed recently. Sad news indeed. ALWAYS enjoyed his playing with Buddy's band, and beyond! Both 1966 and 1967 still knock me out with regard to Jay's playing on Buddy's band, and for that matter... the entire band was just killin' back then. Pretty neat that you got to play and chat with him too! So much information comes from the guys that worked with him. I was able to spend a good amount of time with Jeff Stout and Greg Hopkins as I studied arranging with both of them when I was at the Berklee College of Music. Both of them had literally just come off the road with Buddy, and were teaching at Berklee. Goes without saying, after the formal class was over, I would hang and just pepper them with questions about Buddy. GREAT stuff! I want to say that yes... they also said EXACTLY what Jay Corre told you: Underneath that hard exterior, Buddy was indeed "a sweetheart of a guy".

Tommyp

Cool vids Tommy! I have too laugh too, because Fly Me to the Moon was on our set list this year. List is all over the place, but i enjoyed that one and Dean Martin's Sway.

I bet you'd love to do some of Frank's tunes with a full orchestra so you could really let loose!