i saw idris a bunch of years ago playing with fred wesely, lonnie smith, arthur blythe and some other cool folks. he played entirely out of his funky bag and it was magnificent, he had lost none of his power or skill, perhaps he was even better than i had heard on record. one thing that struck me was that he tuned his drums differently for each song.
b/w
not the clip i was looking for but this alos has idris playing with roberta flack:
Apples and oranges for me. Sure Purdie sits in the pocket like a one ton weight: but wtf he OWNS that shit. His drumming is instantly recognizable and phat, for which I ride. But Leo's a more versatile cat who's jazz roots scratch the surface of almost all his recordings. Pound for pound Idris represents on more of my favourite albums then Purdie. People have mentioned Loran's dance...
Love em both to bits, music would not be the same without either of them.
Purdie's muscular drumming sometimes dominated the music (e.g. revolution wil not be televised) whilst Muhammad blended in more (e.g. tuning his drums). This might explain Bob Porter's claim that he was Prestige's musicians' favourite drummer. (liner notes Black Rhythm Revolution) Although both recorded with big artists, it seems to me, though I might be wrong, that Muhammad's association with them tended to last longer and involve more touring (Flack, Jamal, Sanders).
He's been saying for who knows how many years that the details will be in his autobiography. That'll be interesting, if it ever happens.
Purdie bio is long overdue but came across this a few months back, didn't even know he was writing a book so some of you may have missed it too:
It's more a series of anecdotes (some very short) disguised as chapters in a rough chronological order.
Also, this:
Sun_Fortune said:
Idris Muhammad Probably the coolest person Ive ever met. I had just found his Power of Soul album in the day and was going to his show at the bluenote that night. I'm walking up to the club with record in hand just as he pulls up in a cab. He sees me and the rec, does about 4 double takes and is like "where did youget that, thats my favorite record!" I talk to him for a few and tells me to have a drink with him between sets. After killing the first set I chat with him for about 40 minutes, just talking about all his records and the people he played with. he told me about this inmate who who got through prison by listening to that record. Finally he's like "are you a player?" and I have to tell him that im just a dj. He says "oh so you're gonna sample that record?" Pretty embarassing, but he said it would be cool. During he second set, he goes into this ten minute long solo, where he's playing the like the sides of the drums, really slow, then he looks over at me, kind of tips his head and goes into the baddest breakbeat Ive ever heard. Nothing but praise for the man.
Funny... was just thinking about this the other night. I was DJing and had just played Pucho & Lain Soul Brothers 'Got Myself A Good Man' followed by Rusty Bryant's 'Fire Eater'. Asked myself the same question... and gotta say, I go with Idris, based purely on his ability to play multiple styles. I love me some Purdie shuffle, but as mentioned in an above previous post, you can tell within 1 bar when Purdie is playing.
Idris is a better technician and is far more versatile than Purdie. Idris is the better drummer, but I actually prefer the sound of Purdie's raw style.
This is tough, I'm leaning towards Purdie for his shuffle and raw sound. Idris is more versatile and I love his records/ anything CTI but sometimes his drums sounded really choked, more of a 70's recording technique of dampening..
I think Purdie and Hal Blane are touted as the most recorded drummers in history. Got to respect that. I also love his drum videos.
so have purdie's bealtes claims been thoroughly debunked.
There's almost no way that's possible, even without regard to who was where when ??? up till Abbey Road, the Beatles recorded on a 4-track machine, meaning that drums were almost always on the same track as at least a couple other things (whatever they didn't care about isolating: some percussion, a rhythm guitar, etc.). Erasing Ringo's drum tracks would've taken out half the instruments on those songs, and surely somebody would've noticed. Plus, from what I've read, Brian Epstein was almost totally uninterested and uneducated in music, and the delicacy of that sort of operation ??? if it were even possible ??? definitely would've involved George Martin, Ken Townsend, Geoff Emerick, et al, none of whom say anything about it. Bernard just likes to bullshit.
Purdie is the soul/rock drummer.
Idris is the jazz drummer.
I've met, heard Purdie, so I will go with him.
b/w
Atlantic released some of the Beatles Decca audition recordings.
Seems likely to me, since Atlantic had a close relationship with BP, that they may have asked him to clean up some of the drumming. Which would mean he was fixing Pete Best, not Ringo. He could have fixed some drumming, without the drumming being removed and replaced.
Comments
b/w
not the clip i was looking for but this alos has idris playing with roberta flack:
Love em both to bits, music would not be the same without either of them.
Purdie bio is long overdue but came across this a few months back, didn't even know he was writing a book so some of you may have missed it too:
It's more a series of anecdotes (some very short) disguised as chapters in a rough chronological order.
Also, this:
I think Purdie and Hal Blane are touted as the most recorded drummers in history. Got to respect that. I also love his drum videos.
I've also read/heard the same thing said of Earl Palmer...
There's almost no way that's possible, even without regard to who was where when ??? up till Abbey Road, the Beatles recorded on a 4-track machine, meaning that drums were almost always on the same track as at least a couple other things (whatever they didn't care about isolating: some percussion, a rhythm guitar, etc.). Erasing Ringo's drum tracks would've taken out half the instruments on those songs, and surely somebody would've noticed. Plus, from what I've read, Brian Epstein was almost totally uninterested and uneducated in music, and the delicacy of that sort of operation ??? if it were even possible ??? definitely would've involved George Martin, Ken Townsend, Geoff Emerick, et al, none of whom say anything about it. Bernard just likes to bullshit.
Idris is the jazz drummer.
I've met, heard Purdie, so I will go with him.
b/w
Atlantic released some of the Beatles Decca audition recordings.
Seems likely to me, since Atlantic had a close relationship with BP, that they may have asked him to clean up some of the drumming. Which would mean he was fixing Pete Best, not Ringo. He could have fixed some drumming, without the drumming being removed and replaced.
[image]http://www.fab4collectibles.com/images/AintSheSweetMonoLPCover.jpg[/image]
b/w
Ringo is not a bad drummer.
Bonus beat:
Maybe he played on some of these things
[image]http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mflGH-B1hibpdIqO1aPCKsw.jpg[/image]