Groovemeister and all-around fun guy, Bernard Purdie

February 24, 2010 6:40 AM

I'm gonna 'splain to you what the Purdie shuffle is all about... Woooo! Don't worry about those ghost notes! Ain't nuthin' but rebounds! We're gonna take an extra step! I'm gonna go to my cowbell! You don't have to be a tub-thumper yourself to dig master percussionist Bernard "Pretty" Purdie's infectiously joyous drum instruction videos. Yeah!
posted by flapjax at midnite (21 comments total)

Infectiously joyous is exactly the right phrase.
posted by ook at 7:13 AM on February 24, 2010

"You done it! You done hired the hitmaker, Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie!"

What a class act, and from my home town, too!

I passed him on the street, ate pizza next to his table a whole bunch of times having no idea who he was, other than "Hey, there's that dude again!"
posted by chronkite at 7:16 AM on February 24, 2010

Thanks for this. Now playing: "Babylon Sisters".
posted by The Mouthchew at 7:20 AM on February 24, 2010

He's also featured on the first song of Kutiman's Thru You.
posted by burnmp3s at 7:24 AM on February 24, 2010

thanks flapjax. I know for shit about drums but this made my morning :)
posted by lonefrontranger at 7:35 AM on February 24, 2010

Man, he's just so relaxed! Always the sign of a master artist: making the ridiculous look easy.
posted by Madamina at 7:39 AM on February 24, 2010

That last link--the drum solo--grooves so hard. Drum solos almost never "do it" for me, but that is some serious, serious feel.

Coincidentally, I saw Hair on Broadway last month, and remember thinking the band was unusually solid. I don't remember if Purdie was behind the kit that day, but if he wasn't, his fill-in was damn good.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:58 AM on February 24, 2010

I like it very much!

I've been enjoying this for a few weeks. Why didn't I think of posting it? Well played, flapjax.
posted by Songdog at 8:08 AM on February 24, 2010

Can't wait to dig in to these!
posted by Eideteker at 9:41 AM on February 24, 2010

Man, has anyone sampled these yet?
posted by neroli at 10:05 AM on February 24, 2010

Awesome.
posted by gottabefunky at 10:35 AM on February 24, 2010

Beautiful stuff, thanks Flapjax.
posted by doctor_negative at 10:47 AM on February 24, 2010

Dude swings, that is for sure. Would teach my bass-playing ass something, for sure.
posted by clvrmnky at 10:56 AM on February 24, 2010

I love this guy but I'm still wincing from the gigantic fight I got in on Super Bowl Sunday defending Ringo Starr from a friend's claim that Bernard . . . well, you know.
posted by chaff at 12:38 PM on February 24, 2010

Always been one of my all-time favorite session drummers when I was growing up. (Always between him and Jeff Porcaro, also a very classy player.)

These are awesome. Thanks for sharing.

ad
posted by adamd1 at 12:45 PM on February 24, 2010

neroli: Yes (previously), which is actually how I ran across the Purdie videos.
posted by Songdog at 1:33 PM on February 24, 2010

beautiful. from his Wikipedia entry - When Purdie worked as a session musician, he would place two signs beside his drum kit. The one on the left read "You done it!" The one on the right read "You done hired the hitmaker, Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie!".

I could have sworn that I saw that in some documentary about Steely Dan, but I may be wrong...
posted by peterkins at 1:33 PM on February 24, 2010

As burnmp3s linked above. Oops!
posted by Songdog at 1:34 PM on February 24, 2010

Fantastic clips, and if you missed the buried gem of an article from the New York Times, here's the link again. It mentions Devil's Haircut (YouTube/Vevo) by Beck samples the Purdie Shuffle, and that Purdie can be "heard on more than 4,000 records", including Home at Last by Steely Dan, and variations on the shuffle are heard on such tracks as Fool in the Rain by Led Zep, Rosanna by Toto, and Grapevine Fires by Death Cab for Cutie, though Jason McGerr of DCfC says it’s not quite accurate to call the beat on “Grapevine Fires” a Purdie Shuffle.

“It doesn’t matter how much I practice, I will never play that shuffle like Purdie,” Mr. McGerr said. “It’s because he has an attitude that seems to come through every time. He always sounds like he’s completely in charge.”

This last example has the clearest drums, and you can hear that it's lacking a bit of something.
posted by filthy light thief at 5:42 PM on February 24, 2010

Bernard Purdie on Drummerworld.com, a thread on DrummerWorld in search of the shuffle. Those first videos are from the Bernard Purdie - Groove Master VHS, now out of print (though in searching for more info on it, it seems to be spreading around in *ahem* torrential form *ahem*).

Also, Bernard Purdie on Discogs, with an extensive "appears on" credit list (as can be expected if he can be heard on more than 4,000 records). He also has a decent collection of works under his own name (or variations there-of).
posted by filthy light thief at 2:49 PM on February 25, 2010

Thanks for the links, filthy light thief. I would've linked to Purdie's Drummerworld page (a good site, that, I've referred to it often) but that would've put my FPP into double territory, since I put that link in my King Curtis post a while back.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:42 PM on February 25, 2010