Bernard “Pretty” Purdie

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October 8, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

What’s The Worst Music Bio You’ve Read?

I’ve never been as disappointed by a music bio/auto-bio as I was when reading the Bernard Purdie one; it’s hard to know what the book was even trying to be – it’s written in third person but claims to be an autobiography, there’s no attempt to even ‘get’ Purdie’s voice, there’s no real attempt to hide […]

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June 27, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Purdie / Fabian / Oswanski: Move On!

Purdie / Fabian / Oswanski Move On! Consolidated Artists Productions Here, the living legend of laidback-shuffling funk drums and quick-fire rimshot/hi-hat attack Mr. Bernard “Pretty” Purdie joins up with journeyman musicians Ron Oswanski (Hammond B-3 organ) and Christian Fabian (electric bass) for a trio record of lively, funky instrumentals.

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December 5, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: Tight But Loose

Playing along to Babylon Sisters on the drums. And Angela- the Theme from Taxi. Man, Bernard Purdie and Idris Muhammad. Beautiful. There’s a philosophy to their playing. They know the magic is in holding back. I never knew how to hold back, so I just dropped out. That’s how it’s usually been. Coming back to […]

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November 26, 2011 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 1741

Dizzy Gillespie, Digital At Montreux, 1980 (1981) I bought this for $1 because it was Dizzy Gillespie and Bernard Purdie and Toots Thielemans. I knew all of the players and I couldn’t see it working – so I was curious. Also the album is red vinyl and I thought that was fucking cool. This was […]

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September 18, 2011 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 1844

Pretty Purdie, Soul Drums (1968) You’ll recognise the title track as the break in Beck’s Devil’s Haircut. There’s a good chance you’ll recognise a few more breaks here – this is Bernard “Pretty” Purdie’s debut album as a leader; the most recorded drummer in the world. I can’t even remember where/when/how I got on to […]