Bernard Purdie Interview

[JAUQO III-X]

An interesting three part interview with Bernard Purdie.

http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/L...ct_session=104

[msquared]

This is a great find. Thank you for posting it!

[Lazylion]

He can't be serious about Ringo not playing on, like, ANY Beatle songs?!?

[Basshole]

I am a professional musician (46 years old). I have heard from industry insiders LONG before it was ever published ANYWHERE that Richard Starky didn't play drums on the Beatles sessions. To industry folks, this is not news. Sorry if that disillusions anyone...but it's what I've always heard.

[cdef]

Originally Posted by Lazylion

He can't be serious about Ringo not playing on, like, ANY Beatle songs?!?

It always sounded like a crock to me. For some weird reason of his own, Purdie (a great drummer, to be sure) came out with this bizarre statement, one he's never been able to substantiate in the least. Paul McCartney has dismissed it as nonsense, and it's never been given credence by any Beatles scholar I'm aware of. Nor have I ever talked to a drummer familiar with the Beatles' records who would even begin to take it seriously. It's on a par with that Carol Kaye junk about her playing a lot of Jamerson's best parts.

[Vandelay]

Here's an interesting analysis of the Beatles claim:
http://www.jimvallance.com/03-projec...pg-purdie.html

I love Bernard Purdie's playing (especially on King Curtis's "Memphis Soul Stew", just an amazing track), but I'm not buying this claim. Beatles music has been so closely followed and dissected that I don't think they'd be able to keep this kind of thing a secret all these years.

[bassist15]

I love Bernard Purdie , no matter the credit game . He is part of the backing band on Aretha Live at the Fillmore West and Bernard is the ring leader. He plays some great beats and the album has an awesome rhythm section with Purdie & Jerry Jemmott.

[JAUQO III-X]

Can any one prove Bernards claim wrong(I'm just asking before I get shot)?

[cdef]

Originally Posted by JAUQO III-X

Can any one prove Bernards claim wrong (I'm just asking before I get shot)?

Well, drummer Jim Vallance's arguments (link posted by Vandelay above) seem to me to go a long way towards doing just that. I think the onus of proof is on Mr. Purdie for making such an extravagant claim. But as he apparently refuses to, or cannot, provide any corroboration in any form whatsoever, whereas of course overwhelming evidence exists for Ringo's contributions to the Beatles, it seems strange that anyone should choose to believe such a story.

[JAUQO III-X]

Originally Posted by lmoh

Well, drummer Jim Vallance's arguments (link posted by Vandelay above) seems to me to go a long way towards doing just that. I think the onus of proof is on Mr. Purdie for making such an extravagant claim. But as he apparently refuses to, or cannot, provide any corroboration in any form whatsoever, whereas of course overwhelming evidence exists for Ringo's contributions to the Beatles, it seems strange that anyone should choose to believe such a story.

Well truth always seem to reveal itself.

[cdef]

Originally Posted by JAUQO III-X

Well truth always seem to reveal itself.

In the light of forthcoming or accumulating evidence, yes. But in almost 45 years not one shred of a fact or a testimony has surfaced to suggest that Purdie might be telling the truth. What seems likely (and human) is that he once got tangled up in a tale of self-aggrandizement and now cannot back out without looking a complete fool.

[JAUQO III-X]

Originally Posted by lmoh

What seems likely (and human) is that he once got tangled up in a tale of self-aggrandizement and now cannot back out without looking a complete fool.

[JimmyM]

I've met Bernard Purdie and I think he's a wonderful guy, or at least to me he was, but I think he's FOS when it comes to his claims of playing on Beatles recordings. Ringo played on nothing? Well it sure looks like he's playing very competently in the Let It Be movie, and his playing in the movie matches up to the released tracks. And the stuff Jim Vallance is saying holds water to me. And let's not forget that Jim Vallance himself is a highly awarded drummer and songwriter. The onus is on Bernard to prove it, and he simply hasn't. It doesn't take away from the fact that he is one of the great drummers of history, but it's a bit of a blotch on his record, just like Carol Kaye.

As a matter of fact, I find this business about studio musicians trying to take credit for playing on records with bands that were obviously competent enough to play the parts themselves pretty disgusting. Carol Kaye even tried to tell me that studio musicians played all the music for the Doors, when you can watch old films of them playing live and see that they were highly competent musicians who didn't need studio musicians to do their work. Sure, they had bassists on their later albums, and they sometimes had horns and strings, but I totally don't believe Carol's claims that the actual Doors played on nothing.

Let's assume that a band, say, The Beatles, needed a studio drummer to replace Ringo's tracks because he was incompetent. So are we to believe that Ringo couldn't record and they got Bernard Purdie to re-do his tracks, and by some miracle Ringo magically got competent enough to play those parts live note for note and beat for beat? Or was Bernard brought on tour secretly under the stage playing Ringo's parts unbeknownst to the band? And if Ringo couldn't record, how come everyone else's tracks were good enough to keep? When you play with an incompetent drummer, nothing is going to sound good. Come on, it's getting to be ri-goddamn-diculous!

Sure, studio musicians have filled out songs, and in many cases actually played for the incompetent one hit wonder bands of the day, but their claims of playing the music on albums by bands who obviously needed no studio musician help like the Beatles and Doors is appalling.