Evidence to support Buddy's greatness can be found in Jeff Potter's cover story, and in the interviews with MD pro panelists Jim Keltner, Terri Lyne Carrington and Antonio Sanchez.

As illuminating as their words are, MD thought it would be fun to present some undiluted commentary from the man himself, from his interview in the very first issue of Modern Drummer, back in January 1977. Buddy's personality was as bold as his playing. Here are some quotes from that classic interview.

On giving advice:

"I don’t give advice to anybody. Everybody should make their own decisions."

On his pre-show warm-up routine:

"I usually take my hands out of my pockets."

On practice:

"I never really practiced, because I never had the opportunity. I’ve been working all my life. I’ve been playing drums all my life, and now I’m too lazy to bother with it. I have other things that I have to do-practice my martial arts, take care of my cars. I don’t put too much emphasis on practice anyhow. I think it’s a fallacy that the harder you practice, the better you get. You only get better by playing.
You could sit around all day long and practice rudiments and try to develop speed, but until you start playing with a band, you can’t learn technique, you can’t learn taste."

On recording:

"I don’t like recording. It’s a bore."

On gear:

"My drums are right off the rack. You put a race driver in a car, if he knows how to drive, he can drive anything."

Buddy Rich’s classic solos analyzed
Elsewhere in the December issue of MD, Education Team member Steve Fidyk analyzes and transcribes some of Buddy Rich’s classic solos. Modern Drummer has posted a more extensive transcription of the drum solo to "West Side Story" at moderndrummer.com. Click here to check it out.