The Torment of Buddy Rich: A Biography

by John Minahan

Few of us will ever know the satisfaction of becoming number one in our professions; in music, the odds are astronomical. Musicologists tell us that in the ideal--or abstract--situation, an individual is genetically predisposed with a special gift, works at it from infancy, isolated from distractions, and denied any choice in the matter, until the discipline develops into an almost monomaniacal drive for perfection.Buddy Rich achieved that perfection. The cost was very high.This book was written in the form of a diary, researched by the author as he traveled with Buddy Rich to various cities in the US, Canada, England, and Scotland. It was not intended to be an authorative analysis of an eminent contemporary musician or a detailed biographical treatment. It is a selective account of representative events in the life of a musical genius, an attempt to reflect aspects of his complex personality and the role played by his family, friends, and enemies--real and imagined.

264 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2000

Reviews

[John Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best music biography I've read. Funny that it's also the shortest.

[Alexandra Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best biographies I have read for a long time. It is written from personal knowledge of the subject by the author and includes references to the tours to the UK By the Buddy Rich bands in the 1960s. I was lucky enough to see a few of the shows and was immediately a fan. Buddy Rich had a very different manner to most public music figures and this book reveals insights into his life from starting playing drums as a child when he was nicknamed "Traps" to playing with the top bands and eventually forming his own bands and opening his own clubs in New York. A really excellent read which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone, especially to jazz lovers.