Buddy Rich: One of a Kind: The Making of the World’s Greatest Drummer

by Pelle Berglund

In this meticulously researched biography, author Pelle Berglund presents the first comprehensive book on the life of Buddy Rich, still considered by many to be the greatest drummer ever to pick up sticks. Using interviews with many of Buddy’s band members (some conducted by the author himself) along with extensive sourcing of quotes from practically every interview ever given by Buddy himself, a complete chronology of Buddy’s life is presented—along with insights into what drove him and what he thought about the various situations and people he encountered through his life. One of a Kind recounts each chapter of a life lived in the spotlight: childhood star Traps, the Drum Wonder; young jazz drummer with Joe Marsala and Bunny Berigan; star sideman with Artie Shaw, Harry James, and Tommy Dorsey; and leading various incarnations of the Buddy Rich Big Band. A twentieth century icon, Buddy’s relationships with Shaw, Dorsey, Count Basie, Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Gene Krupa, Norman Granz, Lana Turner, and his family, including wife Marie and daughter Cathy are insightfully investigated.

Never-before-seen photos of Buddy culled from the private collection of collector Charley Braun add a new perspective on Buddy’s life—including a 16-page featured photo section. Beyond providing a complete timeline of Buddy Rich’s life, One of a Kind provides a glimpse into the mind of a musical titan who demanded greatness from himself and those around him, and became one of the most celebrated and controversial stars in music.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

422 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2019

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to begin to tell the story of a man whose career spanned virtually the entire development of modern jazz? This book is comprehensive, well-compiled, well-organized and easy to read. I feel like I now know the man that has been a strong musical influence since my own childhood. It has inspired me to delve deeper into Buddy’s techniques on the drum set and has me practicing hand technique daily once again. Not only a great read for drummers but for all those interested in the swing and big band eras of American music. Interesting to note that perhaps all of Buddy’s interviews/performances on Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show” are available to enjoy on YouTube and complete your experience.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting biography of a well known figure. I had never known just how far his reach was in the famous bands of the day. However, after a while the story felt a bit repetitive. “Buddy started a band, started to tour, went broke, then started another band”. The edition I read had a strange formatting/font selection that made the story more difficult to read than it should have.

[Vincent Osborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography of Buddy Rich! Painstakingly researched, the author compiled a great portrait of Buddy through numerous interviews with the people who knew him best. Not only was Buddy (and still is) the world’s greatest drummer, we learn in this biography that he was a consummate musician. The only complaint of the book is that there are numerous grammatical errors and the printing is a larger font size and nearly runs off the page - a little better typesetting would make it more pleasing to read.

[Paul Compton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story telling of the jazz era and Buddy's life makes for great reading, even more so if you've idolized him all your life. Unfortunately, the Kindle version is very unpolished with formatting issues, as well as punctuation and words missing throughout. The book is still great, but this needs fixing.