Gene Krupa was born today in 1909. Early on, he made the Benny Goodman Band swing and later had his own orchestra while appearing in several movies. He is probably the most influential modern drummer, inspiring many, including Keith Moon who borrowed a lot of style and licks from Gene. Here's a few clips: The Boiler Room Solo: The Brush Drum Solo: Drum Boogie (at the end, he plays matchsticks): And of course, "Sing, Sing, Sing" with Benny Goodman:
I was always more of a Buddy Rich guy because of his speed, power, and virtuoso technique. But I think Krupa was more musical and definitely more of a showman. But like Buddy himself said, there would be no Buddy if it weren't for Gene paving the way for him and everyone after him. They were great friends and recorded several albums together. Man, I would have LOVED to been alive back in the day when big bands (and their drummers) ruled the world. I can listen to big bands all day long...and sometimes I still do.
Gene Krupa never had a drum off with Animal. Point Rich. I would make a joke about Rich's ego, but apparently Krupa might have been the only person on the planet he respected which is probably noteworthy enough to start a thread about Krupa by itself.
Never thought I'd see a Gene Krupa thread on CF. I'm no music expert, but I remembered watching Neil Peart drumming yeeeears ago and decided to search around for other drummers and who all were considered among the greatest ever. The search led me to Buddy Rich who I listened to and thought "damn, pretty cool". Of course my "like" for Rich kind of floundered when I saw the video of him dissing country music and people like Chet Atkins and Glen Campbell. Then that led me to Krupa and Rich drum battle :
I love Gene Krupa. I discovered him after Buddy Rich. Chick Webb is up there as well. He was amazing and doesn't get the recognition of the other guys. I would say he's the most musical of the three.
