Only a tiny percentage of musicians get to have a hit song, and huge careers are even more rare. Then there's the prodigiously productive drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, who created an entire sound and feel that changed rock and soul music forever: The loping, grooving drum beat known as the Purdie Shuffle.
"The Purdie Shuffle is a groove that seems to spin in concentric circles as it lopes forward," wrote David Segal for the New York Times in 2009. "The result is a Tilt-a-Whirl of sound, and if you can listen without shaking your hips, you should probably see a doctor."
The Purdie Shuffle is the common denominator between Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, and Death Cab for Cutie—a ubiquitous sound that's never lost its groovy edge. Purdie himself played with damn near every artist you've ever heard of, from Aretha Franklin to Frank Sinatra, and he's still working at the age of 79. His drums are among the most sampled of all time (close your eyes right now and recall the syncopated high-hat from the Mad Men theme song—or the intro to Hanson's "MMMBop"). One of his more unexpected legacies: a series of incredibly funky instructional videos, which have created an internet subculture all their own, and are carrying his percussive innovations into the future.
Drum roll please!
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 The Purdie ShuffleFebruary 14, 2019 |
Gimme a beat
Only a tiny percentage of musicians get to have a hit song, and huge careers are even more rare. Then there's the prodigiously productive drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, who created an entire sound and feel that changed rock and soul music forever: The loping, grooving drum beat known as the Purdie Shuffle.
"The Purdie Shuffle is a groove that seems to spin in concentric circles as it lopes forward," wrote David Segal for the New York Times in 2009. "The result is a Tilt-a-Whirl of sound, and if you can listen without shaking your hips, you should probably see a doctor."
The Purdie Shuffle is the common denominator between Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, and Death Cab for Cutie—a ubiquitous sound that's never lost its groovy edge. Purdie himself played with damn near every artist you've ever heard of, from Aretha Franklin to Frank Sinatra, and he's still working at the age of 79. His drums are among the most sampled of all time (close your eyes right now and recall the syncopated high-hat from the Mad Men theme song—or the intro to Hanson's "MMMBop"). One of his more unexpected legacies: a series of incredibly funky instructional videos, which have created an internet subculture all their own, and are carrying his percussive innovations into the future.
Drum roll please!
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6: Bass, high-hat, and snare tones that make up the Purdie Shuffle
2,500: Artists Purdie has recorded with, including James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and Steely Dan
4,000: Number of albums Purdie has appeared on, making him arguably the most-recorded drummer of all time
$25: Amount Purdie was wrongfully fined by James Brown, prompting the drummer to quit
6: Age Purdie began drumming on cans and other improvised instruments
14: Age he purchased his first drum set and began performing professionally
$8: Amount Purdie received for his first gig. "In the 1940s, that was actually a lot of money."
$10,000: Amount Purdie claims to have received to secretly "fix" Ringo Starr's drumming on early Beatles songs
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Bernard Purdie says the roots of his eponymous drumbeat were established in his childhood. "It all came about from the locomotion of the railroad tracks because I lived next door to the trains that were going to Washington, to Baltimore," he told NPR. "I was [a] child—7 and 8 years old: chickeda-chickeda-chickeda."
The actual shuffle didn't fully emerge until many years later. Drawing from the classic half-time shuffle used in jazz and blues, Purdie first recorded his namesake beat for the jazz-rock band Steely Dan for their 1977 song "Home at Last."
"They already told me they didn't want a shuffle, they didn't want Motown, they didn't want Chicago, they weren't sure what they wanted, but they did want half-time," Purdie said, years later. "I said fine, I'll give you the Purdie shuffle. They said, 'what's that'? And I said, well, I'll show you … [it's] Half-time, funky, laid back, without thinking it's a shuffle."
"The way Bernard played stuff he always had some unique stylistic thing that you could never imagine in advance and nobody else could do," said Steely Dan's Walter Becker.
Key to Purdie's sound were "ghost notes," which he produced by letting his drumsticks lightly bounce off the snare drum, and by moving his drumsticks around the high-hat to get a tick-tock sound. Watch the man himself explain here.
Other drummers quickly picked up on Purdie's innovation. See for example: John Bonham on Led Zeppelin's "Fool in the Rain," Jeff Porcaro on Toto's "Rosanna," and Jason McGerr on Death Cab for Cutie's "Grapevine Fires."
Pop quiz Which of these was not one of Bernard Purdie's nicknames? |
Bernard and Aretha
As the Quartz Obsession reported after Aretha Franklin's passing last year, Bernard Purdie was the singer's longtime drummer and music director.
"We were in tune with one another from day one," Purdie told a local news reporter in 2014. "I could see her. I could feel her and then I heard her … we just gelled with each other. When she's singing, I'm right there on her butt. And when I'm playing, she's right there for the licks. It's a wonderful feeling. And I'm (on stage) grinning from ear to ear."
The two performed together for iconic concerts like "Live at the Fillmore"—"I never witnessed anything like that because, I'm telling you, we literally rose off of the floor"—and for album tracks like "Rock Steady," a strong contender for Aretha's funkiest song.
Leading a rhythm section that included Cornell Dupree on guitar, Donny Hathaway on organ, and Dr. John on percussion, Purdie was a central player in one of music's most fortuitous accidents when Aretha's music fell off her piano. He explained to NPR:
"The red light was on—the red light means you always are recording. Tape was very, very expensive. We kept the music going, and I captured the eight bars that has taken me around the world. Everybody thought it was the most phenomenal drum break in my life—and all I was doing was keeping my time. I just smile, because 98% of the people of the world didn't know my drum break was an accident. I love it."
As none other than Barack Obama has suggested: "Here's a tip: when you're deejaying a party, open with 'Rock Steady.'"
Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with The Purdie Shuffle?
During his innumerable recording sessions, Purdie was famous for bringing along two giant signs, which he set up on music stands facing the control room. They read: "You've Done it!" and "You've Hired the Hitmaker, Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie."
Purdie University
YouTube is a vast treasure trove of Bernard Purdie giving drum lessons, deeply satisfying even if you've never picked up a drum stick. A selection:
- Drumeo: Bernard Purdie teaches the Purdie Shuffle
- Drummerworld: The Legendary Purdie Shuffle
- Drummerworld: Remember the One
- Funky Grooves in Japan
- Groove Workshop in Japan
All of this funky raw material has created some memorable mashups, including "Mother of All Funk Chords," by the Israeli producer Kutiman, and a series of videos by Vulfpeck's Jack Stratton. They include:
- Bernard Purdie & Ethel Caffie-Austin
- Bernard Purdie & Cory Henry
- Bernard Purdie & Herbie Hancock
- Bernard Purdie & Zie'l
Stratton also curates a drummer site called Funklet, which breaks down classic drum breaks, including many by Purdie, and anecdotes about classic songs like "O-o-h Child" by the Five Stairsteps:
"When Purdie wasn't feeling a track, he let it show.
"O-o-h Child" wasn't clicking. They were trying everything.
Purdie explains: "In the last twenty minutes of the session, Vince (Stan Vincent, writer) gave me my head. Bam! Fifteen minutes later, we have 'O-o-h Child'. My way."
"O-o-h Child" is Purdie's magnum opus. [emphasis added]
My high school jazz teacher would tell me to "drive the bus." Purdie is driving the bus, getting directions over the phone, and sniping [the] lollypop-sucking kid in the mirror."
Other famous drum loops
The Winstons, "Amen Brother" (NWA, "Straight Outta Compton")
Led Zeppelin, "When The Levee Breaks" (Beastie Boys, "Rhymin & Stealin")
James Brown, "Funky Drummer" (LL Cool J, "I'm Gonna Knock You Out")
Incredible Bongo Band, "Apache" ("The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel")
Poll What part of your body starts shaking when you hear Bernard Purdie? |
In yesterday's poll about shrinking pop songs, 48% of you said that you can't judge a song by its length. 📧 Dale writes: "The Beatles may have lengthened songs, but they learned it from Bob Dylan first. The DJs told Dylan his songs were too long for radio. He told them to break them in half and play it as two songs."
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