Buddy Rich
The Bus Tapes
Rich's temper, mercurial attitude, and imposing personality were documented in secret recordings that pianist Lee Musikermade of some of his outbursts, on tour buses and backstage in the early 1980s.
These recordings, long circulated in bootleg form, have done much to fuel the reputation of Rich's personality.
On one recording, Rich threatens to fire trombonist Dave Panichi for having a beard. While he threatened many times to fire members of his band, he seldom did so, and for the most part he lauded his musicians during television and print interviews.
The day before Rich died, he was visited by Mel Tormé, who claims that one of Rich's last requests was to hear the tapes that featured his angry outbursts. At the time, Tormé was working on an authorized biography of Rich, which was released after Rich's death, titled Traps – The Drum Wonder: The Life of Buddy Rich. Tormé included edited excerpts of the tapes in the book, but never played them for Rich.
Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.
He is widely considered one of the most influential drummers of all time and was known for his virtuoso technique, power and speed.
Rich performed with many bandleaders, most notably Tommy Dorsey, Harry James
and Count Basie, and later led his own big band.