An Avedis Zildjian Cymbal ad from the 1960's

This ad appeared in Downbeat magazine in the early 1960's, and it best signifies how much the drum business, and the cymbal business in particular, has changed over the years. Back in the day, Downbeat would publish certain issues that would feature musicians and the  instruments that they played. Thus, there would be a percussion issue, a keyboard issue etc. The percussion issue, not surprisingly, would be loaded with ads from drum companies featuring drums and hardware. Ludwig, Slingerland, Rogers, Gretsch, Camco, and Premier all participated.

But cymbal manufacturers were  different, simply because there weren't that many companies. Almost all professional drummers played either A. Zildjian or K Zildjian. Yes, there were a few others, UFIP, for example, but these companies existed on the fringes. Paiste cymbals started a distribution deal with Ludwig drums in the mid 60's. But I vividly remember my drum tutor, Max Mariash, insisting that A. Zildjian cymbals were the only choice for the serious drummer.

A close inspection of this ad indicates how many drummers  used A. Zildjian cymbals at the time. Leading the pack was, of course, Buddy Rich.  But  Louis Bellson, Gene Krupa, Max Roach, and Roy Haynes are featured in the first two lines of the ad!  The rest of the drummers featured are a "who's who" of  professional drummers.

Today, the situation has been turned upside down. First of all, drummers have numerous choices in the marketplace. Paiste, Sabian, Murat Diril, UFIP, Wuhan, and Meinl are just a few of the better known companies. In addition, there are many small custom companies that are trying to grab a piece of the pie.  And it seems like each company has various lines that are tailored to different genres of music.

All in all,  it can be quite confusing. But there's no doubt that drummers today have many more choices than the giants of yesteryear.

Rogers Drum Company Ad--Downbeat magazine

Drum Companies, like all other businesses, have used various means to get their message out to the public. In the 40's, 50's, and 60's, the print media was particularly effective. But unlike today, there were only so many outlets that were available  that made sense.

Downbeat Magazine was the choice of many, if not all, of the music manufacturers at the time. The magazine was very influential in the jazz and dance band circles. Musicians read it constantly, for it was one of the only magazines that focused on the subject matter. It seemed that every page had an  advertisement calling attention to a specific instrument and the company that manufactured it. Which brings us to the ad you see pictured here.

Up until the late 50's,  the Rogers Drum Company was a weak sister compared to Ludwig and Slingerland.. Even the Leedy Drum Company had more presence than Rogers. Things changed dramatically when Henry Grossman bought the company in 1955. Joe Thompson, an employee with Grossman Distribution, agreed to join  the company as chief designer and engineer.  Ben Strauss, another employee, joined the Rogers team as the head of marketing and publicity.  They immediately set about changing the drumming world landscape.

The pictured ad appeared as a two page (double truck) ad in Downbeat magazine in the early 1960's. This is only one page. As the ad states, Rogers held a 5 day percussion exhibit at the Edison Hotel on Times Square. Nearly 2000 percussionists attended the event, including the Company's principal endorser, Buddy Rich.  Rogers used the occasion to feature the new Swivomatic hardware, which was revolutionary for the time. Nothing like it had ever been seen, or used for that matter. Nevertheless, the introduction of this hardware skyrocketed the Rogers brand from an also-ran to a major player in the field.

Rogers Drums quickly became the "Cadillac" of American Drums. The shells and hardware  were  the envy of the drumming world. The drums were not cheap, clearly they were the most expensive American made drums at the time. But you "got what you paid for.".

Today, Rogers Drums continue to shine like a beacon so many years after their splash in the early 60's.

3 Amigos--Gene, Barrett, and Buddy

In the aftermath of the Chicago Drum Show, I thought I'd post this picture. Perhaps many of you readers have seen it and are familiar with it, but it's a great picture that captures three drummers who excelled in the art of big band jazz drumming.

The picture is a promotional shot that Barrett used to promote his orchestra's salute to Gene Krupa. I have no idea of the time frame here. I'm guessing middle 1950's, if slightly later. Barrett is sitting behind a Ludwig drum kit. He endorsed Ludwig from 1948 until late 1950's. Buddy, too, was an endorser of Ludwig at the time. Gene, on the other hand, was a Slingerland man all the way.

Older drummers and musicians would have no trouble identifying who is who in the photo. But for younger players, a brief description of each might suffice.

Gene Krupa is in the center of the photo, in between Barrett and Buddy. It was Gene who brought the drums out front and center during the Swing Era. Before Gene, drummers weren't even considered musicians. A big band was described as, " 14 or 15 musicians and a drummer." Gene had such a charismatic presence that it was only a matter of time before he ventured out on his own. He fronted his own big band and he featured great soloists (Roy Eldridge) and singers (Anita O'Day). Gene Krupa was truly an ambassador for drummers everywhere.

Barrett Deems billed himself as "the world's fastest drummer." He played with Louis Armstrong and, as the promotional photo shows, fronted his own orchestra. Barrett played in all sorts of groups in his hometown of Chicago. He played well into his 80's and I remember seeing him hanging out at the Jazz Showcase whenever a famous jazz drummer came into town to play the club.

Buddy Rich is standing next to Gene. If you're a drummer, and you don't know who Buddy Rich is, you're in serious trouble. I still remember the first time I heard him on record. Max Mariash, my teacher, played a tune on his record player with Buddy playing drums. He then asked me to write down what I thought he was playing. I sat there open mouthed. True, I was only 14 at the time and Max did this exercise with other drummers' recordings e.g. Max Roach, Jo Jones. It was a great way to learn about drumming style and technique. More often than not, Buddy Rich, occupied center stage in these listening sessions.

Buddy's history with big bands, both his own and others, is well known and there's no need to rehash it here. Suffice it to say that his technical virtuosity remains unmatched, even in this day and age.

We drummers of today stand on the shoulders of giants

The Buddy Rich Model Super Classic Snare Drum

The great Buddy Rich endorsed and played different drums from various companies throughout his playing career. He was one of the few drummers who received free drum kits and cash payments for his endorsement.

At one time or another, he endorsed Rogers, Vox, Ludwig, Fibes, and Slingerland, but he spent most of his career switching between Slingerland and Ludwig, always searching for the perfect snare drum and playing whatever drum suited his fancy.

In 1946, the WFL/Ludwig Drum Company aggressively courted him and wooed him away from Slingerland. The Ludwig execs felt the need to sign him to combat the influence that Gene Krupa had with Slingerland. Krupa played Slingerland Drums his whole life and sold many drum kits to aspiring big band drummers.

Ludwig rolled out the red carpet and featured him on the cover of their 1948 and 1949 catalogs. They featured him in adverts as their number one Drum star. I posted one of these on an earlier blog. (See blog entry Sept 10, 2010). They also named two snare drums after him, the 5.5 x 14 Buddy Rich Super Classic and the 3 x 13, or the 4 x 14, Buddy Rich Be-Bop model.

The pictured drum is the Buddy Rich Super Classic in a White Marine Pearl wrap. It's a 3 ply mahogany/poplar/mahogany mix. The drum comes with the P-87 strainer, also referred to as the Classic strainer. The Super Classic originally came with calf heads, but Remo Weather Kings do quite nicely. In fact, with the literally hundreds of drum head choices now available, one could make the Buddy Rich Super Classic a very versatile snare drum. It's a fine snare drum and, like most Ludwig Snare Drums of the time, it's solidly built.

Buddy stayed with Ludwig from 1946 to 1959 until the Rogers Drum Company signed him as an endorser. He played Rogers until 1966, then spent about 6 months with Vox, then Fibes for a short time, and finally returned to Slingerland. He spent 10 years with Slingerland and returned to Ludwig in 1977. During his last years, he played a restored set of 1940's Slingerland Radio Kings.

Buddy Rich was a one of a kind. Truthfully, any snare drum that bears his name occupies a special place in Drum History.

Max Mariash--My drum teacher

I've already mentioned Max on my website, but it bears repeating. He was a great player and a marvelous teacher. He was well known in the drum community. When Buddy Rich gave a drum clinic in Chicago, Max was mentioned as being in the audience. Buddy immediately acknowledged him.
As mentioned on my web site, Louis Bellson knew him well. They both studied at the Roy Knapp percussion school.
Max enjoyed talking with other drummers about their drumming. I remember Max telling me that he spent some time talking with Rufus Jones when he was touring with Duke Ellington. Max was always curious about what other drummers were studying---how they were trying to improve their playing. He was a one of kind drummer and musician. I feel extremely fortunate to have known him and studied with him.