Gene Krupa would be 100 in January ! His vids are still...

Hawk · Post by **Hawk** » Saturday Dec 06, 2008

The great drummer Gene Krupa would be 100 years old January 15th 2009 !

He is often credited with making the drum set a solo instrument. He often lost in drum battles with Buddy Rich, but (and Buddy is GREAT) IMO Krupa had an extraordinary feel and groove - Even his drum solos had a great groove everyone could feel ! Buddy Rich always had the better chops.
Check out his videos, check his grip - nearly the same as Mangini's on the Mangini thread.

His vids are still great !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8gvJnhTY2s

Krupa is king !

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Saturday Dec 06, 2008

Hawk, great video. I wonder if Harry would let you do that on his bass?

Hawk · Post by **Hawk** » Saturday Dec 06, 2008

undercoverjoe wrote:Hawk, great video. I wonder if Harry would let you do that on his bass?

LOL...I'll suprise him !

RamRod 1 · Post by **RamRod 1** » Sunday Dec 07, 2008

A little local history. Gene Krupa was known as the "Worlds Greatest drummer" and the guy that had the title before him was from Patton. His name was Eli Blake. After he lost the title to Gene he still played professionally including a gig at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC in the house band.

Here's a photo of Eli Blake practicing with "The Palmer House Band" in Patton in 1923 at about age 15.

Hawk · Post by **Hawk** » Sunday Dec 07, 2008

RamRod 1 wrote:A little local history. Gene Krupa was known as the "Worlds Greatest drummer" and the guy that had the title before him was from Patton. His name was Eli Blake. After he lost the title to Gene he still played professionally including a gig at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC in the house band.

Here's a photo of Eli Blake practicing with "The Palmer House Band" in Patton in 1923 at about age 15.

Wow ! Are there any recordings with him ?

RamRod 1 · Post by **RamRod 1** » Sunday Dec 07, 2008

Not that I know of. I gave that Photo to the Blake family last year. They didn't know too much about him.

That Photo was taken in my Grandfather's "Music Room".

moxham123 · Post by **moxham123** » Sunday Dec 07, 2008

Thanks for posting this video. Gene and the bass player are very tight together. Cool stuff.

DirtySanchez · Post by **DirtySanchez** » Tuesday Dec 09, 2008

Wow. My wifes maiden Name is Blake, and her family is from Westover.
That must be some distant relative.

RamRod 1 · Post by **RamRod 1** » Tuesday Dec 09, 2008

I'll bet you're right. Find out her grandfather's 1st name and PM me.

Gallowglass · Post by **Gallowglass** » Tuesday Dec 09, 2008

Hawk, thank you. I just went on an hour long "related video" sidetrack that had me listening to all the old cats. I finally had to quit and get back to work when Elvin Jones started grunting real hard (like he always does when he's really on it) 6 minutes into one of the most fabulous drum solos I've ever heard in my life.

p.s. Krupa is amazing. Rich might have had better technique, but Gene really did have a great feel. Personally, I tend to prefer jazz drummers from that era that didn't have such a "bandstand" feel. Jones, Roach, Blakey, Philly Joe, Roy Haynes, DeJonette, Tony Williams, Rashid Ali ...etc.

Charlie Burger from Hollidaysburg was a hell of a drummer in the day. He really liked Krupa. He thought Gene was THE man. You can't really argue with that.

Hawk · Post by **Hawk** » Tuesday Dec 09, 2008

Gallowglass wrote:Hawk, thank you. I just went on an hour long "related video" sidetrack that had me listening to all the old cats. I finally had to quit and get back to work when Elvin Jones started grunting real hard (like he always does when he's really on it) 6 minutes into one of the most fabulous drum solos I've ever heard in my life.

p.s. Krupa is amazing. Rich might have had better technique, but Gene really did have a great feel. Personally, I tend to prefer jazz drummers from that era that didn't have such a "bandstand" feel. Jones, Roach, Blakey, Philly Joe, Roy Haynes, DeJonette, Tony Williams, Rashid Ali ...etc.

Charlie Burger from Hollidaysburg was a hell of a drummer in the day. He really liked Krupa. He thought Gene was THE man. You can't really argue with that.

You are so right ! Back in those days, those guys "rocked out" in their own way. Recognizing that history will open the eyes of any young rocker today, and maybe teach them a few things as well.

f.sciarrillo · Post by **f.sciarrillo** » Tuesday Dec 09, 2008

That was some pretty good stuff there. It makes me want to look up some older chet atkins

randydrummer · Post by **randydrummer** » Friday Dec 12, 2008

I just want the bass drum from that pic of Eli Blake!

whitedevilone · Post by **whitedevilone** » Saturday Dec 13, 2008

Being a metalhead who took a turn into the serious world of Jazz early on i'd forgotten how much i love it.Like GGlass i found myself staring at the screen for an hour oooing and ahhing swinging my head like the white goof i am LOL.Then on to a Pat Martino vid where i realized what a chump i am on my ax.I recall a certain evening back in the day when Mr.Feathers and myself were driving around listening to Martino's Consciousness and Live when we absolutely had to pull over and stare at the CD deck in disbelief......ah them was da days!
Another tidbit of local music news.Throughout the 60's and into the 70's my great uncle Gene was the head of the muscians union in this area.The old lady that lives next to me ran the VFW for years and she showed me the union handbook.Those cats were serious about that stuff.It had the pay scale for bandleaders backline,frontline,backup singers,everything if you weren't in there you no workyLOL.Oh well sorry for the rambling.Thanks for the post Bill.

Drum-Wolf · Post by **Drum-Wolf** » Sunday Dec 21, 2008

This pretty, hot brunette comes up to Gene on his break in a smoky bar in Chicago & asks, "Hey Gene, you're playing those drums as if there's a devil in them that you just have to beat out of them. Is there someone or something that motivates you to want to do that?" Geno replies, "Yes, his name is Mr. Noboby, & he wants me to be just like him, see?"

Hawk · Post by **Hawk** » Sunday Jan 18, 2009

I missed it

- a few days ago (1.15.09) Gene would have been 100 !

Did anyone of you ever see the movie of Gene Krupa staring Sal Mineo ?

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Sunday Jan 18, 2009

Hawk wrote:I missed it - a few days ago (1.15.09) Gene would have been 100 !

Did anyone of you ever see the movie of Gene Krupa staring Sal Mineo ?

Yes, a long time ago. Sal Mineo, there's a name from the past.

Hawk · Post by **Hawk** » Monday Jan 19, 2009

undercoverjoe wrote:
Hawk wrote:I missed it - a few days ago (1.15.09) Gene would have been 100 !

Did anyone of you ever see the movie of Gene Krupa staring Sal Mineo ?
Yes, a long time ago. Sal Mineo, there's a name from the past.

The first time I saw it was as a child with my dad. He loved Krupa.

The movie is kind of "campy" but Krupa did all the drum solos and Sal did an extraordinary job looking and acting like Krupa behind the kit. Sal must have had some drumming background. I have the DVD of the movie if you or anyone else would like to borrow it.