Bernard Purdie: my six career-defining records

The Purdie Shuffle – that distinctive, much-imitated marvel of soulful syncopation, interpreted by giants like John Bonham and Jeff Porcaro, just to name a few. Turns out the inventor of the two-measure treasure wasn't thinking drums at all when he came up with it – he was imagining a train.

"The way a locomotive kind of pushes and pulls, that's what I was feeling," says Bernard Purdie. "I played it for my music teacher, Mr Leonard Haywood, when I was a kid, and he tried to stop me. 'That's not the way to play a shuffle,' he said. But I heard what I heard - whoosh, whoosh, whoosh - so I kept it. Eventually, he said, 'OK, you work on that. It that could be something… but not today.' [laughs] That's all right. I knew I'd get my chance."

By MusicRadar news

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