Purdie Good!

The second album from outstanding session drummer Bernard Purdie firmly embraces the funk idiom, kicking off with a blistering take on James Brown’s “Cold Sweat” with over a minute and a half dedicated to an extended percussion break featuring Norman Pride’s congas and Purdie’s clattering kit perfectly locked in together. It’s a drummer’s record with inexplicably few drum breaks, but Purdie’s kit is high up in the mix so his full-on, rolling style is always present. There are a couple of tunes that lean towards a more easy listening aesthetic but they’re rescued by Purdie’s uncompromising rhythms and even his cover of lightweight pop tune “Everybody’s Talking” has a gutbucket swagger to it. The extended guitar soloing on “Wasteland” places this in the hippie era and adds a hint of psychedelia to proceedings while the joyous album finisher “You Turn Me On” ends things on a light and optimistic tone.