The Bernard Purdie Interview: Steely Dan, Aretha Franklin The Purdie Shuffle

Bernard Lee Pretty Purdie(born June 11, 1941) is an Americandrummer, and an influential R B, soul andfunkmusician. He is known for his precise musical time keeping and his signature use of triplets against a halftime backbeat: the Purdie Purdie is known as a groove drummer with immaculate timing who makes use of precisionhalf note, backbeats, and grooves. He often employs a straight eight groove sometimes fusing several influences such as swing, blues and funk. He created the now wellknowndrum patternPurdie HalfTime Shufflethat is abluesshuffle variation with the addition of syncopatedghost noteson the snare drum. Variations on thisshufflecan be heard on songs such asLed Zeppelin s Fool in the Rain andToto s Rosanna (Rosanna shuffle). Purdie plays the shuffle onSteely Dan s Babylon Sisters and Home At Last.