I can think of a lot better things to do with my hands than to cut them up on the rim of a drum.
Buddy Rich

You only get better by playing.
Buddy Rich

It takes us about four or five days to get an album out.
Buddy Rich

Well, I never really practiced because I never had the opportunity to practice.
Buddy Rich

There were so many individual styles thirty or forty years ago.
Buddy Rich

Almost everything I've done, I've done through my own creativity. I don't think I ever had to listen to anyone else to learn how to play drums. I wish I could say that for about ten thousand other drummers.
Buddy Rich

But, I don't think any arranger should ever write a drum part for a drummer because if a drummer can't create his own Interpretation of the chart and he plays everything that's written, he becomes mechanical; he has no freedom.
Buddy Rich

So, practice, particularly after you've attained a job, any kind of job, like playing with a four piece band, that's... an opportunity to develop.
Buddy Rich