Richard “Pistol” Allen
drums (Motown)
Richard ‘Pistol’ Allen was a Detroit drummer who became part of Motown’s studio rhythm section; Barry named him among the Detroit drummers who could play the shuffle, and said he played with him.
- mentions
- 3
- recordings
- 2
- Barry speaking
- 1
What Barry says
Asked who was the best shuffle drummer he played with, Barry says Detroit was full of them and names some who went on to Motown: Pistol and Benny Benjamin. When the interviewer asks whether he played with Pistol and those drummers, Barry says of course he did.
Interview: Detroit, Bud Powell and the shuffle21:01
The interviewer brings up the shuffle, saying younger drummers no longer know it. Barry agrees that in Detroit he had to play rhythm and blues gigs with drummers who knew the shuffle; he sometimes thinks it is the best rhythm of all. He played those gigs, for money, with other players than Elvin Jones, and says they could really play and had the shuffle down.
Interview: Detroit, Bud Powell and the shuffle19:5620:2822:07
In his own words
Detroit was loaded with those cats. Some of those cats they went with Motown, Pistol, there was a couple of cats, Benny Benjamin.
Every mention
3 moments in the recordings, 1 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Interview: Detroit, Bud Powell and the shuffle
Ep. 20 | Charles McPherson: Meeting Charlie Parker, Studying with Barry Harris, and the Art of Bebop
- 0:00
Someone else
A podcast host names drummer Richard Pistol Allen of Motown’s house band in Charles McPherson’s Detroit scene.
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.