SKF NOTE: This is an excerpt from my 1983 interview for Modern Drummer with Fred Below. I was at the MD office taping the interview during a phone conversation with a suction cup mic and an audio cassette recorder. Fred Below was speaking from his home in Chicago.

In 1983, unless you had attended the Roy C. Knapp School of Percussion in Chicago – there was mystery surrounding it. It had a great reputation, but very little was known outside of Chicago about the school’s curriculum and teachers.

Mr. Below’s remarks make clear two additional points: First, he was an exceptionally well-schooled musician. Second, that not all Chicago Blues drummers were simply “feel” players.