SKF NOTE: Here’s an insightful telling, by Woody Herman and Chubby Jackson, of Dave Tough’s impact on Herman’s big band when Tough first joined.

=====

Woody Herman: When our drummer, Cliff Lehman, decided to leave, I decided to bring in Davey Tough, who was working in Charlie Spivak’s band. Chubby [Jackson] flipped out when I told him. He and some of the other guys in the band remembered him as the drummer with Tommy Dorsey a few years earlier, and they felt Davey wasn’t a modern-enough player. Also, they were all in their twenties, and Tough was older.

“I don’t think that’s what we need,” Chubby told me. “We need a little sweetie who’s gonna help the band.”

“This guy Tough is very special,” I said, but Chubby was unconvinced.

The day after Davey joined the band, Chubby came to me raving.

Chubby Jackson recall:

I had made the biggest mistake in the world, because I became acquainted with one of the better generals of rhythm thinking. Dave Tough was totally brilliant. He tuned the drums to certain notes; he didn’t believe in metronomical time; he thought we should move. Flip was right down the middle, so we stayed with him. Sonny Herman used to play behind the beat, so we’d cool under him. And Bill Harris played on top of the beat, so we’d go with him. But when it was ensemble it was Davey and myself. He insisted that I stand right next to him so I could watch his foot pedal and the movement of his hands. I learned an awful lot from Dave.

Source: “The Woodchopper’s Ball: The Autobiography of Woody Herman,” by Woody Herman and Stuart Trout. E.P Dutton, NY. 1990