Bob DiSalle: ‘Keith Gilroy: A Positive Influence, a Mentor’

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: I don’t know why I didn’t include Keith Gilroy’s name in Bob DiSalle‘s Modern Drummer interview (Nov. 1982). Digitizing a cassette recently, which is full of random bits of MD interviews — there was Bob DiSalle, asking me to include in his feature interview, I think, Keith Gilroy — a positive influence, and a mentor. But, Keith Gilroy is not mentioned in DiSalle’s interview. That’s puzzling.

Most drummers had Keith Gilroy’s in their life. I certainly did. I’m sorry, Bob DiSalle, to be a day late and a dollar short publishing your tribute to Keith Gilroy. I thought I was listening to praise which certainly was transcribed and published. But, no.

Bob DiSalle and I never met, which is a shame. As I explain in my introduction to his interview — I liked his drumming before I even knew his name. And there was so much about Bob DiSalle’s approach to drumming, to professionalism, that I identified with. He was a very interesting, sincere man.

[SKF NOTE: 6/17/17 – Bob DiSalle’s full interview is now available on MD‘s Archive Page.]

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When Photographers and Drumsets Collide

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Scott K Fish
1981_nov_md_alan-gratzer_ludwig_ad

SKF NOTE: Alan Gratzer’s 1981 Ludwig ad reminds me of an innovation Alan mentioned to photographer John Leze during an REO Speedwagon in-concert photo shoot for Gratzer’s Modern Drummer interview published in July 1981.

At that time it was still tough for photographers to take pictures of drummers in concert. Music stages were usually several feet above ground level, and drummers were set up on risers a few feet higher still.

Stage lighting on drummers was sketchy; they often played in dim lights, colored lights, strobe lights. And drummers were always at least partially hidden by their drumsets.

Imagine trying to get live shots of Alan Gratzer sitting behind his “Set-Up” with four rack toms, two over two, in front of him!

If you look at John Lee’s photos published with Gratzer’s MD interview, you can see, I think, the challenge. John could only get side shots of Alan. I was at the concert too, and I remember John and Alan kicking around solutions. And it was Alan Gratzer, I believe, who floated the idea of attaching a series of camera’s to his cymbal stands, pre-focused, that John could trigger electronically.

I loved the idea. It would have been interesting, in 1981, to have experimented with it.

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Universal Music Truth and Punk Rock Drummers: What Are The Lyrics?

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Scott K Fish

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SKF NOTE: Three Punk rock drummers agree with me on the importance of knowing song lyrics. That view, which is shared by all kinds of great instrumentalists, going back to at least the 1930s, must be a universal music truth.

Punk rock drumming roundtable: Budgie, Steve Grantley and Danny Farrant
By Rhythm
Punk vets talk fast and furious drumming

Steve: “I think something that’s happened in the last 10 years, everybody has got way too busy and there is not enough focus on feel, there’s more focus on pure, raw technique.”

Budgie: “What’s the song about? What are the lyrics? I used to have lyrics taped to my bass drum or my cymbal so I knew what the singer was up to. What I’d remember was vocal cues.”

Steve: “It’s like John Bonham almost being punctuation to Robert Plant. You can bring musicality rather than just technical ability.”

Budgie: “I was feeling inadequate for the longest time because I didn’t have that technical prowess. But I was thinking, well, I’m still here so there must be some reason, but I always used to watch the singer. It was vocalists that I kept close with. Everybody has got to be there when they land.”

Danny: “That is so true, even if they’re wrong, which is something you learn. You make a call. A lot of this goes on in our band. I know which side of the coin I come down on – I go with the singer.

“If the singer is doing his thing and can’t hear you because he’s communicating with the audience, but I know he’s gone out by two beats or a beat, I come back in with him. To me, that’s being a trustworthy person. You’re on his side and you’ve got his back. But you learn that.”

Full Story

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Fred Below: You’ve Got to Know What Each Sound Is

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: From my July 9, 1982 phone interview with pioneering drummer Fred Below. In this excerpt, Fred Below gives us his thoughts on the characteristics of great drummers, starting with knowing how to play with dynamics.

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Audio: Freddie Gruber on The Marvelous Magic of Dave Tough

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: Excerpt from my interview with Freddie Gruber in Buddy Rich’s NYC apartment circa 1983-84. I posted my memory of this interview on an earlier post.

I am so grateful to have met and interviewed gifted people like Freddie Gruber, in part, because of the personal connection Freddie had with great musicians in the generations before him. During some drummer interviews, there are rare moments when I am acutely aware of the musical, historical value of what I am hearing.

That’s how I feel about what Freddie Gruber has to say here about Dave Tough. Moreso today than 30-plus years ago during this interview. Listening this morning, I hear Freddie – simply by the tone of his voice – urging me to stop talking, and listen to what Freddie is saying about Dave Tough.

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