A Trip Down Memory Lane… Part 2.

We left off last time talking about the one and only Elvin Jones. I couldn’t have ended on a higher note, and I’ll talk more about Elvin later, but now I’m going to go all the way back to the beginning…

With arms like that, it was obvious I was destined to be a drummer!

Before deciding to become a drummer, I spent many years ‘leaping tall buildings in a single bound’ as you can see in this photo.

Me (aka Superman), my brother Chris and sister Susan circa 1966.

That’s my brother Chris behind his blue drum set and my sister Susan. I’m guessing the year was 1966, which pre-dates my little brother Matthew (born in 1968). Chris took drum lessons for a while and my dad bought him this drum set, which was the same set he bought me in 1971 for my 11th birthday. We used to pretend we were Micky Dolenz of the Monkees and take a yardstick and weigh it down on one end with one of my dad’s Encyclopedia Britannica on the bookshelf a couple of feet away, so it looked like a boom microphone. Anyone old enough to remember The Monkees and Micky singing “I’m A Believer” will know what I mean.

Speaking of Micky, I met him 20 or so years later in 1986, during The Monkees 20th Anniversary Tour. I have to say that was pretty cool. I was working for Simmons and he was using a couple of SD-1 single pads out front on a stand as he sang. I went down to Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa, CA to deliver some SD-1 pads and e-prom chips, and he was very cool and funny. He said something like, “Jeez they don’t make ’em like they used to.” I just remember it struck me as funny. A few nights later, they played the Greek Theater in LA (much closer to home) and the drummer at the time, Eddie Zyne, gave me a heads-up that Mike Nesmith was going to join them on stage – the one and only appearance with all four Monkees since they broke up. Eddie hooked me up with tickets and sure enough, Mike came out for the encore, “Pleasant Valley Sunday.” That’s when I met John Stamos for the first time. He was backstage with what seemed like the entire cast of General Hospital and a million other LA celebrities. A year or so later, when I was working for Drum Workshop, Micky came up to the DW factory to order some drums. I delivered them to him at SIR in Hollywood a few weeks later and chatted with Davey Jones while Micky was on a phone call. Davey was an incredibly nice guy. He kept offering me food and drinks while I set up the kit.

John Stamos is also an incredibly nice guy.

Besides being a very handsome man, John Stamos is a great drummer and a great guy.

It’s always a blast when John Stamos visits the Zildjian booth at NAMM… the women line up to take photos with him (and the men too!)

After my last blog, I was determined to find a photo of my first drum set my dad bought through the Sears Catalog and came across this one. No, that’s not Peter Brady…

My Sears drum set – December 17, 1972

The back of the photo says December 17, 1972 – the day before my 12th birthday. We had literally just taken them out of the box – they still had the plastic on them. It’s a very sentimental photo for me, because my dad buying me these drums really changed my life. Or I should say, opened the door to my life. Thanks, dad… I’ll never forget it.

Last time I mentioned my first ever gig, with my band Undun, in 1974. Well, the date was actually a week earlier than I said – June 14, 1974. Here’s a shot of the entire group.

My first band, Undun, and first gig! Me (drums, vocals), Rick DeVincent (guitar, vocals), Scott Smith (percussion) and Bob Sullivan (bass, vocals) June 14, 1974 – Hoover School Melrose, MA

What a difference a year makes! Here’s my band “Trigger” in November 1975.

Dave Kilty (in white shirt), me, Tim Clancy, sax player, flautist, trumpet player and Mike McKee sitting on the floor.

I had joined the band in March or April of that year, during my freshman year in high school. Our original guitarist, Frank Hussar, had left the band and we hired Tim Clancy, from my hometown of Melrose, MA. We were all sophomores in high school, except Tim who was a couple of years older. Tim Clancy was the hot-shot guitar player in Melrose and we wanted him in the band when Frank left. Frank would re-join us about six months later. The rest of the lineup was Mike McKee – rhythm guitar and vocals and Dave Kilty – bass and vocals. We also had an alto sax player, trumpet player and flautist join us for selected tunes. They all went to Stoneham High School but I don’t remember their names. Having them allowed us to play Chicago tunes and playing “Make Me Smile” was the highlight of the night for me. But we also played songs like “Do The Hustle” (which I discussed in my Steve Gadd blog) and “Get Down Tonight” by KC and the Sunshine Band, which were fun tunes to play. This photo was taken at the Stoneham Armory in Stoneham, MA as we were packing up our gear. Check out the sign! We brought that everywhere! I don’t know who the guy on the far left with the red shirt is.

Here’s “Trigger” six months later in May of 1976.

Dave Kilty, me and Frank Hussar – Prince Palace – Melrose, MA – May 30, 1976

I remember this gig well. It was at Prince Palace in my hometown of Melrose, MA on May 30, 1976. I believe it was a Sunday night. It was hot outside and hot inside the hall. I think the rest of the guys arrived late, so we started late. None of us were old enough to drive, so we relied on our parents to drive us to gigs. Whenever we played in Melrose, I could always count on a big turnout from my high school friends, which was great. Though sometimes the other guys in the bands’ friends would come too, which often resulted in a brawl. I just remember being happy that Frank Hussar was back in the band. He’s a great guitarist and singer and lives in Nashville. We’re in touch through Facebook.

Here are a few random photos I found…

Me, Charlie Watts and Anton Fig – Blue Note in New York – November 2001

This was taken at Charlie’s gig at the Blue Note in New York in November of 2001. It was less than two months after 9/11 and it felt eerie to be in New York, but a great night nevertheless. Charlie and Anton are two of my favorite people. Another photo taken by the late-great Chuch Magee.

A note from Charlie…

Charlie turned 60 in June 2001 and I sent him a birthday gift. He sent this wonderful thank-you note to Kelly and me and also invited us to his aforementioned upcoming gig at the Blue Note in November 2001.

My first clinic tour…

Me, Kenny Aronoff and Ricardo from Hermes Music

This is so random, but when I found it, besides laughing my ass off at me and Kenny in our shorts, it brought back great memories. This was my first official clinic tour and it was April 1993. Kenny and I traveled throughout Mexico for two weeks and let me tell you it was a trip! We still laugh and reminisce about it. This was taken in Guadalajara I believe, on a day off. I was already traveling a lot for Zildjian, but I learned a lot during those two weeks on the road and it helped prepare me for what would be 20 years of spending half my life on the road. It also reaffirmed why Kenny Aronoff is so successful. He’s a consummate pro.

Two of my biggest heroes…

“Mighty” Max Weinberg, Me and Charlie Watts – December 13, 2012 – Newark, NJ

I’ve posted this on Facebook, so people have seen it. What’s significant about it (to me, anyway) is that besides being my friends, both Max and Charlie were/are huge influences on me as a drummer. This was taken moments before the Rolling Stones hit the stage at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on December 13, 2012. We were all chatting and Max’s wife Becky said, “Let’s get a photo of you guys.” So I stood on one side of Charlie and Max is on the other side, and Charlie said, “No John, you get in the middle.” I just found it funny. I was almost not going to go to the show because I had a lot going on at work and at home, but Charlie extended an invitation and I’m so glad I went. Even though it ended up that I wasn’t there in the capacity of representing Zildjian, it was well worth the trip to New York.

Sometimes you gotta have fun…

Tim Alexander, Me, Zildjian Rep Eddie Kramer, Diane and Steve Smith

This photo was taken at an Italian restaurant in my favorite US city (other than Boston), Mill Valley, CA. Anyone who’s been to Mill Valley knows why. I was there on Zildjian business and staying at the quaint and charming, Mill Valley Inn. Tim Alexander was still in Primus at the time and lived in San Francisco. Steve Smith was still living in nearby Novato, so he and his wife Diane joined us for dinner.

If a picture is worth a thousand words…

Zildjian Autograph Session – Winter NAMM January 2006

This photo is worth a million words. This was taken after one of our legendary autograph sessions. It was the “who’s who” of the drumming community, all there to sign autographs and hang. A bygone era, but many wonderful memories of those days. It’s hard to look at this and not get a little choked up, especially seeing my good friend, the late-great Ian Wallace. Besides being one of the greatest drummers of all time, Ian was one of the most beautiful humans I’ve ever known. He never failed to make me (or anyone) laugh. We lost him in 2007 and we all miss him very much. I’ll talk more about Ian in future blogs – there’s lots to say about this wonderful friend. I didn’t intend to end this on a downer. Seeing all those great drummers will hopefully bring a smile to your face – it does to me. And I’m sure Ian is smiling too.

Stay tuned for Part 3, but a spoiler alter: I’m going to include lots of photos of my kids! I found some great ones:)

In the meantime, thanks for reading…
JD

‹ A Trip Down Memory Lane… Part 1.

After 50 Years, The Stones Are Still Rolling And The Greatest Rock & Roll Band In The World! ›

Tagged with: Avedis Zildjian Company, Charlie Watts, Davey Jones, John Stamos, Max Weinberg, Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, The Monkees, Zildjian Cymbals
Posted in John's Drummer Pals