Dazz, he doesn't nail Nite Sprite on the first try, not as well as Gadd did, at least. (or as he supposedly did)
I have a video with Zappa's security guard talking about him and he said Zappa would never touch any kind of drug at all. Legal or not. Even for a cold. That's pretty hard to bealive but it is Zappa...
Dazz, he doesn't nail Nite Sprite on the first try, not as well as Gadd did, at least. (or as he supposedly did)
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Frank Zappa was a smoker haha the security guard must have been pretty cluelessOriginally posted by Kurt R:
I have a video with Zappa's security guard talking about him and he said Zappa would never touch any kind of drug at all. Legal or not. Even for a cold. That's pretty hard to bealive but it is Zappa...
Well the guard seemed pretty out of it at time he was talking sooo....
Hey Drumaddict,
Thanks for your nice story.
Great.
Peace.
Hey Plaid.....
I think you nailed it pretty good.
Since I got to hang with Vince at Brombergs recording session all day a few months back, it gave me a unique opportunaty to see what he was really like. The twitching and nervousness is classic Vinne my freinds. I would even say he almost has a "tick" (an un-controllable twitch that effects his speech and body gestures when talking normally to him). Joel Taylor has this same "tick" I would say.
Sitting in the board room listening to the playbacks, and just talking to him about global politics (a passion of his) before our election here in the U.S., gave me a unique insight to his thought process. He is an incredibly well read and very logical/intelligent person. He has an almost cocaine fiendishness regarding the time he puts into things (probably why he knows alot about what he talks about, regardless of what its about). I guess it fits the mold of people that are more likely to enjoy speed or similar drugs (i.e. coke or caffine).
The commnents people have made about Vinces behaviors after laying down what is probably drummings most damaging solo in history are strange to me. Even if I had close to the ability of Vinces, I would need at least a few minutes to compose myself after that triathalon of drumming. My god.... the man was still trying to catch his breath from 2 tunes of rediculous playing.
Anyway........ coke?? Yeah Vinnie did a ton of it. So did Carlos Vega, Greg Bissonett, Steve Gadd, etc, etc. I've seen some guys lock themselves up in a room with a gram of the stuff and practice for 10 hours straight. Think that'll help your chops?? Maybe. I can tell you the guys I know that did that are un-humanly players. Is it worth the after-effects down the road?? I doubt it. Makes me wonder if that twitch was always there with Vince before he got into drugs.
Gadd is another animal. Everything and anything that man could snort, drink, or smoke....... he was on it!! On a muggy summer day, Mosquitos quickly fall off and die when sucking his blood. Years ago, Gadd would purposely get wasted before recording sessions and gigs. Apparently he liked playing that way (so did I at one time). The worry that the artist he was playing for was commonly........ would Gadd even make it to the gig on time (because he was in a limo somewhere getting blasted) or without passing out somewhere??
Unfortunatly drugs and alcohol have been a mainstay of the musicians life. I think Mike Stern and countless others could tell you all about their Heroine problems and Jaco could too (god rest his troubled soul).
I think with the knowledge we have today about drugs, it keeps young musicians away from it a little better. But it takes help from others in the musical community too. Klemme.... if you know some "kids" that are getting into coke, tell them about how badly it screws with your nervous system. Scare them with Vinnies twitching if you must. LSD and pot are another drug that screws with your nervous system badly especially once you get older. I've done enough drugs to kill a horse and am always trying to work with youth around me to make them understand the ill effects and eventual tolls that drugs have on a persons body.
-j
There was a famous story back in the mid 80's of Gadd booked to a clinic here in England, Windsor I think. Hundreds of drummers filled the room in anticipation and he never showed up as he was out of it. They had to get a last minute replacement.
Anyway, why do a drug that turns you from this [img]smile.gif[/img] into this [img]graemlins/grrr.gif[/img]
[img]wink.gif[/img]
Sorry to post late on this subject since it is interesting to me and I would have posted earlier but I was out of town.
I was at the rehearsals for the BRMSC a dn the concert and remember seeing Vinnie rehearse with the band. He was sight reading the charts and I remember him really exciting the band. After they ran the tunes Steve Marcus was just laughing at how good Vinnie was. They were well aware that they would need to count that night. A few of the old timers didn't like the idea of a drummers showcase night and were a bit jadded. I don't think VC was on any drug that night since he played the same that week during rehearsals. He was very nervous and his suite got screwed up before the show forcing him to wear a purple suit from his closet. I also saw VC, DW, and Gadd rehearse there solo exchange. That was a special moment being in that room. Dave got stuck with a P.O.C Sonor kit that he hated. They had a good time rehearsing that segment and Gadd felt out of place a bit due to the chops of the other two. He was very humble and genuinely happy to be there. Dave and Vinnie kept exchanging drum licks on any surface available and clowning around. They were calling themselves "The Finger Bros" like giddy children. The host, can't remember his name, also had great chops and was trading rudiments with Dave and Vinnie. The performance by VC did sound inspired and on top a bit but I was happy he had finally been video taped at his finest. I only wish he would do more videos of that inspiring nature as we all do....
Hey WM,
I agree with you mostly except that Gregg Bissonette was not ever a coke head or even into the drug scene. I've known him well for the past 20 years way before the DLR gig and he always stayed clear of that stuff. He obviously was around it but never got into it. I just want to clear that up since there are many drummers who read these posts that may believe every word on these boards. So often there are assumptions made about people, just like this thread, that may not be true....
"Just because someone is amazing at something doesn?t mean that they aren?t human everywhere else. Great musicians can have drug/alcohol/addiction problems too.
-At a Weckl clinic in So Calif years ago, right when Dave was at the height of his Grubber studies, someone asked him if he was as good at "other things" as he was at drumming. Dave laughed and said, "I really can't do much of anything else."
Drummer Dave mentioned previously in another thread, ??people high in cognitive self-complexity have several diverse aspects to their self concept, for example they have many different interests. The person low in cognitive complexity has few or only one aspect that essentially defines them.
Each end of this personality dimension is associated with different pros and cons.
The high self-complexity person has many interests, but achieves less in any given domain, whereas the low self-complexity person typically excels much more than the high complexity person in the one domain that interests them.
The downside of low self-complexity is that if you fail in the one domain that defines you, you might become depressed, whereas the high self-complexity person does not have all eggs in one basket and can buffer themselves against depression by switching to a different domain.
How does this relate to practicing? You need to be low in self-complexity and only define yourself through drumming, to be able to practice 8 hours a day.?
-This is very interesting to me. Drummers are like wolves?they hang in packs and can be very tight. When all your drum buddies are excelling there is a lot of pressure to be equally great in your area of expertise. I admire the drive in all these great players?drive over a long period of time. But, if you are indeed a low complex personality, there is always the fear (maybe as Dave said above) that one?s drumming can be lost in a car or cooking accident.
Paradoxically, the fear to not lose the one domain (drumming) is given over to drugs to enhance this ability or domain. It isn?t rational, but few things we do as people are rationally based when self-preservation is involved. And for a drummer, his/ her skills are LIFE!
I think the 80?s excess of just about everything?remember ?hair bands? was greatly impacted when Magic Johnson admitted to having the AIDS virus in ?92. This sobered everyone up??If Magic could get AIDS then I could as well.? The sobering effect was not just AIDS, but with drugs as well. This is just my observation. I could be way off here.
The 80?s was also an extremely health conscious era as well. This is when the neighborhood gym became corporate, giving us Bally?s and 24 Hour Fitness today. More people focused on getting in shape and ?buff.?
Sadly, the reputation of Jeff and coke?TOTO for that matter?is legendary. No doubt the reports made by WecklsMechanic are unfortunately accurate, less Greg B. Again, I go back to the ?steroids and athletes of today? syndrome?if something is done by your peers, that is, peers of high standing (no pun intended), many will follow suit.
It goes back to self-preservation, tapping into that which is most important to us, and as drummers, getting skills is very important.
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