Holy crap !!............Thanks for that, I'll retrieve my tail from between my legs sometime later.........
Yeah, like I said, he was 75 (with Parkinson's Disease) when I shot that vid. And a nicer guy you couldn't meet. I'll never forget my interview with him when I was researching the Gretsch Book in 1994. I wanted the point of the book to be "It's the drummers, not the drums" that gave "that Great Gretsch Sound." So at some point in all my interviews I’d just mention an endorser’s name and ask for their thoughts. Sometimes sparks would fly (another story) but in Bellson’s case, he just lit up.
I had rented a hotel room in San Jose (near where he lived) to conduct the interview. Arriving early, I was pacing the room trying to calm down my nerves. I mean I was about to be sitting with one of the great drumming legends of our time. As the hour drew near I thought “F**k, what if he doesn’t show?” Then, almost exactly to the minute of our appointment, the front desk called to tell me my guest had arrived. I can’t tell you how nervous I was. I mean I was about to meet and interview a legend in the music business. Duke Ellington is quoted with “not only the world’s greatest drummer, but also the world’s greatest musician.” You name it and he’d done it. At age 17 he was hand picked by Gene Krupa to win the 1941 Slingerland Gene Krupa Drum contest (over 40,000 drummers nationally). Besides the afore mentioned Duke Ellington, he played with Benny Goodman, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Count Base and of course with his first wife Pearl Bailey. I could go on but if you are interested go to Wikipedia.com
His wife, Francine was with him and after introductions, I invited them up to the room. I noted the tape recorder and asked permission to record the interview. Then there was that pause…that pause I know all of you have experienced…that moment just before a really big gig starts that you pick up your drumsticks, take a deep breath and... Here I was sitting across from one of my heroes, a who’s who in the annals of great performer/composers. Both he and Mrs. Bellson are looking at me with an expression of “Well?”
I started with “Tell me your experiences with Billy Gladstone.” I wanted to avoid, at all costs, the usual kitsch interview openers…”What is your most memorable…Who were your teachers… you know, the “Tell me about yourself’ banal questions most interviews start with. It worked. I mean he lit up like the Christmas tree outside Rockefeller Center. Then with each new name of a fellow endorser, he became more animated. You could tell he was reliving old comradeships with vigor. I mean all I’d do is say a name and I’d get great stories, including the names of the guys working at the Gretsch factory. My nerves quickly calmed down because I was furiously taking notes. Of course I had sound checked my recorder (several times) and it had never failed me, but I wanted to be prepared for the first failure. I noticed Francine, rather stoic when we met, was smiling.
This went on for over an hour and when I thought it appropriate I thanked him and invited them to lunch in the hotel restaurant. Thinking he would probably decline yet another “interview lunch,” I was pleasantly surprised when he accepted. When we were seated at the restaurant, Bellson excused himself to go to the bathroom. While he was gone, Mrs. Bellson looks over to me and said “Ya done good.”
Let me close with the story of how I got the Gladstone drum. He spoke of the drum during the interview like it was one of his children. Now I am as frenetic as the best of you about collecting drums but somehow asking him to sell one of his children during the interview seemed inappropriate. About a week after the interview I mailed him a thank you letter for his time with a feeble offer of “If you ever decide to sell your Gladstone…blah, blah.” That weekend I got a call from Bellson and the world stopped. I couldn’t believe my ears when he said, “I just got home from a gig in Las Vegas with Joe Williams and I’ve decided to sell you the drum.” He went on “Harvey Mason and Dennis Chambers offered me more for the drum. You see, I know those guys would take good care of the drum and both would play it a lot. But I know a lot of people will be able to see and appreciate the drum if you have it.” Short of strapping the drum on top of my car, I have tried my best. The first show was Liam Mulholland’s Second Annual West Coast Vintage and Custom Show in 1997. Every opportunity I get…