E188: Remembering Freddie Gruber With Special Guests! Part 1

[@jimbojuan]

Would be awesome to do a Buddy Rich memorial reunion with Vinnie, Dave, Steve, Gregg and Dennis. I'm sure there are tons of stories from that event.

[@emb2302]

Outstanding idea!!!

[@williamperri3437]

And Omar!!!!

[@squamishfish]

Love hearing the story of Neil Peart talking about lessons from Freddy and Peter Erskine walking up the, side walks not knowing what to expect for lessons , So humble to take more lessons even though he was at his peak in his career

[@dominikn19]

Legendary. 👑

[@adityatyagi4009]

Great discussion. If the only the late great Neil Peart was alive to participate in it!

[@toddwalkerdrumstudio]

Thanks so much John for this awesome video (ALONG with!!) some of the most prominent greats AND, the wonderful "stories, thoughts, memories & insight" towards the wonderful Freddie Gruber!!!!...Thanks again-Todd Walker

[@drumdiscussion7776]

Thanks John and a cast of notable individuals. Much of our life path and direction is guided by influencers along the way. Freddie Gruber is such. The energy extends from one to another. Giving everyone the power of ideas and execution. Make it your own.❤

[@kandgsitz4092]

Another treasure trove here! Nice to hear Ian Wallace mentioned, too. Waiting on the Part 2!

[@WorldDrummerStef]

Thank you John D for hosting this, and thanks to Bruce Becker for the idea of putting this together!! Great to hear these master drummers and teachers paying homage and respect to a very influential master drum guru the late great Sir Freddie Gruber! Best :) P.S. For anyone who wishes to take a deep dive into the Freddie Gruber approach, I would highly recommend Bruce Becker, he's a great guy and an amazing drum teacher!

[@TomCawoski]

It's great to all the Freddie Gruber stories remembering and honoring him.

[@mercyless68]

Freddie!! Old family friend. As a kid he offered to show me some of his prowess on drums before I was even interested in drums! We usually went to his house. What a hip character he was! Him and my Dad just loved each other. So cool to see all these cool cats paying homage to him!

[@keithprior8279]

Amazing.Thank you John DeChristopher and Bruce Becker.

[@stevestage4]

What a beautiful way to show how when you’re gone you are still in us through these incredible musicians accounts and your legacy is forever

[@thedrummerboycr]

Pure Gold! Great! And how he influenced those drum masters, he also influenced me in technique even without having had the opportunity to know him. Great!

[@ralphpacejr]

Funny stuff John! Thanks all…👍🥁🎶🥁

[@jesusrodriguezalarcon541]

This is pure gold!! Thank you 🥁greetings from México 🇲🇽

[@DrummersEatingPizza413]

great stories...first time I became aware of Freddie was through Daves two DVD's and I believe Freddie was featured in a few sections

[@beckmillan]

Thank you, John, for putting this together. Amazing panel of guests! 🙏🏼🤙🏼

[@xenprovence6126]

If I'm not mistaken, Vinnie did take lessons with the "underground teaching guru" Dick Wilson in L.A. I was also a student and Dick would attend many Karizma gigs at the Baked Potato in Studio City when Vinnie was playing. Vinnie mentions a strong feeling about F.G. and people's attitude towards F.G. ...well I know one person that that might havev been; Dick Wilson. Dick mocked, belittled and derided everything F.G.proposed and all of us students heard about this rivalry between Freddie and Dick at almost every lesson. Seems now many years later, Freddie might have had some good ideas! Bryn

[@nealsausen4651]

Yes, and Freddy would mock, deride, and belittle dick Wilson just as much it was a rivalry fight! what was one of Freddy‘s favorite things about Dick? Oh yes, he often told me when the subject came up he would say: “ dick Wilson, couldn’t swing a rusty gate on a good day” always liked that quote I think one time GRUBER physically picked up Dick Wilson and held them up against the wall of some jazz club, because dick had criticized something about buddy rich…. His playing or buddy rich, himself and GRUBER, who could be pretty strong, actually lifted up dick Wilson by the collar until he apologized he slammed Dick against the brick wall of some jazz club or someplace a restaurant I don’t know anyway I could see that happening

[@PatCarrano]

This is so great !! Love all the stories. Thank you Bruce Becker !!!

[@Drummin4jesus1]

Awesome, some of my favorite players were there and I was glued to the tube. Waiting for part 2! Thanks John!

[@samuelcox4447]

You've done Freddie proud.

[@jansbamusic4778]

Thank you John for this ! It brings back great memories, bless his soul! , thanks to Bruce Becker I met Freddie in Belgium, we had a great hang, I did an interview with him that was from early in the evening and lasted till like 5 in the morning, unforgetable, he was a legend in every way. The greatest personification about Freddie's teaching was by Steve Smith, he greatly translated the true Gruber package, and with the same words he said to me during the interview : ''Are you serious?Do you wanna be serious about the drums?'' He was the guru, I wasn't serious and I regret it every single day, because I also understood what he was talking about.But I'm happy we did spend the time, I could listen for days to his stories.And true what Vinnie said, we should have more like him.

[@mjulio71]

Amazing! You blew the roof with this one, John. I've felt there has been a "what was the big deal about Freddie Gruber anyway?" movement within the drum community after he passed away. Hopefully this roundtable full of masters of every aspect of the art might help every skeptic out there "figure it out". Big fan of your channel, always.

[@rayleviermusic]

This was priceless!!!

[@dennishritz4677]

Excellent! Thank you!

[@tacol14]

AWESOME !!!

[@futonfave]

Thanks for such a great video and the line up of heavy hitter drummers on this video. Great dialog and stories.

[@GRohn61]

That was so enjoyable John! Looking forward to part 2

[@livefrommydrumroom]

It drops tonight at 8pm ET. Enjoy!

[@mikevanderhule]

That was a great one! Thank you.

[@rychechlanda]

Fantastic Video !!

[@Drumma75]

Love it!

[@mireksdroom]

NICE !!! Thanks

[@johngeorges1510]

Great job!! Excellent!!

[@boogingtonthunderwood8969]

❤❤❤

[@andypike1234]

All stars dream team

[@dhmtbr2551]

😮

[@unclerhombus]

Has anyone ever been able to find any audio or video recordings of Freddie Gruber actually playing drums? I’ve searched everywhere for years and can’t find anything at all…

[@FrederickJohnSebastian]

There's some video of Peter Erskine talking about his studies with Freddie Gruber and he had the exact same thought. So he demanded Freddie play something and was greatly impressed

[@tster4181]

Does anyone have any video of Bill Belichick making a tackle?

[@peacefulbliss1]

@@tster4181 Stupid analogy. You wouldn't hire someone to paint your portrait if you didn't see any of their work.

[@peacefulbliss1]

Nothing. For someone who lived over 80 years, there is nothing.

[@unclerhombus]

@@tster4181 Belichick doesn’t claim to be a football player. Freddie claimed to be a drummer. Perhaps he *was* amazing, but how can we know?

[@RemoWilliams-jg4yb]

Check the mic settings please. The whole ASMR spittle noises sounds like someone unwrapping Velveeta.

[@livefrommydrumroom]

I'm not hearing the noise. What is "ASMR"? Which person(s) mic is it coming from? Thanks.

[@RemoWilliams-jg4yb]

@@livefrommydrumroom LOL Check out the ASMR videos, you may thank me, and then again you may want hate me for opening pandora's box. Negativity aside, it is a great thing that you make this content. Letting the younger generation know the beauty of Jeff Porcaro's work, or how Fred Gruber changed drumming ergonomics. Thanks for all the work!

[@robburgess4556]

I kinda wish that someone had told Mark to change his background. Very distracting to have the hands waving.

[@drummersagainstitk]

Forget Freddy.

[@nealsausen4651]

@@drummersagainstitk : forget you!

[@drummersagainstitk]

@@nealsausen4651 Freddy was a fraud. A horrible guy and a useless drummer. The truth is a btch. Think of it like Biden won the election.

[@scottstruif3939]

It doesn’t take a genius to diagnose that holding the left stick so far behind its center of gravity that it can’t bounce is stupid.

[@nealsausen4651]

But you’d be surprised as how many people do just that hold to stick too far back I mean, Dave Weckl himself used to do that just looked at his old videos it took Freddy to correct him with that habit!

[@jeffreykwon3173]

No sound

[@livefrommydrumroom]

Really? I'm watching it now and it sounds fine.

[@jeffreykwon3173]

Now is OK^^​@@livefrommydrumroom

[@BDizDaBest]

If Freddie was so great, how come there isn’t any documented footage/evidence of him actually sitting behind the kit and playing anything of substance? (Note that I said “of substance,” so miss me with your videos of him playing basic exercises, demonstrating breathing techniques, waxing philosophically, and all the other bullshit you see him doing on KZbin.)

[@livefrommydrumroom]

It sounds like you have a strong opinion of Freddie. Obviously these guys got something out of studying with him. Others' mileage may vary. We were celebrating Freddie on this show - I don't know what your point is.

[@BDizDaBest]

@@livefrommydrumroom interesting how you chose to make this about my “opinion” when my post stated no opinion at all but rather posed a question. A question that’s based in fact, btw. It’s an undisputed, irrefutable fact that zero evidentiary documentation exists of Freddie Gruber playing the drums in any substantive way. If you can counter that fact with video or audio footage, please feel free to do so. Otherwise, don’t waste my time with non sequiturs. Thanks!

[@nealsausen4651]

@@BDizDaBest : that’s all you are is an opinion you never study with Freddy, so you really don’t know go crawl back under that rock you came out from under!

[@nealsausen4651]

That FRED GRUBER exercise is describing, is called the “BOUNCE 1”! Freddy showed it to me at a very first lesson in April 1969. It was to get me to be sensitive?… to get my hands sensitive to the weight of the stick and where it is at all times as the weight does shift from tip to butt. There is also a companion exercise. He showed me on the same first lesson. Called The “BOUNCE 1-2”! It’s the same idea as the previous exercise but there’s an extra step to it. I still have the original notes that Freddie wrote that day way back in April 1969 April 2 to be exact. I still have his handwritten in Black felt tip pin notes describing exercise, he takes up a whole page, in my manuscript book, writing, and describing how to execute the exercise May seem very simple and non-exciting but it is a very important exercise concept, and worth looking into! Remember, simple is best! In all I went through something like 34/35 Drum books with Freddy, some of them very obscure but very very interesting. This is of course, over a period of 25 to 30 years of studying with him!

[@JunkerOnDrums]

Thanks :D