YOU’VE GOTTA ADMIT: IT GETS YOUR ATTENTION WHEN SOMEONE SAYS “I’M RINGO’S DRUMMER.”
PROBABLY THE FIRST THING THAT COMES TO YOUR MIND IS THAT “OF COURSE, SOMEONE HAD TO DRUM FOR RINGO ALL THOSE YEARS. WE ALL KNOW THAT HE WASN’T THAT EQUIPPED, SO VARIOUS STUDIO DRUMMERS DID HIS PART.”
WELL, DRUMMER GREGG BISSONETTE’S MUSICAL MISSION HAS BEEN TO DISPEL THAT UGLY RUMOR AND THROUGH HIS WORLDWIDE LECTURES HAS PREACHED THE GOOD NEWS OF RINGO BEING ONE OF THE BEST AND TASTIEST DRUMMERS AROUND.
BISSONETTE IS WELL KNOWN FOR HIS OWN DRUMMING SKILLS, HAVING TAKEN LESSONS FROM JAZZ LEGEND TONY WILLIAMS AND USING HIS TALENTS TO PLAY WITH ARTISTS RANGING FROM MAYNARD FERGUSON’S BIG BAND TO CARLOS SANTANA, STEVE VAI, JOE SATRIANI, TOTO AND DAVID LEE ROTH, AND HAVING BEEN A REGULAR AT THE BAKED POTATO BACK IN THE HALCYON DAYS OF LARRY CARLTON
IN BETWEEN TOURS WITH RINGO’S ALL STAR BAND, WHICH IS COMING TO THE GREEK THEATRE SEPTEMBER 1, GREGG TOOK SOME TIME TO GRACIOUSLY GIVE US SOME LIGHT ON HIS OWN CAREER AS WELL AS HIS PERSPECTIVE ON ROCK’S MOST FAMOUS DRUMMER.
DID YOU START OUT INITIALLY ATTRACTED TO JAZZ OR ROCK?
My favorite style of music has always been The Beatles.
When I was a kid in Detroit, my dad was a jazz drummer and my mom played jazz vibes in his band. I grew up listening to Dave Brubeck, Charlie Parker, Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson’s and Buddy Rich’s Big Bands. All of that great jazz.
What really got me into music and make me want to play drums in a band was when I saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show (in 1964).
I got to see the Beatles in 1966 because my dad was playing a jazz gig in Detroit and he came out and there were a thousand girls screaming. He asked the food and beverage manager what was going on and he said, “The Beatles are staying upstairs in this hotel.”
So my dad in his Detroit way says “My kids love The Beatles. Any chance of getting six tickets?”
The guy says, “It’s been sold out for months, but I like you; come back after your gig tonight.”
My dad goes to the bar 1 am after the gig, and he’s told “I’ve got good news and bad news. Here’s six tickets, but it’s gonna be 36 bucks.” So, we saw The Beatles the next night!
DO YOU HAVE ANY MEMORIES OF IT BESIDES HEARING SCREAMING GIRLS?
I remember that it was at the Olympia Hockey Arena where the Detroit Red Wings played with Gordie Howe. He was #9, #9, #9 (laughs)
I was sitting in the nosebleed seats, and thinking to myself “I am in the same room with the four of these guys.”
The funny thing is that a few years ago I was touring with Ringo and his All Starr Band and we were playing in Detroit. I said to Ringo after the sound check, “50 years ago I saw you guys two blocks from here at the Olympia Hockey Arena.”
He said “Let’s go to it!”
I had to tell him, “We tore it down. In America we tear down buildings of historical significance and put in parking lots.”
After we finished the first song of that show, with all of my high school friends there in the audience, Ringo stopped and announced “when he was 7 my friend and drummer were taken here in Detroit to see a band, and I was in that band. And he’s from here.”
The pure musicality that John, Paul, George and Ringo, whether they were covering R&B, musicals like “Till There Was You”, or there own originals like “Michelle,” they made other people want to cover them.
Saxophonist Tim Ries and I were in the Interlochen Jazz Band in Michigan, and we’d talk about The Beatles or The Stones, and he’s now the sax player for the Rolling Stones!
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“Ringo once told me, ‘I never sit at the drums and play by myself. I play with other musicians.’”
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WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUR RINGO’S PLAYING WHEN YOU SAW HIM OR FIRST LISTEN?
I remember knowing and noticing, even at 7 years old (as I was already playing drums) that he led with his left hand. He played left-handed drums on a right-handed kit, so I could see him crash with his left hand. No right handed drummer crashes with his left hand.
I remember when they left the stage Paul McCartney pulled out his acoustic guitar and played “Yesterday” which you could barely hear with all of the screaming.
SO RINGO INSPIRED YOU TO PLAY DRUMS?
Yes, but more so my dad. He had drums in the basement. He, my dad, mom and aunt would play jazz in the basement, and that really inspired me.
When I was 12, my brother was playing bass, and we would start subbing in my dad’s and other people’s bands in Detroit.
WHAT MUSICAL ADVICE DID YOUR DAD GIVE YOU?
He told me “I never learned how to play correctly; I don’t read music and I don’t hold my sticks the right way.” You’re going to get with a great teacher from the Detroit Symphony. But everything centers from the snare. You listen to Buddy Rich, Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Louis Bellson, Ed Shaughnessy, Roy Haynes or Elvin Jones, they all start with the snare and have it emanate out, especially in jazz drum solos where it goes into the ride cymbal.
I’d watch my dad and see him with the snare, high hat and ride cymbal going, “ga-ding ga-ding” and saw how it drives a band. You can take all the lessons in the world, but I learned how to play drums in a band from him.
Ringo once told me, “I never sit at the drums and play by myself. I play with other musicians.” That’s just 180 from what I’ve learned, but what a great philosophy
Most of the guys that I love, Ringo, Elvin, Tony Williams…they constantly played with other musicians.
These days that idea is so foreign. The kids are in a little cubicle in a practice room, playing along with Youtube and posting it to see how many hits they get. They don’t play with other musicians.
Most drummers nowadays just practice by themselves, not even with a bass player!
WHAT IS YOUR PET PEEVE WITH DRUMMERS?
The most important thing for a drummer is to set and hold the tempo, so it will lay right. If the guy is blowing through changes, or for a singer or for people that are dancing, be it a foxtrot for a wedding in 1968 or a Bruno Mars tune, you’ve got to lay down the right tempo.
Most young drummers don’t know how to pick the right tempo, and then they can’t even hold it.
When you play with musicians that practice with a metronome, you have learn to turn off that metronome and hold that groove. The guitar player may have just broken up with his girlfriend so he’s depressed and is dragging a bit, or the bass player just chugged 4 latte espressos from Starbucks so he’s rushing it because he’s all jacked up…you have to hold the groove!
YOU’VE PLAYED WITH SOME REAL CHOPMASTERS OF THE GUITAR LIKE STEVE VAI, STEVE LUKATHER AND JOE SATRIANI. WHO DO YOU LOCK IN WITH SO YOU DON’T GET LOST IN THE AVALANCHE?
All of those guys that you’ve mentioned, as well as Carlos Santana, they all have amazing time. Amazing. But the crème sort of rises to the top; when you’re playing at that level, whether it’s a whole note or 64th notes, they know about they groove.
It’s when you get hired to do a session for a singer/songwriter that’s not been in the studio or play with a drummer much, but have these demo tapes that they love it can be like doing a root canal.
You have to learn how to blow off people that don’t have a good feel for time as they won’t let you get the groove.
The crème doesn’t have that problem.
I’ve recorded a lot with Larry Carlton and his timing is just perfect.
IT SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE LIKE JOSEPH IN THE BIBLE, WHERE PEOPLE ARE ATTRACTED TO YOU BECAUASE THEY SEE GOD’S FAVOR IN YOU. HOW DO ARTISTS LIKE TOTO, VAN HALEN AND RINGO FIND YOU?
Important question. A lot of people, and parents of a kid that’s say, 12, and his band “is going to be the next Weather Report, Foo Fighters or whatever. The parents say, “Keep chasing that dream, Johnny.”
What Johnny doesn’t realize is that the band is subjected to the weakest link. So if your guitar player or bass player isn’t pulling his or her weight your band won’t get the record deal, which can be a curse anyway.
My parents led me down the path of “Why don’t you just be the best Gregg you can be.” I’m so glad they did that. Get an education, play with bands, go on the road with bands like Maynard Ferguson.
I came after Peter Erskine as drummer for Maynard Ferguson. It’s a rough life on a tour bus, playing in high school gyms , and the pay not so good.
But I learned to read music which helped in plugging into other situations.
For example, David Lee Roth left Van Halen and started a new band. Steve Vai gave me a heads up on ten songs they were doing, so I put together a Cheat Sheet of the charts and played them for David Lee Roth.
He said , “Wow! That was great; who was your last gig?” I figured I’d lose the rock gig, but I told him it was Gino Vanelli. He said, “I love Gino Vanelli.” When I told him I played with Ferguson before that he said, “You mean the high note guy that covered Herbie Hancocks’s “Chamelion”? Roth is a musical genius.
When he found out that I could write out charts, he asked me to write one out for a new version of Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life.” I said, “You got it” and went to New York to hire a bunch of old friends like Tim Ries. Roth said, “Welcome to the band; payday starts Friday.”
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“If you don’t keep up and prepare, you become a dinosaur”
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DOORS OPEN UP FOR YOU.
With Toto, Simon Phillips was the drummer for the band, but hurt his back real band. I charted out 35 Toto songs and was on the road in two days.
I just came back from a big festival in Orlando where I had to learn 50 songs for all of these artists in a week, and if it weren’t for my ability to write out music I wouldn’t have been able do it.
I’ve always been the guy who wants to plug into situations, whether it’s Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band or touring with Carlton or Terry Gibbs. With these guys you have to know how to read snare drum lines and really articulate a drum set part on short notice.
I was a trumpet minor, so I know the importance of not crashing on someone’s short notes. I just want to be the guy who plugs in.
IT’S LIKE THE OLD JOKE, “LUCK IS WHEN OPPORTUNITY MEETS WITH PREPARATION”
You need to be prepared because there are so many styles. I don’t care if it’s the Afro Cuban explosion, or a jazz gig in LA where you have guys playing half time. If you don’t play any deep Brazilian stuff as a drummer or catch up on the latest thing going on, you have to be prepared. The education doesn’t end when you’re 59 years old!
If you don’t keep up and prepare, you become a dinosaur.
I now hold my sticks the way Ringo does, with the Matched Grip. Bill Stewart, my favorite drummer, holds them Matched.
I took lessons from Tony Williams, and he alternated between Matched and Traditional.
WHEN YOU JOIN A BAND LIKE RINGO’S OR TOTO, DO THEY GIVE YOU DIRECTION OR ADVICE?
They don’t have to, because your professionalism tells you that if you’re going to play “Africa” or “Rosanna” or “Yellow Submarine” or “With A Little Help From My Friends,” out of respect for those artists you learn the recorded version.
If they say “Let’s bump it up a couple of notches for ‘live’ or if they have a new ending, I’ll put that on my chart. But out of respect, whether it’s an audition, tour or recording session you show respect.
A lot of drummers and other musicians aren’t sensitive enough to the artist that wants to go into the studio and record. Say there’s a demo they’ve had for awhile, and human nature is that they’ve fallen in love with that demo. So I try to sound as close as possible to those plastic drums on the drum machine or do brushes to the loops.
I’ll do a version and chart it out with “live” drums. Then they’ll go home and say, “Man, I’m so glad he was sensitive enough to respect me and do it how I wanted.”
Then, I’ll do a version for them of how I might do it if it were my album; or a “wild” version with things they may never use. Now they can figure out what they want.
HOW DID RINGO FIRST CONTACT YOU?
Ringo knew that I doing seminars around the world on how great a drummer he is. My education degree is from Texas. I believe in music education.
He knew that my topic for worldwide seminars was to talk about how guys like Baby Dodds, Big Sid Catlett or even Philly Joe Jones may not have had the technique of Buddy Rich’s single stroke rolls, or Tony Williams my teacher.
I tell people that Ringo has a lot of technique, but he doesn’t overuse it. He plays the right part. Like the bossa in “If I Fell” or “In My Life” where he plays one high hat per bar. That’s taste; that’s musicality.
He can play a single stroke roll super fast; he just doesn’t always do it. He’ll do it on “Ticket To Ride.”
So he came up to me one day and gave me a big hug and said to me “I hear you’re going all over world telling drummers how great I am; you’ve got to be in my band!”
HOW DID RINGO FIND OUT ABOUT YOU?
His producer Mark Hudson knew of my playing and knew that I did these session and seminars on Ringo. I just played every Ringo beat that I knew, so he could tell I was a Ringo fanatic. He told me that Ringo’s son Zak couldn’t do the next tour with Ringo and the Roundheads, and that I’ve got the gig. Just like that. And he hired my brother Matt too!
THIS GETS BACK TO MY FIRST POINT ABOUT SEEING GOD’S FAVOR IN YOU.
It’s prayer. When I was 14 years old I prayed to be in Maynard Ferguson’s band. He was my hero. God answered my prayers. I prayed to be in a rock band and God put me in Van Halen’s band. I prayed back then to play with Ringo and Paul, and for Ringo’s 70th birthday Paul came out at Radio City Music Hall and we played “Birthday” and I was so happy that I was crying like a little kid.
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“I’ll bring my trumpet out and we’ll play “Topsy” and he’ll pull out that beat on the drums and yell out “Cozy Cole! As I live and breathe!” That guy swings!”
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WITH SO MANY BEATLE SONGS BEING REMASTERED, HAVE YOU LEARNED ANYTHING NEW OR PICKED UP A DIFFERENT APPRECIATION DURING THOSE RECORDINGS?
Yes, and it has to do with his playing with brushes, and his jazz feel. Ringo is a phenomenal brush player. When you listen to Paul play bass and hear Ringo play high hat, kick and snare on the isolated tracks version of “When I’m 64” his brush playing is swinging! It’s phenomenal in its feel.
A lot of rock drummers are stiff and would have played it straight up and down. Ringo has that Liverpoolian Skiffle influence. His favorite drummer is Cozy Cole.
A lot of times I’ll bring my trumpet out and we’ll play “Topsy” and he’ll pull out that beat on the drums and yell out “Cozy Cole! As I live and breathe!” That guy swings!
YOU TOOK LESSONS FROM TONY WILLIAMS. WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST THING YOU LEARNED FROM HIM?
Tony taught me be the king of your drums. He’d ask me “Why are you sitting so low? Sit up higher and project out into the audience. Look for someone 50 rows out and play for them.
If they didn’t get it, you have to be even more direct with them. He would tell me “I want to play drums the way Miles played trumpet. Miles would whisper to me with soft notes, he’d yell at me with high notes. He’d make me laugh; he’d make me cry. That’s what I want to do.”
He was my hero.
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“Tony (Williams) taught me be the king of your drums”
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WHAT DRUMMER WOULD YOU PAY $500 TO SEE?
It would have to be Tony. When I went to school in North Texas I really delved into Tony. He was also a rock guy. He had an 18” bass drum with Miles and went to a 24” because he loved John Bonham.
Right before he passed away he asked me what cymbals the guys in the hard rock bands are using.
I said, “Why are you asking me this? Your cymbals are the ones on “Nefertiti, Four and More and Miles Smiles which is what every drummer wants.
He said, “No, I’m going to put together a new band. It’s going to be a combination of Lifetime and Metallica.” He was always looking forward.
HOW DO PEOPLE RESPOND WHEN YOU TELL THEM THAT YOU’RE RINGO’S DRUMMER?
People that don’t know about Ringo’s All Starr band think that Ringo just sings out front from the drums. Sometimes he sings from behind the drum kit and other times he’s out front. 70% of the time he’s singing back there “I Wanna Be Your Man” and we’re double drumming.
HE ALWAYS HAS GOTTEN A BAD RAP AS A DRUMMER
Those people are idiots. They don’t understand music.
That’s like saying that Baby Dodds wasn’t a good jazz drummer, even though he inspired Buddy Rich.
Ringo plays it simple; he lays it down. That’s the key, whether it’s rock, jazz, Latin or country music.
People think he’s not “great” because he doesn’t play like (Hendrix drummer) Mitch Mitchell or Ginger Baker with Cream, or Louis Bellson or Buddy Rich. They just don’t get it.
Also, Bernard Purdie claimed that he played on all of these Beatle songs. He didn’t play on any Beatles tunes. He’s a good friend of mine, but he’s got issues. (laughs)
HOW HAS YOUR FAITH MADE A DIFFERENCE IN THE MUSIC ATMOSPHERE THAT YOU’RE PLAYING IN.
I’m in a great atmosphere! We get to make music. I get to make people smile. I get to walk into a dark room and give people some light, and lift them up. I get to go on stage, whether it’s with Ringo, David Lee Roth, Larry Carlton or Toto, and I get to look out and see smiles on people’s faces, that joy. I love what I do.
I also love being a dad. They’re 21 and 18. That’s number one, but number two is drums
Even after playing, I can walk out and talk to them to lift them up. That’s because music transcends everything; that is a blessing that I can give.
WHAT HOBBIES DO YOU HAVE?
I love to swim. I do it every day
HOW ABOUT BOOKS THAT INFLUENCE YOU?
I read a lot of books. Lately it’s one by John I. Snyder. He’s got one called Escape the Downward Spiral of Blame. He’s one of my favorite authors and very insightful.
WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Greg was a great dad.
THE OLD JOKE IS THAT “LUCK IS WHEN OPPORTUNITY MEETS WITH PREPARATION.” IN OTHER WORDS, THERE ARE NO “LUCKY” BREAKS IN SOCIETY. LIKE THE BIBLICAL STORY OF JOSEPH WHO HAD GOD’S FAVOR AND PREPARED EGYPT FOR A FUTURE FAMINE, GREGG HAS A HEART FOR GOD, AND IS HUMBLE ENOUGH TO BE WILLING TO SERVE THE MUSICIANS THAT HE WORKS FOR. IT TAKES A SPECIAL KIND OF MUSICIAN TO USE THE DRUMS TO NOT BANG ATTENTION FOR HIMSELF, BUT TO FOCUS THE ATTENTION ON THE MUSIC OF THE LEADERS THAT HE SERVES. NO WONDER HE’S RINGO’S STAR!