” . . . a wonderfully well written documentation of a time in Chicago’s musical entertainment history that is gone forever. It should be required reading for those young percussionists starting out who want to know what the music business was like at that time and how it has evolved to its present state.” – Gary Matts, President, Chicago Federation of Musicians Local 10-208, A.F.M.

The Beat of a Legendary Chicago Percussionist Goes on in His Widow’s Memoir

BOOK EXCERPT:

I got my first glimpse of how Harry operated as a jobbing musician the day we went downtown to pick up our marriage license at City Hall. Afterward, Harry stopped off to see Bill Walker, a music contractor he had gotten jobs from in earlier years, just to let him know he was back in town and available for work. The guy was so busy he practically shoved Harry out the door. We had no sooner left his office than he hollered out, “What is it you play?”
Everything.
“Got four timps?”
Sure!
“Okay, be at Universal at nine on Monday.”
Wham bam. Just like that.

“But you don’t have one drum, let alone four,” I said with pre-wifely concern.

“Yeah,” he grinned, “but I know where to get them. If I’d been totally honest, I’d have lost the job.”

SO BEGINS BARBARA BRABEC’S MEMOIR of her unusual musical life with Harry Brabec, an extraordinary musician and percussionist who was best known for his virtuoso snare drumming, but could expertly play every percussion instrument and every kind of music. As he put it in one of his letters, “Through the years I have played every type of music imaginable, from burlesque to ballet, from circus to symphony.”

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” … a meticulously crafted memoir . . .an exceptional look back at the unique lifetime of a humorist who also happened to be one of the most outstanding musicians of his time.” – Sam Denov, author of Symphonic Paradox–The Misadventures of a Wayward Musician

Drama, Love, Laughter, and a World of Music

THE DRUMMER DRIVES! Everybody Else Rides is the story of Harry’s musical life and times, and much more. It’s the up-and-down life story of a man whose accomplishments went well beyond the field of music;  a remarkable man who got knocked down many times, but kept bouncing back time and time again.

Harry was greatly admired by his peers not only for his music talents, but for his keen sense of humor and gutsy approach to life.  His name became legend in 1956 when, after five years of exemplary performance with the  Chicago Symphony Orchestra (four of them as Principal Percussionist), Fritz Reiner dismissed him for purely personal reasons. This conductor’s selfish act literally destroyed Harry’s professional life when he was at the peak of his career. It also devastated his ego, shattered his personal life, and ultimately led to the failure of his eight-year-old marriage and the loss of his six-year-old daughter. So despondent at that point, Harry simply gave up and left music for awhile to do menial work.

Barbara met Harry in 1961, two years after his divorce, and it took only three days for them to realize they were soul mates. Always a man of action, Harry proposed then and they were married two weeks later. Newly encouraged and ready to take another chance on love and music, he began his career all over again.

Beat by beat in this autobiographic narrative and biography, Barbara tells Harry’s comeback story as a freelance percussionist in Chicago in the sixties, then flashes back to his highly successful music career in the forties and fifties before going on to tell how her career path, and their marriage, changed when life prompted Harry to move in new directions in the seventies and beyond.

A Colorful History Lesson for Today’s Drummers

THE DRUMMER DRIVES! Everybody Else Rides offers a unique historical view of a thirty-year period of Chicago’s musical entertainment history that is rich in detail and amusing anecdotes shared by musicians who knew or worked with Harry.

“As a publisher specializing in percussion history, I regularly receive drummer biography manuscripts. More often than not, they either do not have much of a story to tell or do not tell it very well. It is very refreshing to see one that made it to print that not only has something to say, but says it well.  For folks who knew either Harry or Barbara, are gigging musicians, or are interested in the music business, this book is a must.” – Rob Cook, Rebeats Publications

The Drummer Drives! is generously spiced with Harry’s wit and original humor and many interesting backstage stories about shows, concerts, famous entertainers, and leading percussionists of that era. Its content revolves around both the author’s lifetime of  journals and Harry’s scrapbooks and nostalgic letters, which were filled with historical “music biz” stories and nostalgic remembrances of the days when he was playing with the big bands and doing recordings in Chicago; his comments about many of the musicians, entertainers, conductors, and band leaders he worked with; his thoughts on being Czech;  his love of good food, fine books, record collecting, band music and the circus; and how he felt about getting old and being forced to lay down his sticks because of ill health.

“No Ordinary Joe”

There is much to enjoy in this informative and humor-laden memoir, but you may also find yourself tearing up at times as you read this honestly-told story of the author’s unusual life journey with a man who was “no ordinary Joe,” an individual so complex that she was still trying to figure him out after nearly 44 years of marriage and five years as his widow.

As she says in the Preface of the book, “Harry remains the most complex, frustrating, interesting, and amusing person I’ve ever known, and the excitement, color, and drama he brought to my life cannot be conveyed in mere words.”

“The Drummer Drives! is far more than a widow’s tribute to her departed husband. It is a living relic of a now lost musical age; a menagerie of musings on love, fate, mankind’s interconnectedness, and the vacuity of widowhood. A compelling, enriching read. ” – Adam Kolczynski, Managing Editor/Author, Polybius Books

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The book’s seventeen chapters cover such a broad range of topics that no single chapter would be indicative of the book’s overall content; thus the above SAMPLER was created to give interested readers  taste of the entire book.  It includes the book’s Preface and the opening and closing paragraphs of each chapter, along with its introductory quotation and topic sub-headings. A simple table of contents is also offered here:

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BARBARA BRABEC is the author of several small business books. The Drummer Drives! is her first memoir.  Prior to becoming a professional writer, Barbara enjoyed a brief career as a musical entertainer. She studied marimba for five years with James Dutton at the American Conservatory of Music. She presented several recitals and programs between 1955 and 1959 before beginning to play professionally for three years. She offered a musical program for women’s clubs and background music for private parties, wedding receptions and dinner music for supper clubs.