| A talented drummer with a mile-long resume, Jim Strassburg considers it an honor to have spent time with Sly Stone as both a session musician and a friend. In addition to playing on Sly's 1975 album "High On You," Jim has performed and recorded with the following artists (to name only a few!) Billy Preston, Quincy Jones, Martha Reeves, Pee-Wee Ellis, Jimmy Cobb with Gregory Hines and Freddie Hubbard, David Liebman, The Brecker Bros. and Charlie Hayden. I have been lucky to have been in correspondance with Jimmy and his wife Jane Ann from their home in Florida and was thrilled when Jimmy said it was okay to share one of his e-mails with Sly fans around the world. In his writings, Jim describes what it was like to audition for Sly, what his studio environment was like and also what it was like to just hang out with the man. He also speaks a little bit about his own exciting career. If you enjoy his piece, please e-mail him and let him know! |
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Tom Roach, who may possibly be one of the baddest guys
ever, happened to be a good friend of mine and also of Sly's. He told Sly
that I was a good drummer who needed a gig. Sly told him to bring me by the
Record Plant in Sausalito that night. We showed up and Sly was basically
holding an open audition for drummers; he was in the middle of a project and
needed to finish it up with a new touch. Well, there were guys like Wild Willie
Sparks from Graham Central Station. I must admit adrenaline was pumping and I was
nervous since my chops were down and I would be playing on someone else's kit.
Well, Sly said hi and thought he recognized me. I told him I was the drummer
in Asylum, which was the band that had opened for him at big shows at
Constitution Hall in DC (where he was three hours late), in
Newark, NJ and other gigs as well. The promoter offered us double to go out
again -- well we had a hip band with Enrico Rava the great Italian jazz star,
David Gross on alto and the late great Richie Grando on tenor and sounded like
our own version of Blood Sweat and Tears. I was really hitting and I remember
Sly watching me and after saying how hot I was, which was a rush.
(Of course the people were throwing shit at us and yelling for Sly.)
OK, back to the part where I was auditioning! Sly said: "Sit down and play something." Well, I looked around and all I could see were drummers. I knew then it was now or never. I hit a funk groove and kept filling every four bars through the bar past the one beat and Gail [this is Gail "Babyface" Muldrow, a friend of Sly's and lead vocalist for Graham Central Station at one time] couldn't resist, she picked up her ax and fell in. After a minute or two Sly picked up the bass and laid it down. We played for 55 minutes, which Cynthia Robinson said was the longest span they had seen Sly play in a while. Sly stood up and said "Everyone, go home...this is my new drummer Jimmy Strassburg, he'll put the whitner on it." I was happy and my friend Tommy Roach was flying. Sly said to me "be ready." I gave him my number where I would be staying and practicing. A couple of weeks later, his cousin Tommy and Junior, Gail's boyfriend, stopped over and said that Sly will be calling. I said "cool." Well, a few more weeks go by and I get a call from Sly and he said "u ready?" I said yeah. "Be at CBS Studios, 5th and Market, at 8:30." So I'm there waiting and Roy Seigel said: "what do you expect -- he's a flake." We get a call and Sly says he is on the bridge so Roy the engineer sets up. There was also a young kid, Bobby Vega, poppin' the shit out of the bass. So we warmed up and a few hours later we actually put down the exact drum track that is on the record for "I Get High on You." Sly changed everything a million times, except the drums. I felt great while Sly gloated ovr the drum work. On most of the other tunes I had to sink in the drums; they were already done with a rhythm machine only. Still, it was an honor to be Sly's drummer. Everyone called me, from Joe Henderson to Ron Wood, Danny Kootch and many others. There were a lot of strange things going on, and Epic sent Billy Preston down to straighten things out. I couldn't tell who was worse, if you know what I mean. The three of us (and sometimes Vega) would record all night ... actually u never knew if it was day or night! I remember when Sly sang "My World," which I loved, he wanted everyone to sit on the floor in the studio and hold hands while he sang it. It was touching. Another time we were doing a session with Carlos Santana and I spent all day getting my drum sound right. Just when we were about to start I got thrown off the drums. I turned around and headbutted a guy who turned out to be Buddy Miles! Sly caught the action and said: "alright Jimmy, u bad." Well, it wasn't that difficult as my friend Roach was there. Once Jerry Martini saved me: my drums got stolen in front of CBS, and Jerry put out the word and one hour later he had 4 guys setting them up and all wanting to be my roadies. Later, Jerry had enough of the whole trip, as "High" was Number One on the R&B charts [not sure this is true] and Sly was too dusted to perform. So, at that time Jerry asked me to join his band Rubicon. I said yes, same as I said to Michael Carrebello and his band Cobra. Well, getting back to Rubicon, I brought a good friend up to play trumpet, Sal Marquez, who played with Frank Zappa. Sal didn't think the music could hold his attention. I agreed, so when an album I did on A&M by David Liebman hit number eleven on the jazz charts, he called me and said "bro, let's go." I got hold of Chris Hayes (who later wrote "I Want a New Drug" and "Power of Love" for Huey Lewis), along with Tony Saunders (my favorite bass player) and Pee Wee Ellis (James Brown's ex-band leader who wrote "Cold Sweat") and we formed the Ellis Liebman Band with Pee Wee's Arista release also. I played on both of these albums. We hit the road hard, everywhere from Vancouver to San Diego, and then came back home and did all the local clubs ... we did this over and over. I think Pee Wee won the Bammies that year. I think that probably cost me my career, as I was getting calls from John Sebastian and other high paying gigs, but I wanted to play the more complicated groove. I still saw Sly, and he still called me for sessions. One time I brought David Liebman, who did many records with Miles Davis, to the studio and I remember Sly going on and on about some chord and finally Dave screamed "its a 7th!" and Sly thought he was a genius. Another time Sly went around asking everyone what they thought of the Average White Band. Everybody said "they ain't shit, Sly" ... that was pretty much what everyone said. Then he said "Jimmy, how about you?" Well, I unloaded and said "u better listen for yourself because they are great and I mean great!" The next day he came into the studio screaming "why won't anybody tell the truth!?" From that point on he made me leader of the sessions for double the money of leader's scale. Another time, Herbie Hancock was hanging around all day asking "when do I get to play" and "what should I do" and "where is Sly." I said: "Sly was up in front of CBS and out of it. You're Herbie Hancock, what do you have to put up with this for?" He said "he's Sly, I need to know" and then I realized again that Sly in his own right was a genius. I was just lucky enough to get used to it for a short while. Another time Sly had me overdubbing something he was producing for Steve Miller and he did the same thing. I was used to it and I liked Sly -- he was extremely smart and talented to the max. But the best times with Sly would be when he stopped over alone. I was right down the hill and we would play cards with my friend Billy March and tap on the drum pads. He could really relax and the extremely intelligent person he was would fully come out, well educated and sensitive. It was hard for Sly, everyone wanted to get next to him with the best drugs and shit. But he did his best straight -- he couldn't smoke grass. The next time I saw him was in Vero Beach, FL ... or maybe Ft. Pierce in '84 ... he was playing in a big amphitheater with no attendance. He spotted me from the stage and started singing "Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy." He wouldn't see me afterwards, but I understood. Love to all who might read this, and keep in mind, if ya need a drummer, [email protected]. Very Best, Jimmy |
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