Intro
Preserving a vintage drum and
documenting the history of an important drum company are both so beneficial
to future generations. We sometimes get so caught up in the search for that
perfect vintage drum we neglect to realize what we have just a phone call
away. It was not until I started getting
into this business and building a vintage drum web site that I realized how
important it was to document this particular story.
After sitting down with my long time friend, and asking him about his
life it became evident that Jake Jerger born Sept, 2, 1927 is a living legend
and his story should be told. His behind the scenes relationship with Bud
Slingerland was a long-term friendship. With
special thanks to Rob Cook for letting this story be told and forever securing
Jake Jerger's life to print so he will be remembered for the next generation
of young drummers looking for the perfect vintage drum.
Jake, how did you
start playing the drums?
A customer of my dad's business
was playing with the Edison Drum and Bugle Corps of Chicago. He showed me how to hold the sticks in a traditional
grip. He then took an orange crate
upended and began teaching me how to do a drum roll. I was seven years old at the time that was 1934.
I would then go home and
beat on pots and pans while my brother Steve played along on the
accordion. After hearing me play those
pots and pans for weeks my dad realized it was time for me to get some real
drums and take lessons from a drum teacher.
Who was your first
teacher?
My godfather Michael worked
for a manufacturer of jukeboxes and he serviced them all over the city of
Chicago. He knew all the spots where the musicians would hang out. "I know a drummer who is good that plays
at the Club Laura on Ashland in Chicago", he said. His name was Jimmy Russell and he had a five-piece combo. He also
played trombone; which flipped me out because he would keep his feet going,
pick up the trombone and play a chorus, then go back playing drums. He would come to my house and the lessons were
$1.50 per lesson in 1936. We studied
out of Eddy B. Straights book, which was "THE" book at that time. We went through the book in about a year and
he suggested to my dad that I get another teacher. Mr. Russell suggested the number one teacher in Chicago, Roy C. Knapp.
What was it like
auditioning for Roy at the age of 9 and how much did lessons cost?
Roy Knapp was the staff percussionist
for the WLS radio live broadcasts. He did that for most of his life. He also was a teacher for at least that long but when I started he
was about 45 years old. If I wanted
an audition I would have to go WLS and meet him there. Another friend of my dad's who worked at WLS
arranged the audition. My brother came
with his accordion and I sat on Roy's drums.
I could barely reach the pedals. We
played some type of ragtime number. Roy
said that's enough I'll take you on. He looked straight at me and said, "You
have to practice or I won't teach you". He scared me on the spot! We
arranged the lessons at $4.00 a 1/2 hour. The lessons usually ended up being an hour because he really liked
me. We started on the snare because
he thought I had good instruction and continued from where my last teacher
left off with the snare drum. He knew
I really wanted to learn the drum set, so he would teach me Rumba beats, the
samba, the tango and syncopation. When he picked up sticks he was marvelous, though it was rare for
him to pick up sticks in a lesson.
Roy also taught me mallets
and tympani. He would be able to sit
across the room at his desk and tell me I was a little flat or sharp on the
tympani, it was like he had perfect pitch.
He also loaned me a marimba without charging me so I could learn the
instrument. I actually had that marimba
until the 60's, when he finally asked for it back. This just shows how kind he was.
I took lessons from age 9 to
18 years of age. When I left he had
about six other teachers on staff in the Kimball Hall building at Jackson and
Wabash on the 6th floor.
I still have many of his
teaching materials in my collection. I
have enough just in his lessons on musical theory for a 40 page book.
We were good friends all of
my life.
When did you play
your first paying gig?
My brother Steve and I would
play at family restaurants owned by friends of my parents. The little money we made went towards our
music lessons.
What was your
first set of Slingerlands?
At that time I was playing
a made up set of WFL drums and Slingerlands.
The toms had the old Zephyr lugs. The
drums were purchased from Frank Gault at Franks drum shop. Frank was always nice to me and gave me good
prices on drums because I was a Roy C Knapp student. At that time I think I was Roy's youngest student.
Why and when did
you join the Military Band?
Actually in high school at
the age of 16 I joined the Musicians union.
There was plenty of work, because many drummers had joined the service.
I was playing at the club Alabama with Boyce Brown a well-known blind
saxophone player. These gigs were union scale. At 18 I was starting to get draft notices and
Roy and my dad had a talk about my future.
Roy's older son Don went through the Navy's music program so he knew
a lot about it. I was sort of "cocky" at that time and they both
thought this was the best thing for my future.
I decided to enlist in
September 1945 in the navy, after completing boot camp I waited six weeks
before a percussionist was needed and was sent to the Navy school of
music. I auditioned for a Lieutenant
Commander and the Percussion Chief.
After they tested me on everything they said I was quite a player and
had a good background. We want you to
teach the guitar and piccolo players how to play cymbals and bass drum for them
to march with the band in a parade.
We will put you in the number
one band at the base and when something opens up you will be first to go.
After six weeks they created the 154th band to go to London
and replace the Arty Shaw band. It was a 38-piece band and in late spring of
1946, I shipped out from the Navy school of music to Copenhagen where Admiral
Hewitt's flagship was waiting for us to entertain dignitaries and continued
on a short cruise before returning to our main base that was in London. We
were an Admiral band and the only Navy band not stationed on a ship but in
Europe.
It was "Cream" duty. There were no facilities to house the band so
we lived in hotels, boarding houses and private home. This band was the third priority band in the
country so we had everything we needed. The
next three years we hit 29 different countries. I have a personal journal for the first 1-1/2
years with every place we played. We
played every event and military service in London. We were always gigging from a three piece to a big band to a marching
band, or dinner music.
Knapp was right, and I
played more then I could have ever imagined.
It was the best education I could have gotten without going to
college. College was the last thing on
my mind.
After two years I was the only
guy in the band that was offered a 30-day leave if I come back and stay with
the 154th Navy Band. I had
become third class petty officer by taking exams and they were going to make
me second-class petty officer without taking an exam. Basically the Admiral's staff liked me and wanted
me to spend my fourth year with the 154th Navy Band. So I did.
I went home for 30 days and
returned to finish my tour of duty in London.
It turned out when I was due to get out and go back to the states the
officers called me in and asked me to sign up for one more year. If you do this we will make you first class
petty officer, which is one step below a chief.
I did not know what to do,
so I sent a cable to my father telling him what was going on. His reply cable shocked me. "If the Navy thinks that much of you, get
out!" So I did.
After my discharge from the Navy I returned to the R.C Knapp School of Percussion, by this time, was a AAA college credited school. I could have received my degree at Roosevelt University but I did not realize my career would have been in teaching. A degree would have made my life much easier for teaching at the college level.
Roy C Knapp asked me to take
a teaching job in Winnetka Illinois School system in April 1951. Roy gave me the confidence to teach and told
me I could do it and I will be a great teacher. His teaching method stuck
with me and I also rarely played in lessons when I became a teacher. If I couldn't explain it to a student I did
not want to play it for them, because they would just copy me and not read
the music.
I also started writing drum
set music. I taught at New Trier High
school and Winnetka schools until 1981.
I also worked with other Chicago suburban high school band directors to
improve their percussion programs.
I taught at North Park
College from 1980 to 1987
I started teaching at Oakton
Community College in 1974 as a part time percussion teacher and created an
entire percussion ensemble and jazz band program from the bottom up. My wife Betty was instrumental in getting
behind me to start the ensemble. She
knew I could do it and with her support I did.
The ensembles at Oakton
played all over the area including all of the events at the college. We had a variety of guest artists and near
the end of my tenure we were invited to play Carnegie Hall. We were also fortunate that same year to
have Louis Bellson as our guest artist for our spring concert in May 1991. Bellson also came back to Oakton College for
our last concert in May 1995.
I have taught 1,000's of students
and estimated over 60 thousand lessons from 1951 to 1981 developing some world-class
players making me a very proud teacher.
When did you first
meet Bud Slingerland and become associated with him?
Roy Knapp was a Ludwig
endorser and he recommended Ludwig Drums.
I paid $300 for a Ludwig Drum set with hardware and Zildjian cymbals in
1949. I did not like the snare drum because
the strainer was choking the drum. In
1952 I told Roy about the snare drum and wanting to change the drums. Roy suggested that I take the snare to
Ludwig Drums and tell Bill Ludwig Jr. that I sent you and your not happy with
the snare drum.
I went to the factory and sat
with Ludwig Jr. in his office. "I
told him Roy Knapp told me to see you because I didn't like the snare strainer
it chokes the snare. What can we do
about it?"
He basically told me I did
not know what I was talking about; we sell 1,000's of these drums and know
one else is complaining. I left the
Ludwig factory.
Much to the dismay of Roy I
started looking at Slingerland.
One of the musicians in the
band I was playing in at the time also had a music store and I went to him and
he gave me a great deal so I traded in the Ludwigs for Slingerlands, which I
never thought I would do. He also made
an arrangement for me to go to the Slingerland factory and get the drums set up
with the clamps and holders positioned the same as my Ludwig drum set.
I went to the factory and
while I was talking to the employee at a bench in the shipping section telling
him where I want everything, Bud Slingerland walked by and asked me my name and
what I was doing at Slingerland. I told
him and then he asked me what made me decide to buy Slingerland. I told him I was fed up with my Ludwig drums
especially the snare drum.
The set was a Slingerland
Black Diamond Pearl with a Chrome Krupa Snare.
The snare drum is now in the hands of Billy Jeansonne at Vintage Drummer
Magazine.
We started talking and I told
him I was a Roy Knapp student and teaching in Winnetka. He said you are, I live in Wilmette. It was a warm reception and he said when you're
finished come in my office.
I went into his office and
he said we have to do some things together.
I can help you and you can help me, your young, ambitious and doing
great things. That time I was playing
at NBC doing live television, teaching at New Trier High School in Illinois and
the Winnetka School System. That black
diamond drum set was the last set of Slingerland drums I bought and I had carte
blanche with Slingerland Drum Company from that point on.
We met a few more times
after that and he said he would like me to grow with the company. Become an endorsee, clinician and number one
tester for sticks, heads hardware and drums.
He wanted someone outside of the plant to offer advice on products.
I even tested the first
stick chopper hoops on Radio Kings.
This was the start of a long
relationship with Bud Slingerland and Slingerland Drums.
What was the first
agreement and what did it entail?
A talk and a handshake! Nothing in writing anyway. Each gig for Bud was on a pay for time-spent
basis. Bud never took advantage of
me and it showed when it came time to get paid for my time. If I had to take a few days to travel, he would
compensate me for my lost lesson money; pay some expenses and more for working
the event. When it came time to pay
he would say, "How Much Jake" I would say $250.00. He would say, "That's more than Marilyn
Monroe" (with a chuckle) he would just write the check and say nothing
else. I really felt like he was proud
of me and he realized I was a team player and he liked that kind of person.
Bud had me trying everything
and every finish drum to see the reaction from people in the audience. Bud helped me publish my first book and I
even created a group of ensembles for multiple set players. The biggest was 54 heads for 6 drum
sets. When I needed six sets for my
groups Bud would send them. He was a
very generous man and let the students have them at factory cost if they wanted
them.
They were just a phone call
away. I would just call Bud and he
would just say "whatever you want Jake".
In the Late 60's early 70's Bud asked me to go to three tom toms. I told him I'm finally getting to learn how
to play two toms on the bass drum and you want me to play three? I used the swivomatic tom holder turned to the
other side and added 8" and 10" toms on a stand. I loved it so much I wanted to bring more drums on gigs, but I did
not want the extra weight. I also switched
to match grip when playing the extra toms. It was natural, because I was using the same grip on tympani and
mallet instruments.
I went to Bud with an idea
to create a drum set that had nesting drums.
The drums are actually longer and single headed. If you look at the Slingerland catalogs in the
60's you will see this set with my picture and my drum book in front of the
floor tom.
So when I went on a gig I
carried three cases, one for the bass drum, one for all of my toms and one trap
case.
I played that set for many
years when I traveled and eventually had it re-pearled from white to black
diamond pearl.
Slingerland carried those
drums for many years.
How did the
relationship develop with Bud Slingerland and what was your role?
I had immediate access to
Bud and periodically he would call me the night before and ask me to stop by
after work at 5:30. He would say he
wanted me to see a new product. As soon
as I walked in the door he handed me a scotch on the rocks. He really made me feel like he needed me. He appreciated my opinion because I never
skated around the topic when looking at new products I would just tell him
straight out, it does not work, or it is a great product. I think since our first talk he realized I
was this way and that is why he wanted me around.
I turned out to be a guinea
pig for different finishes from all of the sparkles to an all chrome set. Sometimes he would take the set back and he
would also just say keep the set for research.
He was a very generous man and I never sold Slingerland drums for a
profit.
Everytime I went to the
factory I would walk around and talk to the people working the line. I got along with everybody.
I even found jobs for a few
students that worked at the factory.
When my books came out I was
doing more clinics for Slingerland at colleges high schools and conventions
all over the Midwest. In 1966 I did
a big clinic at Franks Drum shop in Chicago and met Louis Bellson personally. A funny story happened when Louis Bellson was
doing a huge Rogers Day at Franks Drum Shop earlier that year and he picked
my students best ensemble and best soloist that day. After the event Louis asked my students who my teacher was and they
said Jake Jerger. He made them call
me up from the drum shop and I met him over the phone. He wanted to tell me
I was doing a great job teaching these young "cats" how to play
the drums!
In 1972 Slingerland
sponsored my Maine West High School ensemble to the first International Hall of
Fame day at the Sherman Hotel. All of
the players that played were college and professionals and I had the only high
school group. That was the day Bud and
I were talking and he told me he was selling Slingerland because he had cancer.
In 1974 the P.A.S. invited
me to perform at the 2nd International Percussion Day. I went with New Trier High School Jazz Band
and featured the 3 drum battles 18, 36 & 54 Heads. Slingerland sent six new sets to the event.
I stayed with Slingerland for two more years, but it was not the same
when Bud sold. I wasn't being used.Don Osborne was president
at the time. I was treated nice. He
did not use me as much. If I needed
anything I could still get what I wanted.
I was just there. From 1952
to 1976 I had all of the percussion equipment cost free I ever needed. My time with Slingerland was over.
After you left
Slingerland.
In spring of 1976 Dick
Richardson, who was the Musser Plant president pulled me over to Ludwig, which
lasted four years. I became the liaison
to all new endorsees that William Ludwig Jr. wanted to play Ludwig drums.
In the fall of 1980 Ludwig
Sold and Dick Richardson went to Slingerland as President and I went along.
It ended up that Slingerland was the only drum company that exclusively
used Sabian Cymbals. This was because Bob Zildjian and Dick were
good friends. I became a Sabian Endorser
at that time. Richardson and I were good friends.............Story will continue
from here...........
Conclusion
The story of Jakes life had
many high points and very few low points in his drumming career. His high points were even more plentiful seeing
his students reach levels he never did in playing, business and life in general.
Isn't that what any teacher would want of his students.
Jake has touched so many lives and is so humble he just asked, why
me? when we approached him about this story.
This truly exemplifies his life. Till
this day Jake still plays the drums and is currently working with a publisher
for a new updated book version with CD. The
title is "Putting it together Piece by Piece" Published by: Opus
Publications, Inc of Evanston IL. Jake
will always remember Bud Slingerland and his times at Slingerland drum company. His life will forever be part of "Drum
History" thanks to Rob Cook.