Elizabeth J. Rosenthal

This is the first definitive biography of Gene Krupa, the most famous drummer on the planet, whose feverish rhythms leapt across genres to change music forever. From jazz to the Swing Era, to rock and roll, Elton John's biographer, Elizabeth J. Rosenthal, recounts the pioneering drummer's exploits, challenges, and accomplishments, while framing him against not just his fellow musicians and peers but the music industry and general culture as a whole.

 

From the early 1930s onward, Gene Krupa was a drum-centric rarity in the jazz world. Never before had a drummer been in the forefront as a solo artist. His galvanizing, unrestrained passion for percussion demanded it. Rocking the rafters, Gene thrilled audiences in ballrooms, nightclubs, and movies. He always knew he would. It was in his blood.

 

Seemingly born jazz-drum crazy in 1909 to a Polish-immigrant working-class family in South Chicago, Gene was a professional by the age of thirteen and soon made his first recordings. By the early 1930s, he was New York City's most in-demand drummer, and in 1934, joined brilliant clarinetist Benny Goodman's band, helped inaugurate the Swing Era, and played the first-ever swing concert at Carnegie Hall. It made history. So did Gene, whose celebrity spread with every ride cymbal beat and bass drum bomb drop. He formed his own band, hired such dazzlingly outsized personalities as singer Anita O'Day, and unconditionally shattered racial boundaries by sharing the spotlight with the blistering African-American trumpeter Roy Eldridge. But after a skyrocketing ride to the top, Gene experienced a rollercoaster ride of good and bad luck, emotional highs, and devastating depths.

 

In The Master of Drums, biographer Elizabeth J. Rosenthal crafts a celebratory, honest, and exhaustively researched portrait of a twentieth-century music legend whose acolytes would include such rock-era artists as Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, John Bonham, and Apollo 440. When he died, Gene Krupa may have left behind a world of grieving friends, colleagues, fans, students, and progeny, but as The Master of Drums proves, his dynamic musical and cultural influences live on.

 

Advance Praise for The Master of Drums

 

"Elizabeth J. Rosenthal has done an excellent job in taking the myth and making it into a man. Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, John Bonham, and Animal from the Muppets are all happily in Gene Krupa's debt. I know I am." —Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats (from his foreword)

 

"Gene Krupa was the swing drummer who rocked. His flair, talent, and obvious joy behind those Slingerland kits became the template for multiple generations of players who followed. He exploded the music with showmanship and dazzling technique, and dragged the drums out of the shadows and right onto the lip of the stage. Elizabeth J. Rosenthal has produced an exhaustively researched account of the man and the times. It's the story of a famous drummer, but will surely appeal to everyone interested in the history of modern American jazz. Splendid!" —Rob Hirst, drummer/songwriter, Midnight Oil

 

"The worldwide jazz community has long needed a thorough, meticulously researched book about the man who made the drums a solo instrument. This is it! It's been said that drums wouldn't be played the way they are today had it not been for Gene Krupa. Elizabeth J. Rosenthal's superb work tells us how . . . and why." —Dr. Bruce Klauber, author of World of Gene Krupa and Gene Krupa: The Pictorial Life of a Jazz Legend

 

"Elizabeth J. Rosenthal brings Gene Krupa's story to life with a precision and mastery that match her subject's legendary playing—on-point, sharp, and, above all else, she makes it swing! Presenting Krupa's earliest roots from the streets of Chicago to the heart of jazz's golden age, this wonderful book makes it clear that modern music owes a great debt to Krupa—and music historians owe it to Rosenthal for her incredible modern take on his life and legacy. A must-read for jazz fans and drummers alike." —C. M. Kushins, author of Beast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin

 

"No one played the drums like Gene Krupa, and no one has captured his life story as poignantly as Elizabeth J. Rosenthal does in The Master of Drums." —Jeff Apter, author of Keith Urban and Carl Perkins: The King of Rockabilly

 

"The first superstar percussionist, Gene Krupa was not only a pioneer who led the way in establishing the drums as a solo instrument, but also an innovator whose influence has reached far beyond the jazz world to help shape numerous genres of popular music. So, an in-depth reappraisal of the man and his artistry has been long overdue—and it's finally arrived with this definitive account of the Chicago Flash's personal and professional peaks, valleys, conquests, and controversies. Liz Rosenthal knows how to tell a story, and this one engaged me right from the start. A must-read." —Richard Buskin, New York Times bestselling author

 

"With deep affection and astoundingly detailed research, Elizabeth J. Rosenthal paints a rich portrait of Gene Krupa as a musician and a man. Krupa's life in jazz gets the chronicle he deserves: powerful yet subtle as a player, restlessly inventive, tirelessly working, a true friend, and always looking to bridge racial divides through interracial music-making. Rosenthal assembles a cloud of witnesses to Krupa's greatness and makes you want to listen again and anew." —Todd Decker, author of Music Makes Me: Fred Astaire and Jazz

 

"The gods gave Gene Krupa fame and fortune in the '30s, then terrorized him in the '40s with a selective drug war on pot, as the Bureau of Narcotics became to musicians what HUAC soon would become to liberals. Rosenthal's noirish narrative of stardom and scandal summons a time when the unseen was feared most." —John McDonough, senior contributor, Down Beat, and professor of jazz history, Northwestern University

 

"One historian called drummer Gene Krupa 'the first Elvis in some ways,' by projecting sex and sensuousness. That statement might seem hyperbolic at first, but it is anything but. Indeed, Krupa was a gravitational pull in the development of jazz during the swing era, but as Elizabeth J. Rosenthal convincingly argues, he influenced generations of drummers in modern jazz, popular music, blues, rock, and even punk. For such a ferocious musical hurricane who was successful artistically and commercially, he was generous, modest, and approachable. As a member of the Benny Goodman Quartet in the 1930s, he was in the vanguard of racial integration in jazz. This well-researched and eminently readable biography also serves as a wonderful bookend to Stephanie Stein Crease's 2023 biography of drummer/bandleader Chick Webb." —Tad Hershorn, author of Norman Granz: The Man Who Used Jazz for Justice

 

"Gene Krupa may not have been the greatest jazz drummer of the 20th century, but he was in the minds of millions and was certainly the most famous and influential. He was the consummate artist who first put the drums out front, where they remained for half a century, whenever he was onstage. In The Master of Drums, Elizabeth J. Rosenthal not only eloquently details the life lived by this legendary musician, but delves deeper, revealing the simple humanity that guided him beyond 'Sing, Sing, Sing,' 'Drum Boogie,' the movies, and concert halls. It is a wonderfully unique American story." —Hank O'Neal, author, photographer, music producer, and Chairman of the Jazz Gallery

 

"Elizabeth J. Rosenthal has meticulously documented Gene Krupa's fabulous career with the kind of thoroughness—including more than seventy personal interviews—that he's long deserved. Krupa was revered by both the general public—he was a pop idol, the man who put drummers on the map and inspired countless youths to take up drums—and fellow musicians. Rosenthal details what Krupa contributed and why he mattered. It's all here." —Chip Deffaa, author of Voices of the Jazz Age, Jazz Veterans, and Swing Legacy