Drummer goes behind the scenes of rock’s elite

By STEVE PUTT

For The Vindicator

“JOE VITALE BACKSTAGE PASS”

By Susie Vitale; published by Hit Records; 377 pages; $24.95.

Millions of baby boomers dreamed of rock ’n’ roll stardom after watching The Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

A select few realized that dream. A persistent many continued their pursuit of fame but never found their way beyond playing in hometown clubs. Most of the rest settled down to factory and office occupations.

And a small percentage of talented Beatles-wannabes managed enjoyable livelihoods as studio and touring musicians, not quite achieving universal recognition but rubbing shoulders with — and becoming close friends with — the big stars they support. Joe Vitale is in this last fortunate group. He and his author/wife, Susie, have published a book, “Joe Vitale Backstage Pass,” detailing his life among the rock elite.

Vitale’s story begins with his music- oriented childhood in Canton.

After drumming in the Chylds during high school, he migrated to the scene in Kent, where he met his future wife and became good friends with upcoming Northeast Ohio icons Joe Walsh, Michael Stanley and Phil Keaggy.

One of the more memorable moments in the book occurs in this time period when Jimmy Page and Robert Plant jammed with his band at JB’s in Kent.

After watching friends and acquaintances gain rock notoriety, Joe got his own taste of stardom as a touring drummer for Ted Nugent’s Amboy Dukes. Meanwhile, his buddy Joe Walsh hadn’t forgotten about him, and Vitale moved to Colorado to join Walsh’s new project, Barnstorm, where the two Joes co-wrote “Rocky Mountain Way” (check YouTube for a couple of excellent 1973 concert videos featuring Vitale’s shiny, gold suit).

While in Colorado, an encounter with Stephen Stills started a decades-long association with Neil Young, David Crosby and Graham Nash (Vitale most recently toured with CSN in 2011). And, of course, Vitale’s friendship with Walsh led to affiliations with, collectively and individually, the Eagles.

The book covers other friendships, touring partnerships and jam-session encounters including John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Zak Starkey, the Beach Boys, Peter Frampton, the Rolling Stones, Dan Fogelberg, Rick Derringer and many more.

Rock biographies tend to devote more space to tales of drugs and sex than to the music. But not Vitale’s; it celebrates the fun side of rock fame. Don’t bother looking for stories of orgies and stoner parties. In fact, the only mention of drugs, in an obtuse way at that, is a hilarious account of an airplane full of rockers on approach to Havana airport.

You also won’t find a disparaging comment about any person — a refreshing approach but one that left this reviewer with a desire to look elsewhere for details on occasional passages. For example, Vitale tells how Crosby and Nash showed up for Stills’ and Young’s “Long May You Run” sessions and added harmonies to the mix. When the pair left to work on their own album, their voices were replaced by Vitale and others. My reaction to this short revelation was, “Oh, really?” and I had to turn to Crosby’s “Long Time Gone” autobiography for more, where the author relates how this occurrence caused hard feelings between the four former and future band mates.

“Joe Vitale Backstage Pass” is an enjoyable rock ’n’ roll history book from an insider’s perspective. It offers insights into the hard work and dedication within the industry, and it’s flavored with plentiful tales of water fights, practical jokes and hotel-trashing starring the musically famous.

The book is a must-read for Northeast Ohio rock fans. It can be ordered from Vitale’s website, joevitaleondrums.com.

Steve “The Professor” Putt plays guitar and harmonica in local nightclubs and reports on the Mahoning Valley music scene at his website MVLiveMusic.com.