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Scott F. Crago
Here they were, The Eagles, together for the first time since
their official breakup in 1982. It was 1994, and the legendary
group was beginning the rehearsal with "New York
Minute"
when, six bars into the song, Don Henley stopped the players
with a wave of his hand. He turned around to drummer Scott F.
Crago and said, "I think you need to go back and listen to
this song one more time."
"I turned white," Crago recalls. "I had an
immediate stoma chache, diarrhea, throwing up-well, not really,
but almost. It felt like a failure, and it took more than just a
moment to get past it. When the rehearsal ended, I walked out,
breathed deep, and thought, Okay, they've got me here for a
reason. I must have blown that song, but I need to do what the
boss said-I need to go back and listen to the record one more
time. Well, I went back and listened to it about six hundred
times that night to make sure I didn't do it wrong again."
Obviously Crago got it right, It's now seven years later, and
he's been working with the group (and the individual members on
their projects) ever since. In fact he's now in the midst of a
world tour with The Eagles.
And Crago couldn’t be more thrilled. He's still blown away
thinking about how he came to LA in '85 from Greenfield,
Massachusetts, where instead of playing football he found Led
Zeppelin. The drummer had little formal training outside of the
school environment but played in the junior high and high school
jazz bands and grew up with a great appreciation for classical
music due to his violinist mother. "She was the most
powerful person in my life," Scott says. "She's taught
me so much about strength, which you need to have in this
industry." Scott's father, a trumpet player, passed away
when he and his twin brother were just thirteen.Crago attended a
community college for two years, working in local bands, and
then applied to Berklee College of Music. But fate ended his
schooling after two years, and Crago took that opportunity to
relocate to Los Angeles, where, after a couple of false starts,
he hooked up with a band called Venice. Seven years and two
albums with that band gave him enough experience to lend his
skills to others. Scott played on a Don Henley/Patty Smyth
session, toured with Stevie Nicks, and recorded with
Infectious Grooves, Toni Childs, Divinyls, Jars Of Clay (for The
Prifice Of Egypt soundtrack), Albert Lee, and the various
members of The Eagles. And that's just the playing end of
things.
Crago has always looked for new challenges, and aside from
his gig as a touring and recording drummer, he's been producing
a band called The Clear, as well as helping to develop country
artist Eric Heller. He's had several successes as a songwriter
too. Henley covered his Everything Is Different Now." And
Stevie Nicks recorded "Listen To The Rain" on her
Street Angel album and "That Made Me Stronger" on her
recently released Trouble In Shangri-La. Crago even developed a
product for dampening bass drums called a Pro-Cushion, which DW
manufactures and on which he owns the patent. No doubt about it
Scott F. Crago loves experiencing all facets of the music business.
An interview from Modern
Drummer
By Ribyn Flans
Photos By Alex Solca
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