John Stroger
| I got intersted in music at an early age, when I was around 10 or 12 years old. I used to listen to big bands such as Harry James, Benny Goodman, and Count Basie. When I went to the army I was working in a jazz band blowing sax. I liked the sax but I was inspired so much by Joe Jones who was Count Basie's drummer and served in the same regiment as I, and that turned my thinking around. I started thinking that I really wanted to play the drums. I listened to blues music, Jimmy Rogers and Muddy, and Little Walter, and I thought "Ha, that sounds good!" Later my brother and his cousin were trying to start a band and they needed a drummer, so they talked me into playing with them and the Red Top was born. We worked all over the West Side. Later the band broke up and I started my own band, which was called Joe Russel and the Blues Hustlers. I had Willie Kent singing and Bobby Hutson and my brother Bob with me. We worked together for a long time. When I did not have a gig with my band, I would work with other guys such as Little Walter, Little Mack Simmons, Eddie Shaw, Little Wolf, and Eddie King. |
