Sassy Brown Band @ Gip's Place performing "VOODOO WOMAN" from December 15, 2012!!!

Featuring: Lauren "Sassy" Brown, Matt Willis, Barry Wasserman, and John Oliver (John Oliver Drums)

What an incredible, memorable night I had with THE SASSY BROWN BAND playing at the juke joint GIP'S PLACE in Bessemer on December 8th, 2012. Gip Gipson has been  opening up his home and property to bands and bluesmen since 1952! It was an honor to meet Gip and to sit-in with him too! He is a true gentleman, and I can't wait to return! Special thanks also to Cindi and Jeff. They made my first-time experience so wonderful....I felt like family!  Lauren Brown, Matt Willis Barry Wasserman and yours truly John Oliver (THE SASSY BROWN BAND) KILLED IT! There were over 250 people that came out to hear us play for the first time at Gip's. Peace and love, John (John Oliver Drums)

More pics from The Sassy Brown Band's performance on 12/8/12 at WorkPlay......John Oliver Drums

Wow....what a night.......Great pic, courtesy of Roger Stephenson! John Oliver Drums

Great, great performance on December 8, 2012 by The Sassy Brown Band at WorkPlay for the Magic City Blues Society BLUES BALL with Mike Zito...............!!!! (John Oliver Drums)

Awesome gigs coming up this weekend, the first one is a private party with "The Second Chance Band" on Friday night, then I will be performing with The Sassy Brown Band on Saturday night at WORKPLAY with the talents of Lauren Brown, Matt Willis and Barry Wasserman. It should be a memorable weekend!!!!! John Oliver Drums

Playing the Ruby Red Strata out this summer at The Daniel Day Gallery......!!!
John Oliver Drums

A shot from last year for a private charity event at The Club in Birmingham, AL. John Oliver Drums

OK, this may be about the only pic I have of me NOT playing Ludwig drums! This was a shot of me from my "surprise" birthday party at Moonlight on the Mountain in Vestavia. The kit, a Pearl, was none other than Gary Asher's from Drum School. He managed to play a few numbers on them with my band "Second Chance" before I pushed him off the kit....!!!!!!!

Great corporate gig yesterday at Vestavia Country Club with Take 3 and Jeff Lopez, then off later that night to hear Vannie and the boys (Beatniks) for Beatles Night at J.T.'s.

Who's my favorite drummer of all time? Well, that would just have to be my son VJ, of course!

Great weekend of music coming up, starting with a private function tonight at Riverchase Country Club where I will be behind the drums playing with "Growling" Greg Franklin and The Howl....and then on Sunday, playing with Take 3 and Jeff Lopez at the Vestavia Country Club for a private corporate function. Life is good.......

My good friend in crime (and all things in the vintage drum categories too) Gary Asher surprised me recently with this great personalized autograph from Ed Shaughnessy. Ed, as you "older" cats know, played for many, many years with the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He's still going out it today well into his 80's!!!!

John Oliver Drums
Great gig this past weekend with Take 3. We were joined at The Tavern of St. Clair in Pell City by the unbelievable Jeff Lopez. He is an extraordinary person, musician, singer, and well, he's just the real deal.  It's always a pleasure sharing the stage with him. Hope to do it again soon brother!

I will be behind the drum kit tonight with Take 3 and Jeff Lopez (Taylor Hicks sax guy extraordinaire) at The Tavern of St. Clair in Pell City, beginning at 7 pm. NO COVER!

I had the great pleasure this summer to play "double-drums" with Steven Butler and The Dozens Band at SLOSS FURNANCE for the annual Brewfest. Steven is a excellent drummer. Never heard him out? Think of a driving, thumping metronome-perfect cross betwen Levon Helms and ?uestlove (The Roots drummer). Of course, he plays vintage Ludwigs, and based on the gig and room, either a Ludwig Supraphonic 400 or a new Ludwig Black Beauty snare drum. He's a great, great drummer, an even better friend, and well, my brother from another mother. And as I say every time I hear him play (to quote Pete Townsend on Keith Moon): CANNONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I will be playing drums with The King Tully Band on Halloween for the Crestline Halloween Parade Party this Wednesday, October 31st. Here's a rough cell phone audio clip of last week's rehearsal.

Here's me playing a vintage Ludwig "Bowling Ball" set dated 1969 at a New Year's Eve gig on 12/31/10. This kit now belongs to the legendary drummer Vinnie Colaiuta!!!!!!

One of the best versions of "New York, New York", taken from a video last year at The Club, in Birmingham, Alabama. This version is by The Second Chance Band and features: Mark Brewer on Bass, Tony Oliver on Keys and Vocals, Sam Chiarella on Guitar and John Oliver on Drums.

Great gig this past weekend with The Sassy Brown Band. This was the first gig I played out the downbeat set of vintage Ludwig Champagne Sparkle drums.......they sounded great for the gig in this smaller room.

This is one of my favorite recordings from this year. This is Take 3's rendition of Miles Davis' "All Blues"' performed at Old Car Heaven this past summer, 2012. The recording features Benton Robbins, Ken O'Gorman, Mark Brewer and John Oliver on drums!!!!

A blast from the past....around 1981. Wow, I thought my Mom and Dad were old back then.....they were only in their early 40s!!!!!!  I don' t have that set of  1958 midnight blue sparkle Slingerlands anymore ( I know, it has a Ludwig front bass drum head), but I still have the Acrolite Ludwig snare in the music room!!!!!

JOHN OLIVER DRUMS!!!!I just received another set of vintage Ludwig Drums......this time from around 1966 in the very cool "downbeat" set-up. And yes, they are in the beautiful Champagne Sparkle finish!!!!!!!

Last year, I sent these Ludwig Blue Oyster "Bowling Ball" drums to LA....to none other than the great Vinnie Colaiuta...........I loved this finish....and yes, they had the clear interiors with re-rings and were stamped from early 1970.    

2012 Nashville Drum Show

Some great pics from September 29, 2012 in Nashville, TN at the Nashville Drum Show....WOW!!!!!

I spent this past weekend in Nashville celebrating my birthday with Miranda. Wow, what a trip! We attended the Nashville New and Vintage Drum Show, where I met many of my drummer friends, then later that night, we attended the Wayne Krantz Trio concert at the historic Third and Lindsley club in downtown Nashville. The group, featuring Keith Carlock on drums (Steely Dan, Sting), absolutely knocked my socks off.....it was the best live performance of any group I've ever heard, period! Wow! Here's a pic of the group, and then a pic of Wayne Krantz and me.

Here's a YouTube video clip of The Second Chance Band performing on September 14, 2012 for the Birmingham Fraternal Council's President's Ball at The Concordia Club in Birmingham, Alabama. Featured musicians are: Sam Chiarella, lead vocals and guitar, Mark Brewer, Bass, Vince Oliver, Sax, Anthony Oliver, Keyboard, and John Oliver, Drums. Sam sings a great version of "Rainy Night in Georgia"!

John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: ...

John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: ...: John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: Just received a great signed drum head from the le... : Just received a great signed drum ...

Wonderful weekend with friends and family....music gig Friday night was awesome.......peace and love!

My Dad, Vince Oliver, playing killer sax on this Rockabilly local number 1 hit in Birmingham in 1960:  Meet Me In The Barnyard.

The Second Chance Band will be performing tonight for a private party in downtown Birmingham.....and I get the awesome opportunity to play drums and sing with some incredible musicians: Mark Brewer, Sam Chiarella, Vincent Oliver and Anthony Oliver!!!!!

Here's a recent shot of me performing with Take 3 at the Daniel Day Gallery and Dream Mecca Studio! If you've never been to this incredible venue on Birmingham's southside, you're missing out! It's an art gallery, it's a live music venue with performances (depending on the weather) both inside and outdoors, it's a bar, it's a crafts mecca, it's a vintage clothes warehouse. Daniel and Melody do such a fantastic job of making everyone feel so welcomed at their place of business

Here's an action shot of me behind a very vintage set of Ludwig Champagne Sparkle drums......they ROCK! They are the very desirable Blue/Olive badge 1970 clear interior 3-ply shells with re-rings, 22, 13 and 16. For the snare, I used (of course) the most recorded snare drum in music: the Ludwig Supraphonic. This particular snare is dated October 29, 1968 and has a keystone badge!!!!

John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: Just received a great signed drum head from the le...

John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: Just received a great signed drum head from the le...: Just received a great signed drum head from the legendary American Drummer Charlie Adams! He has played drums and percussion with many, ma...

Just received a great signed drum head from the legendary American Drummer Charlie Adams! He has played drums and percussion with many, many famous artists, most notably with Yanni, where he's been on 9 different world tours! Check out his website: http://charlieadams.org/

My drum collector, friend, teacher and part-time therapist is the world renowned drummer Gary Asher. This YouTube clip is from last year and features three-year-old drummer VJ Oliver tearing it up on a vintage Yamaha drum set and wishing Gary Asher's Drum School a happy 30th year anniversary!!!!!!

I took the day off of music to watch my son play his first ever soccer game today!!!! Toodles!!! #5goals

Awesome gig last night with Take 3 and special guest Lauren "Sassy" Brown at The Tavern of St. Clair in Pell City. The place was PACKED...and not one person left...we even played over for an hour! Every song wasn't perfect, but every song was performed brilliantly......wow, what a night!!!!  By far the best gig of the year!!!!!!   CANNONS!!!!

Band practice tonight.......today is full: VJ's first field trip ever (to Home Depot), doctor's appointment, work, work, work...but get to learn new songs tonight for the gig tomorrow night at The Tavern of St. Clair in Pell City....should be fun!!!!

I will be learning about 15 new songs tonight for Take 3's Friday gig at The Tavern of St. Clair in Pell City. These songs are from the songlist of Lauren Brown, who will be our featured performer that night. I'm really looking forward to hearing our band back this great singer. Think blues, soul, and standards, all rolled into one (like Diana Krall meeting Koko Taylor). Should be a blast!

(9/11/12) Always remember 9/11! I know I will. I was in Chicago on a business trip......my two colleagues and I met up to decide what to do...we managed to get a rental car, and we started driving home; one of my friends lived in NYC, one in Ft. Myers, FL, and I, of course, in Birmingham. We drove one of my friends to Indianapolis where his family met him to drive back to NYC, my other friend and I drove farther south for the night, and the next day, I drove us to Birmingham. My other friend made it home to southern Florida the next day (four days total for him from that fateful Monday morning). God Bless America.

Sunday, 9/9/12....I had spent most of the day today in bed with some kind of unforgiving stomach bug.....but sometime around 6 pm, I managed to crawl myself up and out of my room and to my trusted iPad to see what I had missed.........and there it was....an innocuous Craigslist ad: "snare and case: $XXX...I knew that I had missed the deal of the day, even though it had just been posted some 15 minutes beforehand.....I emailed the anonymous email address...and waited.

I finally got the call...the snare was still available......of course, it was located on the other side of town...not to mention there was a language barrier to hurdle too in getting directions from its owner......long story short: I managed to "rescue" a mid 90's beautiful Ludwig 5 x 14 Supraphonic snare drum (Monroe keystone badge) and a Ludwig UFO case from the nice lady.....and I even got a lead too from someone else in her family needing a student's drum kit (remember to always ask seller's if they have any other drums/drum parts and/or other music instruments!)

Internet  ads that pop up every now and then with no detailed descriptions and crude photography are a drum picker's smoking gun to perhaps a great deal from someone who knows not what they have.....

(9/8/12) I had the honor of playing drums at the wedding of Greg Franklin and Traci Owenby over this past weekend....wow, great gig.....and I used my vintage champagne sparke Ludwig's with Blue/Olive badges for the first time since completely refurbishing them....they rocked!!!!!!!

Take 3 Gig, 09/06/12

Great gig last night at Nino's with Take 3.  Our last set featured special guest Lauren "Sassy"  Brown" I also test drove a brand new set of Ludwig White Marine Pearl drums, courtesy of Gary Asher's Drum School.....CANNONS!!!!