Dave Grohl: The Storyteller
I was a little hesitant to read Dave Grohl's The Storyteller: Tales of Life & Music. Not sure why. Maybe it’s because I haven't been listening to a lot of Dave's music, or any rock music really. But since reading the book, I’ve dived back into Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails - anything with Dave's mark on it. He's one of my favorite drummers and I can't help but love him and his music.
For my high school band audition, my drum teacher at the time suggested performing a song played by a drummer I'd never heard of. The song was No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age. Dave played drums on the entire Songs for the Deaf album while taking a hiatus from the Foo Fighters in 2002. I didn't know the band or Dave at the time, but enjoyed playing the part. It wasn't until years later that I realized how perfectly the drum part supports the song.
During high school, Best of You was a giant hit. I remembering seeing the video on MTV. Yep, I watched MTV back then. There was a resurgence of 90's rock bands which were putting out great albums. Along with the Foos there was Audioslave, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails (with Dave on Drums), Green Day and more. MTV was my gateway to these bands. A lot of albums that I still love came out of that period. I was playing in a rock band at the time, which is also how I became familiar with this music. I didn't have an older brother around who listened to Nirvana (and my Dad was strictly into The Beatles and classic rock) so I was late to the party with the great '90s bands.
It wasn't until 2011 when the Foos put out their album Wasting Light and accompanying documentary Back & Forth that I went down the rabbit hole. I got really into the first Foos record, which Dave recorded himself in 6 days, along with all the Nirvana albums. In 2012 when I formed a rock band with my brother Eric, the Foos were definitely a part of our DNA by then. In 2015, we saw the band at Citifield, with Dave on his throne of rock after falling off a stage in Sweden and breaking his leg. For the encore (even though the Foos never do encores), Chad Smith played drums while Taylor Hawkins (RIP Taylor) sang the Faces song Stay With Me. I saw them again in 2017 at a music festival in New Orleans on a freezing cold night. I jumped around and rocked out with reckless abandon to stay warm.
I remember where I was when I saw the news that Taylor died. I was shocked. I was sad. I guess I just thought he and the rest of the band were going to be around forever, like the Rolling Stones. I was immediately drawn to Dave's bombastic, Bonham style drumming but it took a lot of listening until I realized the undeniable power and enthusiasm of Taylor's drumming. Dave and the guys credit Taylor with the push to tighten up the band's sound and take it to the next level (i.e. stadiums). I loved the idea of two drummers in the same band.
The Storyteller is a collection of memories which give insight into Grohl's formative childhood musical experiences to playing to riotous crowds and changing the world with Nirvana to entertaining the President or honoring Paul McCartney. It was a welcome pleasure to step back into Dave's world with this book, after getting reacquainted with his personality and sense of humor. The man's been doing his thing longer than I've been alive - back in the late ‘80s he was touring the world with D.C. punk band Scream. And he isn't slowing down. Along with countless albums, whether singing and playing guitar in the Foo Fighters, or holding down the drum seat on another band's record, Dave's also made documentaries including Sound City and Sonic Highways. And just like that I’m back to listening to Nirvana, the Foo Fighters, and to Dave.
The book is a fun read, full of Dave’s best stories, like showing off his 'orthodontic percussion' abilities to his dentist who advised he immediately stop drumming with his teeth. The story about the first time Nirvana played Smells Like Teen Spirit for a live audience gave me chills. There is also the story about the genesis of Them Crooked Vultures (with Joshua Homme and John Paul Jones), as well as the story behind the infamous Fresh Pots video, which perfectly sums up Dave's crippling coffee addiction.
As a kid, Dave had recurring dreams where he'd look up at the night sky and see UFOs. Years later, a psychic told him that these were not dreams. Dreams are an important theme in Dave's life, who frequently seems to dream something which later becomes real. While reading Timothy Good's Above Top Secret he learned the phrase coined by World War II-era pilots to describe unidentified flying objects: foo fighters. He named the band after the phrase and gave his record label the moniker Roswell Records, after the purported 1947 flying saucer crash location.
The man is a constant source of energy and a lover of life. Maybe that's why we like his music so much. Millions of fans around the world sing the lyrics to Everlong, Times Like These, Learn to Fly and more. There's something special about that. But Dave is just Dave - he's still that hyperactive kid playing along to records in his suburban Virginia bedroom.
Thanks for the music and memories Dave.
Until next time,
KW
Thanks Eric for lending me the book!
