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 couldnt 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