The Drummer Drives! Everybody Else Rides -- the Musical Life and Times of Harry Brabec, Legendary Chicago Symphony Percussionist, a memoir by Barbara Brabec, now getting rave reviews on Amazon.

Barbara Brabec successfully transitions from "home business writer" to "memoirist."

Barbara Brabec's first memoir about her life
with Harry Brabec, legendary Chicago Symphony Percussionist and Humorist.

Barbara Brabec—a marimbist and entertainer prior to becoming a professional writer and publisher

In addition to learning about Harry's life story as a musician and entrepreneur, readers also get the story of Barbara's musical career as a marimbist before she met Harry. Fancy dresses and three-inch rhinestone heels were the norm between 1956-1962 when she was playing recitals and entertaining at weddings, women's clubs, and a supper club in Chicago. Here's a peek at a Barbara you've never seen or heard about before.

Read complete article, which links to a PDF document with more photographs, newspaper clippings and more nostalgic reminiscences.

Above and Below: Barbara's brochure photo, 1960. Below, one taken a year earlier before contact lenses.

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK:

I ceased performing after my last job in May 1962, figuring that one professional musician in the family was enough. But I was always grateful to have had a little taste of the music business before I met Harry because it helped me to understand what he was going through as he struggled to make a living as a freelance musician.

Truth be told, I knew I was a good entertainer but only a passable musician whose heart was really in business. By this time I'd had ten years of solid business experience as a secretary and office manager in Chicago's Loop. Since my income was going to be needed for awhile, I knew I needed to focus on what I did best. My interest in playing marimba even for my own enjoyment diminished once I found my true life's work as a professional writer. Today I just play a little piano once in a while.

Rave Reviews for
Barbara's First Memoir!

Below are brief excerpts from a few of the growing number of five-star reviews The Drummer Drives! is receiving on Amazon. (Read all reviews here.) If you'd like to read the book and write a review of it on Amazon, email Barbara accordingly. Or, if you aren't comfortable writing book reviews, but would like to read this book without charge, please ASK YOUR LIBRARY TO ADD IT TO THEIR COLLECTION. All of Barbara's books are registered with the Library of Congress and libraries will be happy to order this book through their usual sources.

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"Drummer" - this one you can't beat! "... a book about the life of a man ... neither famous nor infamous, and closer to poor than rich. But what is so inspiring about this simple story of his life is the freshness and vitality with which it is told by his wife . . . It quickly becomes apparent that this is a love story: a story about people in love with music, in love with life, and in love with each other. It is also the story of a journey, and by recalling with affection many of the little idiosyncrasies of that journey through life (those silly notes attached to birthday presents, the annoying habits of a partner not seen by outsiders, shared moments of joy where others might see adversity, and so on) it is probably the journey of your life, and that of everyone. Read it!" - Ptolemy

A Compelling, Enriching Read. "The Drummer Drives! is far more than a widow's tribute to her departed husband. It is a living relic of a now lost musical age; a menagerie of musings on love, fate, mankind's inter-connectedness, and the vacuity of widowhood."
- Adam Kolczynski, Managing Editor and Author at Polybius Books

Much to Savor. "The Drummer Drives ...reveals Barbara Brabec’s considerable talent as a Storyteller. The narrative flow compels reading just another page, and Brabec manages the difficult task of telling a very personal story without descending to the maudlin. There’s much to savor in the book."
- Sam Mazze, Mazze Communications

A Wonderful and Emotional Ride. "... a loving and humor-filled chronicle of the life of an individual who will make you laugh and cry whether you knew him personally or not and whether you are a musician or not. This drummer 'really drove' and anyone who wants a great read should hop on for this ride."
- Jim Ross, Chicago Symphony Percussionist

A Musical Love Story. " ... a meticulously crafted memoir ... an exceptional look back at the unique lifetime of a humorist who also happened to be one of the most outstanding musicians of his time."
- Sam Denov, author of Symphonic Paradox--The Misadventures of a Wayward Musician

I'm Amazed! “The research and time Barbara invested in telling the story of Harry is amazing and wonderful, as well as her descriptions of the Chicago scene during those years and the notable musicians who traveled in and out of his life. She details his impressive professional path as well as his unique personality. I was truly enthralled . . .”
- Joan Wester Anderson, author of Forever Young–The Authorized Biography of Loretta Young and many best-selling books about angels.

Harry Lives! "If you are a musician, someone who loves to laugh, someone who wants to read a good love story ... heck, if you've got a heartbeat, then pick up this book."
- Richard Sherrill, one of Harry's students

A Personal Note from Barbara:

This is the first time I have had a place to write passionately about so many things related to my personal life, the love of my life, and our mutual love of music. This is also the first time I've told "the rest of story" that was too personal to be included in any of my home business books.

As THE DRUMMER DRIVES! progresses, I describe the life circumstances that literally forced me to start a business at home, then go on to explain how this affected and changed my career path and our marriage. You'll also learn how Harry and I got through some very dark days when he was without steady work and I found myself the main breadwinner (something that is surely happening all over America today).

Most of all, my memoir illustrates the power of humor and how to find it in your daily life, something at which Harry excelled. Nearly every chapter of the book is sprinkled (sometimes drenched) with his original humor (only a tiny bit of which has ever been published), and the book closes on a high note with an ENCORE! ENCORE! of a baker's dozen "Harry stories" that will certainly leave you smiling, if not laughing out loud.

As you might guess, this book also includes my usual philosophical and motivational messages here and there, along with a very strong statement about love and marriage and some solid evidence for how God works in our daily lives.

I hope you will soon visit The Drummer Drives website where you will find my personal "Barb's Notes" posts and a growing archive of music-related articles, all of which are illustrated with rare photos and other illustrations from the Brabec albums and scrapbooks.

Click here for a list of the latest posts, and then click over to visit the website to subscribe by email or through your favorite reader to learn of new content as it is added to the site.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE BOOK

HARRY J. BRABEC (1927-2005) was a Chicago percussionist and virtuoso snare drummer greatly admired by his peers not only for his exceptional music talents, but for his keen sense of humor and gutsy approach to life. Harry’s reputation as a drummer in high school was legend, but his name became legend among symphony musicians and percussionists when, at the peak of his career as Principal Percussionist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1956, conductor Fritz Reiner dismissed him for purely personal reasons.

This conductor's selfish act destroyed Harry's career, shattered his personal life, and ultimately led to the failure of his eight-year-old marriage and the loss of his six-year-old daughter. So despondent at that point, Harry simply gave up and left music for awhile to do menial work.

Barbara met Harry in 1961, two years after his divorce, and it took only three days for them to realize they were soul mates. Always a man of action, Harry proposed then and they were married two weeks later. Newly encouraged and ready to take another chance on love and music, he began his career all over again.

Beat by beat in this autobiographic narrative and biography, Barbara tells Harry’s comeback story as a freelance percussionist in Chicago in the sixties, then flashes back to his highly successful music career in the forties and fifties before going on to tell how her career path, and their marriage, changed when life and health issues prompted Harry to move in new directions in the seventies and beyond.

There is much to learn and enjoy in this musically informative and humor-laden memoir, but you may also find yourself tearing up at times as you read this honestly-told story of the author's unusual and often difficult life journey with a man who was "no ordinary Joe," an individual so complex that she was still trying to figure him out after nearly 44 years of marriage and five years as his widow.

As reviewer Sam Denov has written on Amazon:

"The love that this couple had for each other is evident throughout this book. It is almost palpable. One can’t help but be warmed by the relationship they shared. This book will take you through the whirlwind life that was shared by the author and her soul mate through more than four decades of the nostalgic pinnacle of musical times in America. Every reader of this book will be as entranced as I was."

Visit The Drummer Drives Website

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