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GEORGE SURANOVICH
    (1944 - 1990)
Obituary by Mike Kolesar "Love" (left to right) Gary Rowles on guitar, George Suranovich on drums, Arthur Lee on acoustic guitar, and Frank Fayad (obscured) on bass. Please click on pic for larger view.
  
When ex-Love drummer George Suranovich passed away on February 15, 1990, not only did I lose a good friend and mentor, but the music world lost one of its great talents. 
 
I first became familiar with George's playing in 1971, after reading about his epic drum solo at a Fillmore East concert in 1970 in the book "Fillmore East & West" by James Hudson. I was shocked when I learned, in 1981, that George lived in Pittsburgh and had visited a friend's record store. Eventually I hooked up with George, who was teaching at a local drum shop. I began studying with him in 1985, and for two years met with him weekly to learn the finer points of jazz and funk drumming, but more often to talk about his days with Love and listen to his many interesting stories.
 
George Paul Suranovich was born June 15, 1944 in Pittsburgh, PA, and grew up in the neighboring mill town of Duquesne. He played in the marching band in high school, but also played in the house band at a local nightclub, the White Elephant (also known as the Zodiac). There he gained a wealth of experience, backing many national acts, including the Coasters and Bo Diddley. After high school he joined the Army, where he played in the 266th Army Band, often flying out to combat areas in Viet Nam to entertain the troups (he replaced noted jazz drummer Michael Carvin in that band).
After his discharge, George stayed in the Los Angeles area and became involved in the local music scene, eventually joining Noony Rickett's band. That band's transformation into Arthur Lee's new Love lineup is well known, and George stayed with that band through 1971, although he was quit or fired more than once over money disputes.
George then played briefly with the Blues Image before joining the Eric Burdon Band. While working on the album "Guilty", George met John Sterling (guitar) and Kim Kesterson (bass). Along with Kevin Kelly (keyboards), they formed Tovarich (Russian for "Comrades"). Besides backing Burdon and blues/jazz vocalist Jimmy Witherspoon, they became a popular attraction on the L.A. club circuit and recorded an album of their own (unreleased). They later recorded a second album with Burdon, "Stop!", as well as "Black & White Blues" by Burdon and Witherspoon. That album, released only in Europe, included George's composition "Wicked Wicked Man" (which was recently resurrected by Burdon as the title track of one of his own albums). Tovarich also provided the soundtrack to the movie "Revenge of the Cheerleaders".
Upon leaving Burdon, George worked with Tovarich on and off while picking up a variety of session work. Sometime during the 70's he appeared on Ray Kennedy's (ex-KGB) solo album on Cream Records. In 1977 he had the opportunity to join the 5th Dimension's backing band, but instead opted for a gig backing pop country singer Glen Campbell. With Campbell he toured extensively, appeared several times on "The Tonight Show" and "Merv Griffin Show", and recorded the album "God Must Have Blessed America".
George worked with a variety of lower profile but hard-working bands through the end of the 70's and early 80's, briefly rejoining Love for the Whiskey A-Go-Go gig that yielded the "Love Live" album (made from George's recording of the show). Around 1981 he moved back to Pittsburgh to help take care of his mother, and he quickly became a fixture on the local music scene. He worked as often as he could, playing with everyone he could, and teaching during the day. While he quickly got work in R&B and blues bands, his real love (no pun intended) was jazz, and he quickly worked his way up through the pecking order of Pittsburgh jazz drummers. By the late 80's he was a first-call for backing such legendary performers as Diane Schurr, "Groove" Holmes, and Mose Allison. His teaching schedule, split between two music stores, kept him on the go constantly.
In early 1990, while playing a routine Sunday night gig, George experienced chest pains and was taken to the hospital. It was determined that he required bypass surgery, and within several days the operation was performed. While apparently recovering well from the operation, George suffered a massive heart attack during the night and died shortly afterwards.
During the relatively brief time that I knew George, he influenced me tremendously. Just being around him was inspirational. He had an incredible amount of talent and knowledge to share, but as a Gemini, he definitely had two sides. He could be humble and self-effacing sometimes, self-confident to the point of arrogance at other times; supportive of some, critical of others. He was very proud of his playing with Love and Burdon in particular, but often had to be prodded to talk about it. Once he got started, he always enjoyed telling stories, and it seemed every time we talked about his past I'd learn something new he never talked about before. Drummers like Elvin Jones and Tony Williams were spoken of in the most reverent of terms, but there were other fine drummers that he scorned, like the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, or Mitch Mitchell.
Of all George's stories, his favorite involved his meeting with Jimi Hendrix. While touring in England, Love happened to be staying at the same hotel as Hendrix, and one morning at breakfast George walked into the restaurant and saw Hendrix, whom he had never met before. According to George, the exchange went something like:
          George: When are you going to get a real drummer?
          Jimi: (smiling) Who are you?
          George: George Suranovich. I'm the drummer with Love.
          Jimi: Oh yeah! I've heard about you. We're going to have to get together and jam.
Eventually they did, frequently, at the Love house in Los Angeles. George was always waiting for the two hours or so of material Hendrix recorded with Love to be released, and he tried unsuccessfully to uncover its whereabouts. He also contacted MCA Records after the release of four live cuts from the Fillmore East in hopes of obtaining copies of more, but was unsuccessful. Unfortunately, George never documented much of his own career. He owned few concert tapes, none by Love, and was thrilled when I was able to get him copies of the Copenhagen and Fillmore West shows from 1970 (he said he remembered the Copenhagen show vividly and mentioned that Arthur was vomiting behind the wall of amplifiers just before they were introduced).

 

Of all his experiences, Love was George's favorite, and he always spoke highly of Arthur. He was a great admirer of Lee's "street smarts", and enthusiastically told of how they'd rent a 16-track recorder for their house, record a bunch of tracks, then return it and refuse to pay for it, claiming it didn't perform adequately. In return they'd get a new machine, record more tracks, return it without paying, etc. The albums "Four Sail" and "Out Here" were recorded in this manner. The night of the Fillmore East show mentioned above (February, 1970), the members of Love and some of the Allman Brothers band left for Slug's Saloon to see saxist Pharoah Sanders, rather than endure a marathon Grateful Dead set. Part of the reason was they were indignant because the Dead refused to share their tank of nitrous oxide with Love backstage.
Musically, George was easily the equal of all his better-known contemporaries: Mitchell, Ginger Baker, Carl Palmer, John Bonham. Unfortunately, he didn't have the opportunity to play with a high-profile band, and never achieved the public recognition he was due. Those in the industry knew about him, however. After playing at a huge oldies concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, promoter Dick Clark (of "American Bandstand" fame) told him he was the best drummer he'd ever worked with. Several key turning points could have opened the door for George - the release of his work with Hendrix, the Love appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" that was cancelled. Sometimes he'd show signs of bitterness, but he never let it get him down.
George was a great student of drumming, always learning new techniques, analyzing the works of the great jazz and R&B drummers. He was equally comfortable playing rock or jazz, backing pianist Mose Allison one night, Bo Diddley or Chuck Berry the next. He was a great reader and had amazing chops (which he claimed were much weaker than when he was touring with Love).
George was also a fine singer and songwriter. Besides "Wicked Wicked Man", he also composed and sang lead on "Nice to Be" on Love's "Out Here" album (the publishing company, Geetzel Music, was named in honor of his brother Steve).
Unfortunately he was also a product of the times (again, no pun intended), and for years over-indulged along with many of his contemporaries. This must have contributed to his early death, because at the time, he was taking better care of himself than ever, had slimmed down, cut down on partying, and was engaged to be married (he had been planning on relocating to the college town of Morgantown, West Virginia, an hour and a half south of Pittsburgh, to take a gig with his fiance's brother's band).
Several weeks after his death, a memorial concert was held at Graffiti, a popular nightclub in Pittsburgh. The club was packed, and numerous rock and jazz bands performed in his honor, many of them ones he had played with on the same stage. He is survived by his mother Anna and older brother Steve, and is sorely missed by us all.
Of all his experiences, Love was George's favorite, and he always spoke highly of Arthur. He was a great admirer of Lee's "street smarts", and enthusiastically told of how they'd rent a 16-track recorder for their house, record a bunch of tracks, then return it and refuse to pay for it, claiming it didn't perform adequately. In return they'd get a new machine, record more tracks, return it without paying, etc. The albums "Four Sail" and "Out Here" were recorded in this manner. The night of the Fillmore East show mentioned above (February, 1970), the members of Love and some of the Allman Brothers band left for Slug's Saloon to see saxist Pharoah Sanders, rather than endure a marathon Grateful Dead set. Part of the reason was they were indignant because the Dead refused to share their tank of nitrous oxide with Love backstage.
 
Musically, George was easily the equal of all his better-known contemporaries: Mitchell, Ginger Baker, Carl Palmer, John Bonham. Unfortunately, he didn't have the opportunity to play with a high-profile band, and never achieved the public recognition he was due. Those in the industry knew about him, however. After playing at a huge oldies concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, promoter Dick Clark (of "American Bandstand" fame) told him he was the best drummer he'd ever worked with. Several key turning points could have opened the door for George - the release of his work with Hendrix, the Love appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" that was cancelled. Sometimes he'd show signs of bitterness, but he never let it get him down.
 
George was a great student of drumming, always learning new techniques, analyzing the works of the great jazz and R&B drummers. He was equally comfortable playing rock or jazz, backing pianist Mose Allison one night, Bo Diddley or Chuck Berry the next. He was a great reader and had amazing chops (which he claimed were much weaker than when he was touring with Love).
 
George was also a fine singer and songwriter. Besides "Wicked Wicked Man", he also composed and sang lead on "Nice to Be" on Love's "Out Here" album (the publishing company, Geetzel Music, was named in honor of his brother Steve).

               

Unfortunately he was also a product of the times (again, no pun intended), and for years over-indulged along with many of his contemporaries. This must have contributed to his early death, because at the time, he was taking better care of himself than ever, had slimmed down, cut down on partying, and was engaged to be married (he had been planning on relocating to the college town of Morgantown, West Virginia, an hour and a half south of Pittsburgh, to take a gig with his fiance's brother's band).
      
Several weeks after his death, a memorial concert was held at Graffiti, a popular nightclub in Pittsburgh. The club was packed, and numerous rock and jazz bands performed in his honor, many of them ones he had played with on the same stage. He is survived by his mother Anna and older brother Steve, and is sorely missed by us all.
   
Thanks for the opportunity to let me share my experiences with George. He would have been thrilled to learn of a magazine like "The Castle", and would have been happy to correspond with you himself. I would love to hear from any of George's fans. Please contact me at:  

Mike Kolesar,  P.O. Box 11294, Pittsburgh, PA 15238, USA
        
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