John Stamos Discusses Rehab, Being Yelled at by Jimmy Page, and ‘Fuller House’

Everyone’s favorite attractive uncle John Stamos stopped by the first Stern Show of 2016 and brought with him some fascinating new stories from his over three-decade career ahead of the return of his Fox sitcom “Grandfathered.”

Alcohol Abuse, Rehab, and Recovery

John provided insight into his road to recovery. “I really don’t have anything to hide anymore … my last ten [years], my father passed away, I had a divorce … I went sort of down a wrong path,” he explained. John revealed the recent passing of his mother, with whom he was extremely close, had sent him into a tailspin. “I lost myself. I lost my sense of discipline, which my dad taught me so well. More and more, I was just dipping into that dark place,” he said.

Fortunately, he seems to be coping much better now. “I don’t want to put that burden of being a poster boy for it, but I really feel great. I feel even really happy,” he said.

Drumming With the Beach Boys

One of John’s most fascinating dimensions is his longtime involvement with the Beach Boys. He didn’t shy away from telling Howard all about that aspect of his career.

“Dennis Wilson had died in 1983 … their drummer, who was bitchin’… and I was hanging out with them and at the time, there was a lot of musicians on stage and a couple different camps – the Wilson Camp, the [Mike] Love camp,” Stamos recalled. John had been friends with the Beach Boys touring band guitarist Jeff Foskett, and Jeff invited John on stage to potentially handle drumming. The loose stage atmosphere meant inviting a celebrity like John to play wasn’t a huge deal.

“One of the first times I played with in ’85 at the Washington monument,” he recounted. “They let me sit in to play ‘Barbara Ann.'” John explained the band always had two drummers on stage, due at least initially to Dennis Wilson’s unpredictability. In this case, the setup acted as a safety net for John. It was a huge relief in an otherwise heavy-pressure situation, which included a crowd of a million people and Jimmy Page sitting in on guitar.

Having to “Teach” Jimmy Page

With Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page joining the Beach Boys during John’s early Washington Monument show, Jeff Foskett was in charge of teaching Jimmy what key each Beach Boys song was in. John was brought along to the rehearsals in a hotel room. “We’re in this hotel and we go up to the penthouse suite and there’s cases everywhere … and I thought it was guitars everywhere. He had like whips and devil shit,” John remembered. The defining moment came when Jeff was off with a roadie and, in his absence, Jimmy turned to John to ask about the keys to a few songs. As a result, John got the brunt of Jimmy’s displeasure with the answers. “‘I can’t fucking solo in E flat!’ [Jimmy] was yelling at me and I was twenty years old or something,” Stamos recalled.

Despite the initial pressure, he has continued to tour with the Beach Boys, sometimes doing upwards of 50 gigs a year with them.

The Origins of “Fuller House”

Howard asked John why, after years of attempting to shed the “Uncle Jesse” image, he would return to “Full House.” “I can embrace it now. I’ve done enough work,” he countered.

John explained “Fuller House” came together from a deal he had with Warner Brothers during his time on “E.R.” “I met with [‘Full House’ producer] Jeff Franklin and we talked about maybe doing a spinoff. Maybe it would be the three girls move into the house, one of the girls has three boys. I went out and sold it years ago and Warner Brothers couldn’t make the deal,” he said.

John said he and Franklin tried to get the show made for a year-and-a-half. Finally, Netflix came aboard and now “Fuller House” is a go for February.

Not the entire “Full House” cast is back on board, with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen holding out. John explained how that came out of some miscommunication in which he was told they were asked and the twins said they never were. Eventually, John spoke to Mary-Kate over the phone with the official invitation. “They were very sweet. They seemed very into it. They just were afraid of acting. They hadn’t acted. They don’t consider themselves actresses,” he said.

Still, John revealed that the Olsen twins are obsessed with Howard and the show.

“Fuller House” premieres Feb. 26 on Netflix.

Hear Highlights From the Show Here: