August 16: Forgotten Original Drummers Day!

[Steve M.]

It was on this day in 1962, August 16, that the Beatles replaced their drummer with a chap who'd been playing with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. I dedicate Forgotten Original Drummers Day to the guys on the skins who left their respective groups just before the groups in question became famous!

[Steve M.]

First . . . Pete Best!

Randolph Peter Best became the Beatles' drummer in August 1960, thanks to the group's familiarity with his mum, the owner of Liverpool's Casbah Club. Having finally gotten a permanent drummer, the Beatles were able to play Hamburg residencies and Liverpool dates in between. But Best was deemed only passable at best as a drummer, and he really didn't fit in. Right after George Martin singed the group to Parlophone, he told Brian Epstein that he would use session drummers on the records. That was enough for John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison to conclude it was time for Pete to go. Their chosen replacement was . . .

[Steve M.]

. . . Richard Starkey, whose friends called him Ritchie and whose fans called him by his stage name, Ringo Starr. His drumming blended with the Beatles' music and his humor and unassuming personality blended with their chemistry. As far as Beatles fans are concerned, the group wasn't really formed until Ringo joined. His joining created the perfect band, ready to take on the world.

[Steve M.]

Next - Harry Ovenall!

Harry Ovenall was the original drummer for the the British band Family, from Leicester. The band started out as the Farinas and then became the Roaring Sixties and played what Leicesterians would come to know as "soul and roll" - rock music heavily steeped in black soul and blues music. Family cut their first single in the summer of 1967. The song, "Scene Through the Eye of a Lens," was very psychedelic, musically and lyrically, and it marked a stunning turn of direction for the songwriting partnership of Family's leaders, singer Roger Chapman and guitarist Charlie Whitney. It was not, alas, Ovenall's cup of tea; he was disappointed that Family were getting away from their black roots and so left the band. He was replaced by . . .

[Steve M.]

. . . Rob Townsend. Family's new drummer was just what the band needed. The other members had the imagination and the innovation to produce some really great progressive rock - progressive rock that happened to remain rooted in black music, by the way - but they only had adequate musical abilities. Charlie Whitney was a good guitarist but not a great one, and Rick Grech was a solid but unspectacular bassist - though Whitney and Grech could create some memorable riffs. Family needed a virtuoso drummer to hold the music together and make their ideas work; Townsend was their man. He was the band's real leader, guiding them through slow tempos and propelling them through fast ones, much like Keith Moon did in the Who. And Townsend had the tougher job, working with a small kit and, ultimately, four different bass players from 1967 until the group's split in 1973. He could devastate drummers with larger kits, including Ginger Baker (whom Grech worked with, ironically, after leaving Family to join Blind Faith). In July 1968, Family released their debut album, Music In a Doll's House (my avatar), and they were on their way to big success in Britain's underground/prog circuit.

[Steve M.]

Next - John Rutsey!

Rutsey, who died in 2008, was Rush's original drummer. The group formed in Toronto as a prog power trio that would be Canada's answer to both Cream and Yes. It was Rutsey's brother who helped name the band; when the trio got a gig, Rutsey told his brother they needed a name and he was in hurry to think of one. His brother said that since they were in a rush for a name, why not Rush? Guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee liked the name, and so Rush it was.

Rush released their self-titled debut album in 1974, but Rutsey's drinking interfered with his playing. His lyrics - Lee and Lieson were unable to write words to music - weren't all that spectacular either. He was let go after the band's first LP in favor of . . .

[Steve M.]

. . . Neil Peart!

Peart proved to provide not just just perfect chemistry with Lifeson and Lee, but he had two aces up his sleeve. First, he was a superb virtuoso drummer, much like Rob Townsend or Ginger Baker, and for that matter, Led Zeppelin's John Bonham. Second, he could write highly original lyrics that outclassed any song lyrics that most hard-rock/heavy-metal bands were capable of at the time. They were also less pretentious than the lyrics of most British art-rock bands. With his playing and lyric writing, set to music written by Lee and Lifeson - no slouches themselves when it came to formidable chops - Rush became the perfect power trio.

[Steve M.]

Last - Chad Channing!

Nirvana would become the greatest rock trio since Rush, and for their first album, Bleach, Chad Channing provided their beat. Guitarist/vocalist Kurt Cobain and bassist Kris Novoselic weren't too impressed with him, though, and they replaced him with . . .

[Steve M.]

. . . Dave Grohl!

Grohl's powerful, explosive drumming led Nirvana's Nevermind to the top of the American LP charts in 1992. Without Grohl, the grunge revolt against mindless MTV-style pop would likely not have happened.

Sadly, Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994, and the grunge revolt died with him. But Grohl poured all his energies into rescuing rock and roll from the hip-hop/dance-pop onslaught in a new project. That band, the Foo Fighters, stemmed the anti-rock tide more than stopped it, but it has produced some great music that keeps the rock and roll flame alive well into the twenty-first century.

[Steve M.]

Does anyone know of any other drummers who left bands just before their bands took off?

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by Steve M.

Does anyone know of any other drummers who left bands just before their bands took off?

Doug Sandom - The Who

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Sandom

[Steve M.]

Originally Posted by Zoneboy

Doug Sandom - The Who

Wow, I didn't know this! Thanks!

[Steve M.]

Another drummer who was gone before his group became famous - Rob Gardner, who left Guns N' Roses before they got a record deal. Steven Adler replaced him.