Today we will tell you about a drummer that some of you may not know, that had a huge impact on the world of drumming. We are talking about Carmine Appice.
(Photo: Mark Horton)
1. He was born on December 15, 1946 in New York, USA.
2. He is the older brother of Vinny Appice who is known among others as the drummer of "Black Sabbath" and "Dio".
3. As a drummer Appice received training in classical music, and was greatly influenced by the playing of legendary jazz drummers Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa.
4. Already at the beginning of his career, he rose to fame as the drummer of "Vanilla Fudge" which he founded together with bassist Tim Bogert.
5. Why did he rise to prominence you wonder? Because his drumming in "Vanilla Fudge" had a great influence on great drummers such as John Bonham who noted that he was inspired by Carmine in playing his "Triplet Bass-Drum". Other great drummers like Ian Paice, Roger Taylor and even Neil Peart mentioned him as a source of inspiration.
6. "Vanilla Fudge" was the connecting factor between psychedelia and metal and it greatly influenced bands such as "The Nice", "Deep Purple", "Yes", "Styx", "Led Zeppelin", and "Uriah Heep".
7. After 5 albums with "Vanilla Fudge" in a two-year period between 1967 and 1969, Carmine left the band along with bassist Tim Bogert and the two formed the band "Cactus" in 1970.
8. Together with "Cactus" Carmine released four albums in two years, among them the excellent debut album and the album "'Ot 'n' Sweaty" from 1972.
9. In 1972 he teamed up with the legendary guitarist Jeff Beck to form the power trio "Beck, Bogert & Appice", where he also played a role as a singer.
10. That same year he published an instructional book for drummers called "The Realistic Rock Drum Method".
11. In 1974 he played on the album "Tabernakel" - the solo album of guitarist Jan Akkerman, known from the band "Focus".
12. In 1976, Appice joined Rod Stewart's band with whom he released 4 albums and co-wrote songs such as "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?".
13. At the same time he was a member of the band "KGB", which released two albums in the same year.
14. In 1978 he participated in the recording of Paul Stanley's solo album, which was released at the same time as the solo albums of his three friends of "Kiss".
15. On May 23, 1981, Tom Bradley, then mayor of Los Angeles, declared that day Carmine Appice Day in the city, in recognition of the drummer's charitable and educational work.
16. In 1982 he played on Ted Nugent's album called "Nugent".
17. At the end of 1983 Carmine Appice went on tour with Ozzy Osbourne in support of the album "Bark At The Moon".
18. In 1985 he founded the American heavy metal band "King Kobra" and was a part of five albums that the band recorded.
19. In 1986 he was part of the "Hear 'n Aid" tribute project which included a collaboration of 40 hard rock and metal artists.
20. In 1987 he played drums on the song "Dogs of War" by "Pink Floyd", taken from the album "A Momentary Lapse of Reason".
21. In 1989 he founded the supergroup "Blue Murder" together with guitarist John Sykes. He released two albums with the band.
22. In 1993 he was part of the supergroup "Mother's Army" and released two studio albums.
23. In 1995 he recorded the album "Caso Cerrado" together with the Argentinian guitarist Pappo, who was also joined by his bassist friend Tim Bogert on four songs.
24. In 1996 he played on guitarist Marty Friedman's "True Obsessions" album.
25. In 2005, he became an official supporter of "Little Kids Rock", a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in public schools.
26. In 2006, founded the drum ensemble "SLAMM" in which Appice participated alongside four young drummers. "SLAMM" was chosen as the runner-up in the "Drum" magazine survey for the percussion ensemble for the year 2008. The ensemble also appeared on the DVD of the "Modern Drummer" festival for the same year.
27. In 2011 he played on Michael Schenker's "Temple of Rock" album.
28. In 2011-2012 Carmine came up with a series of shows called "Drum Wars", together with his brother Vinny Appice.
29. In 2016 Appice published his book "Stick It!: My Life of Sex, Drums & Rock'n' Roll".
30. In 2017 he released the album "Sinister" together with his brother Vinny Appice.
31. He has quite a few solo albums, some of them in the "Guitar Zeus" series.
32. In 2021 he released "Energy Overload" under the name "Appice Perdomo Project". In the album he collaborates with the multi-instrumentalist Fernando Perdomo.
Give him a lot of respect!!! Carmine Appice influenced generations of drummers including: Nicko McBrain, Joey Kramer, Roger Taylor, Phil Collins, Neil Peart, Tommy Lee, Dave Lombardo, John Bonham, Ian Paice Robb Reiner, Eric Singer and more.