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One of the leading rock drummers of his generation,
Carmine Appice is recognized world-wide for his dynamic, technically adroit style that helped bridge the gap between psychedelic hard rock and heavy metal. Initially emerging as a member of the '60s progressive psych-rock band
Vanilla Fudge,
Appice formed the proto-metal outfit
Cactus and gained even wider fame collaborating with legendary guitarist
Jeff Beck in the power trio
Beck, Bogert & Appice. Following the group's eponymous 1973 debut, he embarked on a lucrative career as a sought-after sideman, playing first with
Rod Stewart in the '70s, and then with a bevy of name artists in the '80s and '90s including
Ozzy Osbourne,
Edgar Winter,
Pink Floyd, and more. He also garnered respect as an educator, becoming one of the first rock musicians to regularly hold clinics and symposiums. He has produced numerous books and videos, including his popular drumming manual Realistic Rock Drum Method. Along with his clinics and session work,
Appice has continued to record, working with his brother, drummer
Vinny Appice, with whom he recorded 2017's
Sinister. He issued Guitar Zeus in 2019, and in 2021, the collaborative Energy Overload with guitarist
Fernando Perdomo.
Born in New York in 1946,
Appice grew up playing drums alongside his younger brother, fellow drummer
Vinny Appice. Initially inspired by big-band and jazz players like
Gene Krupa,
Buddy Rich, and
Max Roach, he eventually gravitated toward rock & roll. By the '60s, he was playing professionally, working in various groups including the cover band Thursday's Children. It was while playing with Thursday's Children that he caught the attention of bassist/singer
Tim Bogert, who invited him to join his psych-rock band the Pigeons (they changed their name to
Vanilla Fudge in 1967).
Appice played on the group's early albums including
Vanilla Fudge,
Renaissance, and
Rock & Roll, all of which showcased the group's expansive reworkings of pop tunes like
the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby,"
the Zombies' "She's Not There," and
the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On."
By late 1969,
Appice had left
Vanilla Fudge along with bassist
Bogert to form a group with famed
Yardbirds guitarist
Jeff Beck. They had previously befriended
Beck in 1967, impressing the guitar virtuoso with their bold, jazz-influenced interplay. However, in November of 1969
Beck was in a car accident that left him in the hospital with a fractured skull. Unable to move forward with their musical plans with
Beck,
Appice and
Bogert chose instead to put together another group, forming the hard-rocking proto-heavy metal outfit
Cactus with former
Amboy Dukes vocalist
Rusty Day and ex-Detroit Wheels/
Buddy Miles guitarist
Jim McCarty. Over three albums, including 1970's
Cactus, 1971's
One Way... Or Another, and 1971's
Restrictions,
Cactus built a cult following for their bluesy, high-octane sound, pre-figured the stoner rock movement, and offered an American response to the rising wave of British hard rockers like
Led Zeppelin,
Deep Purple, and
Black Sabbath.
Cactus came to an end with 1972's
'Ot 'N' Sweaty, which found
Day and
McCarty leaving the band to be replaced by ex-
Leaf Hound and
Atomic Rooster singer
Peter French, guitarist Werner Fritzschings, and keyboardist
Duane Hitchings.
During
Cactus' run,
Beck recovered from his accident and put together a second version of his
Jeff Beck Band. He recorded two albums with the group before disbanding the project and reconnecting with
Appice and
Bogert to give their earlier plans another try. The resulting power trio debuted with 1973's eponymous
Beck, Bogert & Appice. A bluesy, riff-heavy album with production by the band and
Don Nix, it found
Appice taking on most of the lead-vocal duties, although
Beck sang on the lead-off single "Black Cat Moan." Several of the album's covers tunes, including the trio's bold reworking of
Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" with
Bogert on lead vocals, were reminiscent of
Vanilla Fudge's expansive covers approach.
BBA toured throughout much of the following year, resulting in the 1973 Japan concert album Beck Bogert & Appice Live. According to rumor, while on tour
Appice introduced
Beck to the jazz fusion of bands like
John McLaughlin's
Mahavishnu Orchestra,
Chick Corea, and others.
BBA also began work on a follow-up album before breaking up in 1974 and never officially releasing the album.
Purportedly,
Appice and
Beck continued working together for several months after the end of
BBA, even going so far as to record tracks with producer
George Martin. However, unable to come to a contractual agreement they parted ways. Following his time with
Beck,
Appice recorded with guitarist
Mike Bloomfield in the blues-rock outfit KGB, as well as guitarist
Tommy Bolin, before finally joining
Rod Stewart's band in 1977. Over the next four years, the drummer toured and recorded with the former
Faces' singer, becoming an integral member of his ensemble. During this period, he played on four of
Stewart's albums and even contributed co-writes on several of the singer's biggest hits including "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" off 1978's
Blondes Have More Fun and "Young Turks" off 1981's
Tonight I'm Yours.
With
Stewart's move toward a more commercial pop sound,
Appice left the band to record his debut 1981 solo album
Rockers, on which he played drums and sang lead vocals. The album featured his group at the time with guitarist
Danny Johnson, keyboardist
Duane Hitchings, and bassist
Jay Davis.
Rockers hit number 38 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart. He then paired with guitarist
Rick Derringer for the one-off album
Party Tested in 1983, after which he joined
Ozzy Osbourne on tour. Also during this period, he reunited with his
Vanilla Fudge bandmates for 1984s Mystery, and guested on
Jeff Beck's 1985 album
Flash.
After his time with
Osbourne,
Appice formed the glammy heavy metal band
King Kobra with vocalist Marcie Free, guitarist
David Michael-Philips, guitarist
Mick Sweda, and bassist
Johnny Rod. They signed with Capitol and released two albums with 1985's
Ready to Strike and 1986's
Thrill of a Lifetime, the latter of which included the tracks "Iron Eagle (Never Say Die)," which was used as the theme song to the 1986 Air Force action film Iron Eagle. Lineup changes found
Appice and Michael-Phillips putting together another lineup with singer Johnny Edwards, guitarist
Jeff Northrup, and bassist
Larry Hart for 1988's King Kobra III on New Renaissance Records before calling it quits.
Over the next few years,
Appice stayed active recording with ex-
Whitesnake guitarist
John Sykes in his band
Blue Murder. He also toured and recorded with
Pink Floyd, the Edgar Winter Group,
Jeff Watson,
Mother's Army, and others. In 1996, he returned to his own work issuing the first volume in his ongoing all-star guitar series Guitar Zeus, featuring
Queen's
Brian May,
Slash,
Yngwie Malmsteen, and
Ted Nugent, among others. Guitar Zeus, Vol. 2: Channel Mind Radio arrived in 1997 and featured
C.C. Deville,
Richie Sambora,
Neal Schon, and others. Along with his performance work,
Appice was one of the first musicians to begin holding drum clinics and symposiums while on tour. This led to more fruitful educational endeavors including publishing his popular 1972 instructional book Realistic Rock Drum Method. Over the years, he continued to issue more instructional books and videos, some with his brother
Vinny, detailing his drumming expertise.
In 2001, he teamed again with guitarist
Rick Derringer and bassist
Tim Bogert as
Derringer, Bogert & Appice for the album
Doin' Business As.... He also collaborated with guitarist
Pat Travers, issuing 2004's It Takes a Lot of Balls and 2005's
Bazooka. There were also further reunions with
Vanilla Fudge including the 2007
Led Zeppelin tribute
Out Through the In Door. In 2011, he toured and recorded with Spanish guitarist
Javier Vargas and
Tim Bogert, issuing
Vargas, Bogert & Appice. A reunion album with
King Cobra also appeared that year. 2014's Drum Wars Live! found the drummer going head-to-head with his brother
Vinny. In 2017, the siblings debuted their band
Appice with the album
Sinister. Also that year,
Carmine published his memoir Stick It!, which featured a foreword by
Rod Stewart.
In 2018, he joined
Shuggie Otis for
Inter-Fusion, the guitarist's first studio album since the '70s. 2019 saw the release of Guitar Zeus, and
Appice continued to tour. In 2021, he and guitarist
Fernando Perdomo cut the all-instrumental collection Energy Overload. The set comprised originals and covers, including readings of
Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" and
Stewart's "Do Ya' Think I'm Sexy"; the latter was co-written by
Appice. ~ Matt Collar