Aynsley Dunbar
Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (born January 10, 1946 in Liverpool ) is a British drummer . He played with John Mayall , Alan Reeves and Frank Zappa and in the bands Jeff Beck Group , Jefferson Starship , Journey , UFO and The New Animals around Eric Burdon . He also led his own band, Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation , in the late 1960s .
Live and act
As a child, Dunbar first learned to play the violin by himself and then switched to drums via the snare drum . At the age of 13 he also started taking lessons. After graduating from school, he began his professional career in the Liverpool jazz scene , joining a Leo Rutherford band at the age of 15 and then joining the Merseysippi Jazz Band at the age of 17 , with whom he played trad jazz .
In 1963 he moved to Beatlager and joined Derry Wilkie & The Pressmen . After the band broke up in early 1964, Dunbar and four of the band members formed The Flamingos , which, after a brief tour of Germany, had been Freddie Starr's backing band since April 1964 (album This Is Liverpool Beat ). That same year he became a member of The Excheckers before playing with The Mojos , who toured from 1963 to 1966 and had a hit with Everything's All Right in 1964 .
In 1966 John Mayall brought him to his Bluesbreakers , with whom he recorded the album A Hard Road (1967) for Decca ; there were also recordings with Eddie Boyd and Paul Butterfield . In 1967 Dunbar founded his Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation with singer Victor Brox , which produced several albums by 1970. Since 1967, he also worked in the Group of Jeff Beck with Rod Stewart and Ron Wood , the well Donovan's album Barabajajal emerged.
After Retailiation broke up, Dunbar formed a new band, Blue Whale , whose album of the same name contained a cover of the Frank Zappa song Willie the Pimp . Zappa then brought him into his band: The first published recordings of Zappa with Dunbar on drums and tambourine appeared in the fall of 1970 on the album Chunga's Revenge ; he also toured with the Mothers of Invention on the Mother's Day Tour in 1970 . He can also be heard on the next albums such as 200 Motels , where his jazz-based game becomes evident. John Lennon and Yoko Ono brought in Dunbar with Zappa's band in 1971 to record the live album Sometime in New York City . In 1972 he was also active as a companion for Flo & Eddie , but also worked as a drummer on Zappa's albums Waka / Jawaka , The Grand Wazoo and Apostrophe (') .
From 1973 he also worked for David Bowie and participated in his albums Pinups and Diamond Dogs , but also in Lou Reed's session album Berlin with Jack Bruce , Steve Winwood and Tony Levin . Between 1974 and 1978 Dunbar belonged to the collaborative rock-fusion band Journey around Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie , with whom he recorded several albums. He left the group when Journey shifted their sound from sophisticated rock fusion to simpler ballads.
Dunbar became a member of Jefferson Starship in 1978 , with whom the hit album Freedom at Point Zero was created. He stayed with the band until the 1982 album Winds of Change , and then paused. In 1985 he became a member of Whitesnake ; he played drums on 1987 , the band's seventh album, and produced a number of hits such as Still of the Night, What is Love and Here I go Again .
Dunbar then suspended his career to raise his four children. Since 1994 he has been active again for artists such as Pat Travers , UFO, John Lee Hooker and Michael Schenker . In 1996 he joined guitarists Alvin Lee , Eric Burdon and other musicians for the Best of British Blues tour . Then he became a member of Burdon's New Animals , with which several albums were created. He also worked for Shuggie Otis and Leslie West . In 2008 his album Mutiny was released .
Web links
- Official site of Aynsley Dunbar
- Interview (1982)
- Portrait (drummerworld.com)
- Aynsley Dunbar at Allmusic (English)
- Aynsley Dunbar at Discogs (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dunbar, Aynsley |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dunbar, Aynsley Thomas (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British drummer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 10, 1946 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Liverpool |