Dino Danelli
Dino Danelli | |
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![]() Dino Danelli, April 24, 2010 | |
Background information | |
Born | Jersey City, New Jersey, United States | July 23, 1944
Genres | Rock, soul, blue-eyed soul |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instruments | Drums, percussion |
Years active | 1965–present |
Associated acts | The Rascals, Fotomaker, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, |
Website | Dino Danelli's Rascals |
Dino Danelli (born July 23, 1944) is an American drummer. Danelli is best known as an original member and the drummer in the rock group The Young Rascals. He has been called "one of the great unappreciated rock drummers in history".[1]
Early life[]
Born into an Italian American family in Jersey City, New Jersey, Danelli is a jazz drummer by training. Danelli had played with Lionel Hampton and (by 1961) was playing R&B in New Orleans. He returned to New York in 1962 with a band called Ronnie Speeks & the Elrods. He also worked at times with such legendary performers as Little Willie John.[2] Danelli met Eddie Brigati (a pickup singer on the local R&B circuit), and Felix Cavaliere (a classically trained pianist) in 1963. Later that year, Danelli and Cavaliere traveled to Las Vegas to try their luck with a casino house band. They remained there until early 1964, but then ventured back to New York City.
Young Rascals/Rascals[]
In late 1964, Danelli teamed with Cavaliere, Brigati and a Canadian-born guitarist named Gene Cornish to form the Young Rascals. Cavaliere and Danelli traveled to Las Vegas in January 1963/64 to back up singer Sandu Scott and her Scottys, but returned to NYC in February 1964. That month they debuted with the Young Rascals at the Choo Choo Club in Garfield, New Jersey.
In addition to playing drums (before Cavaliere and Brigati began composing original music), Danelli and Cavaliere often scouted new repertory that the group could perform. In a 1988 interview, he cited their trips to record stores as yielding such songs as "Mustang Sally" and "Good Lovin'."[2] He was with the Rascals for seven years (1965–72).
Bulldog and after[]
Along with Cornish, Danelli formed the group in 1972 and they produced two albums before disbanding in 1975. Danelli joined the Leslie West Band for a short time along with bassist Busta Cherry Jones, formerly of Gang of Four. Danneli and Cornish then joined the group Fotomaker in 1978 (initially with ex-Raspberries member Wally Bryson). By 1980, Danelli joined Steven Van Zandt as a member of Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul.[2]
After performing with Cavaliere and Cornish at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert on May 14, 1988, there was a short-lived Rascals reunion tour later that year without Brigati. All four original members came together to perform at their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and then once again on April 24, 2010, for the Kristen Ann Carr Fund dinner at the Tribeca Grill in Tribeca, New York City.
He is currently reunited with his bandmates. The Rascals appeared at the Capital Theater in Port Chester, NY for six shows in December 2012 and for fifteen dates at the Richard Rogers Theatre on Broadway (April 15 – May 5, 2013). Their current production, entitled 'Once Upon A Dream’, recently toured North America (Toronto, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, Detroit, Rochester, and New York City). It is produced by long-time Rascals fans, Steven Van Zandt and his wife Maureen.
In 1999, Danelli produced a series of tracks for New York singer-songwriter Roxanne Fontana, which were released as an album entitled Love Is Blue on Etoile Records.[3]
He is also a visual artist, based at DinoDanelliArt.com,[4] and has designed album covers for The Rascals and Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul.
References[]
- ^ "Roger Stone's Really Secret Past - Hit & Run". Reason.com. 2011-02-25. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "What's Your Question?". Ask.com. Retrieved 2013-08-18.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Tortelli, Joseph. "Discoveries", Goldmine, Issue 165, USA, February 2002.
- ^ "Dino Danelli Art". Dino Danelli Art. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
External links[]
![]() | This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. (August 2013) |
- 1944 births
- American rock drummers
- Living people
- Musicians from Jersey City, New Jersey
- Musicians from New Jersey
- Jersey Shore musicians
- The Rascals members
- American people of Italian descent
- 20th-century American drummers
- American male drummers
- 20th-century American male musicians