Dave Charles, also known as David Charles is a British drummer, recording engineer & record producer. He often appears under both names on the same album, e.g.

Help Yourself Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress. Help may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film * ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film * '' ...

's ''The Return of Ken Whaley'', where Dave Charles is credited with drums and vocals Allmusic credits for Dave CharlesRetrieved 25 March 2009. and David Charles as producer. Allmusic credits for David CharlesRetrieved 25 March 2009.

Career

Charles joined Walthamstow blues-rock band Sam Apple Pie, appearing on their eponymous first album in 1969, and then playing with Help Yourself at the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970.Sleevenotes by Nigel Cross to CD re-release of ''Ernie Graham'' his eponymous 1971 album (Hux 032) As well as a drummer, he was also interested in electronics, and recorded the Brinsley Schwarz Hype at the

Fillmore East The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the (at the time) Lower East Side neighborhood, now called the East Village neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan of New York City. I ...

Malcolm Morley left Sam Apple Pie and invited Charles to join his new band

, for whom he drummed on all 6 of their albums, and played an early synthesiser. Whilst with Help Yourself Charles also drummed on the eponymous album by Ernie Graham (ex

Eire Apparent Eire Apparent were a band from Northern Ireland, noted for launching the careers of Henry McCullough and Ernie Graham, and for having Jimi Hendrix play on, and produce, their only album. History Tony and The Telstars The origins of the group ...

), and

Deke Leonard Roger Arnold "Deke" Leonard (18 December 1944 – 31 January 2017) was a Welsh rock musician, "serving a life sentence in the music business". After the breakup of Help Yourself in 1973, Charles recorded ''Unusual'' with Roger Ruskin Spear, ''Fish'' for

Barry Melton Barry "The Fish" Melton (born June 14, 1947) is the co-founder and original lead guitarist of Country Joe and the Fish and Dinosaurs. He appears on all the Country Joe and the Fish recordings and he also wrote some of the songs that the band re ...

and rejoined Tim Rose for ''Magician''. He drummed for, and recorded albums with, several Welsh bands, including

Geraint Watkins Geraint Meurig Vaughan Watkins (born 5 February 1951) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, rock and roll pianist and accordionist. He has backed many notable artists, including Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney, Ro ...

, The Neutrons, Deke Leonard and Clive John. Most of these albums were recorded at

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was originally founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Facilities Rockfield is a two- ...

, where Charles tried using the recording desk, because "someone had to do it, and it all looked fairly simple really." He knew Rockfield boss Kingsley Ward from Monmouth, as well as the studio, and Kingsley offered to train him as a recording engineer. He became resident engineer at Rockfield between 1975 and 1977, engineering albums for

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

('' Warrior on the Edge of Time''; '' Quark, Strangeness and Charm'' and '' PXR5''), Dr. Feelgood (''

Down by the Jetty ''Down by the Jetty'' is the debut album by English rock band Dr. Feelgood, released in January 1975. The band's Johnny Kidd & the Pirates-influenced originals ("Keep It Out of Sight") appear alongside covers material like " Bonie Moronie" ...

''), Dave Edmunds ('' Get It''), Judas Priest and

Graham Parker Graham Thomas Parker (born 18 November 1950) is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the British band Graham Parker & the Rumour. Life and career Early career (1960s–1976) Parker was born in Hackney, East L ...

In the mid-1970s, Charles joined musician and songwriter John David to form a group, Airwaves, as drummer. The group recorded the albums ''New Day'' and ''Next Stop'' in 1978 and 1979, respectively. In 1978, they also had a minor hit, "So Hard Livin' Without You" (U.S. #62). In 1981, he had a long stint with Dave Edmunds including '' D.E. 7th'', ''

Information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...

'', ''

Riff Raff Riff Raff, Riffraff, or Riff-Raff, a term for the common people but with negative connotations, may refer to: In music * Riff Raff (rapper), from Texas * Riff Raff (band), a UK progressive rock band * Riff Raff, a band formed by Billy Bragg * ...

'' and '' I Hear You Rockin'''. He also drummed on albums by

Bryn Haworth Bryn Haworth (born 29 July 1948) is a British Christian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pioneer of Jesus music in mainstream rock. Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, UK, he has released some twenty-two albums and several singles since the 1970s ...

('' Pass It On'') and Sheila Walsh (''

Future Eyes ''Future Eyes'' is the title of the first solo album by the Scottish singer Sheila Walsh. Recorded in Spring 1981 at Chapel Lane Studios near Hereford, engineered and produced by Paul Cobbold. It was released in the UK in 1981 on Chapel Lane Reco ...

''), before joining

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (french: Quartier latin, ) is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistro ...

and playing with

Andy Fairweather-Low Andrew Fairweather Low (born 2 August 1948) is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman' ...

and

Hugh Masekela Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and for ...

.He also engineered

Power Supply A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. The main purpose of a power supply is to convert electric current from a source to the correct voltage, current, and frequency to power the load. As a ...

, by Budgie, their eighth studio album. By 1985 he was undertaking more engineering, including albums by Jeff Beck (''

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid F ...

''),

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('' Hot Number''),

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and New wave music, new wave,Pinker and Prouder than Previous'' and '' Party of One'') the

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and

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. Having become known as an engineer, he recorded

The La's The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from 1983 until 1992. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group are best known for their hit single " There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike Bad ...

album ''

'', and worked with The Charlatans where his role changed from initially being the engineer, on '' The Charlatans'', to becoming the producer on '' Tellin' Stories'' and numerous Charlatans singles.Sleevenotes to ''Melting Pot'' the Charlatans 1998 singles compilation In the 2000s he has produced albums for

Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

, Paul Chapman and Dr. Feelgood.

References

* NB – Allmusic uses different artist ID numbers for "Dave" Charles and "David" Charles. The two associated credit lists partially overlap. {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Dave British audio engineers British record producers British male drummers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)