Andrew Newmark (born July 14, 1950)Scrymgeour, Alex (2008). "Andy Newmark: And the beat goes on." ''The Royal Gazette'' (online) October 10, 2008.
Retrieved 9-2-2013. is an American session drummer who was a member of

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul music, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel music, gospel, and R&B, becam ...

and has played with

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...

, Ron Wood and

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

Biography

Andrew Newmark was born on July 14, 1950, in

Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the largest part of the town of Rye (town), New York, Rye in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County by populati ...

, and raised primarily in the nearby suburb of

Mamaroneck Mamaroneck ( ), is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Villag ...

. His mother was Bermudian and his father, Charles W. Newmark, was an Assistant District Attorney from 1938 to 1940 in New York City under District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey. His Father was Russian-Jewish. Taking up the drums at the age of nine, Newmark gradually honed his craft and was taking paid gigs at age 15. Visiting his mother's native Bermuda frequently throughout his youth, Newmark made the decision to move there at the age of 16. Newmark played in the Bermuda Jam, a band that included guitarist Paul Muggleton. One of his first gigs was recording with

on her albums '' Anticipation'' and '' No Secrets''. These and other sessions segued into a more permanent role as a member of the

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band

from 1972 to 1973. Hired to replace Gerry Gibson, who had replaced founding member Greg Errico, Newmark was invited to audition for

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (March 15, 1943 – June 9, 2025), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, was an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development ...

by saxophonist Pat Rizzo. Newmark went on to record one album, '' Fresh'' (1973), as the Family Stone's drummer and performed with the band for two years in concert. After leaving Family Stone in 1974, Newmark played drums for the first month of George Harrison and Ravi Shankar's 1974 North American tour, and returned to session work, playing drums on Gary Wright's 1975 album '' Dream Weaver''. He continued performing on Carly Simon's solo albums throughout the 1970s and again in the 1990s. Newmark has performed and recorded with

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...

, Joe Walsh, B.B. King,

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

, Roy Buchanan,

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...

, Dan Fogelberg,

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. Over the course of a career that spans five decades and 15 studio albums, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, an ...

, Patrick Moraz,

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

, Murray Head,

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

, Ronnie Wood,

, ABC, Hue and Cry,

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968) and ''Ne ...

Nicolette Larson Nicolette Larson (July 17, 1952 – December 16, 1997) was an American singer. She is best known for her work in the late 1970s with Neil Young and her 1978 hit single of Young's " Lotta Love", which hit No. 1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary ...

Elkie Brooks Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1945) is an English Rock music, rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe (band), Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest su ...

, Sting,

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

,"Andy Newmark" by Rick Mattingly, Modern Drummer magazine, 8:2, Feb. 1984 Nils Lofgren,

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

, and Michael Franks. In 1980, Newmark was the drummer on John Lennon's last album, '' Double Fantasy'', as well as '' Milk and Honey'' released in 1984. He was the featured drummer on

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

's '' Season of Glass'' in 1981. His connection with the ''Double Fantasy'' album was reprised in 2012 with his contributions to the '' Lennon Bermuda'' tribute album on several tracks, including those by

Paul Carrack Paul Melvyn Carrack (born 22 April 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and composer who has recorded as both a solo artist and as a member of several popular bands. The BBC dubbed Carrack "The Man with the Golden Voice", while '' ...

, Nils Lofgren, and Rocky and the Natives. According to a 2006 ''

Sound on Sound ''Sound on Sound'' is a monthly music technology magazine. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals. Due to its technical focus, it is predominantly ...

'' magazine interview with engineer Andy Jackson, Newmark played drums on

's ''

On an Island ''On an Island'' is the third solo studio album by Pink Floyd member David Gilmour. It was released in the UK on 6 March 2006, Gilmour's 60th birthday, and in the United States the following day. It was his first solo album in 22 years s ...

'' album. Newmark also plays on several tracks on David Gilmour's 2015 solo album '' Rattle That Lock''.

Equipment

Newmark uses Yamaha drums,

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumheads, drums, and drum hardware, hardware, and various percussio ...

drum heads, Zildjian cymbals and

Vic Firth Everett Joseph "Vic" Firth (June 2, 1930 – July 26, 2015) was an American musician and the founder of Vic Firth Company (formerly Vic Firth, Inc.), a company that makes percussion sticks and mallets. He was also known for his association ...

drumsticks. His drum setup and cymbals vary slightly with who he plays with, but generally favors a setup consisting of a bass drum, rack tom, snare drum, and then one or two floor toms. He plays a mix of Zildjian A and K cymbals. Drums: Yamaha Recording Custom and Tour Custom Series: * 16"x24" bass drum * 8"x12" rack tom * 16"x16" floor tom Cymbals: Zildjian: * 13" A new beat hi-hats or 14" A new beat hi-hats * 8" A splash * 16" A rock crash or 17" A thin crash * 18" A thin crash * 20" A medium ride or 20" K ride or 20" K Constantinople ride Drumheads: Remo * Yamaha variation of Remo drumheads Drumsticks:

: * Vic Firth 5A drumsticks

Discography

References

External links

Official websiteAndy Newmark interview.
Keef Trouble interviews Andy Newmark. {{DEFAULTSORT:Newmark, Andy 1950 births American expatriates in the United Kingdom American funk drummers American male drummers Rhythm and blues drummers American rock drummers Sly and the Family Stone members Roxy Music members American soul musicians ABC (band) members Living people People from Port Chester, New York American people of Bermudian descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American session musicians Soul drummers 20th-century American drummers Drummers from New York (state)