Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (born 10 January 1946) is an English drummer. He has worked with

John Mayall John Brumwell Mayall (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and Rock music, rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of ...

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

, Journey,

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight RIAA certification, gold or Music rec ...

, Nils Lofgren,

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

, Shuggie Otis, Ian Hunter,

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

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 ...

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...

, Pat Travers, Sammy Hagar, Michael Schenker, UFO, Michael Chapman, Jake E. Lee, Leslie West, Kathi McDonald,

Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 194411 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He be ...

, Mike Onesko,

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

and

Flo & Eddie Flo & Eddie is a comedy rock duo consisting of Mark Volman (Flo, short for Phlorescent Leech) and Howard Kaylan (Eddie). Kaylan and Volman were founding members of the mid-to late 1960s rock and pop band the Turtles. After the Turtles dis ...

. Dunbar was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

as a member of Journey in 2017.

Career

Aynsley Thomas Dunbar was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. He started his professional career in Derry Wilkie and the Pressmen in 1963. In December 1964 he joined Merseybeat group

The Mojos The Mojos were a British beat group from the 1960s, best known for their hit UK single, " Everything's Alright", with two other singles charting low in the UK Singles Chart in 1964. Biography The band formed under the name the Nomads as ...

, who were renamed Stu James & the Mojos, with original members vocalist Stu James and guitarist Nick Crouch and bass player Lewis Collins (later an actor in '' The Professionals''). This line-up continued until 1966. Dunbar then auditioned for

the Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

– losing to Mitch Mitchell on a coin toss. Dunbar then joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers replacing Hughie Flint. He stayed with Mayall until the spring of 1967 (playing on the '' A Hard Road'' album), and was replaced by

Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and actor. He is the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of the group's bassist John Mc ...

. After a short stint in the Jeff Beck Group, Dunbar founded 'the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation', so named to chide Mayall, who had fired him. They issued four albums during their existence. Dunbar co-wrote the song "Warning" (later recorded by

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

on their first album). The Dunbar single version was recorded in 1967 for the Blue Horizon label, prior to his band's first album release ''The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation'' (1968). Subsequently, Dunbar founded a short-lived progressive rock band called Blue Whale, which debuted with a tour of Scandinavia in January 1970. Following the recent collapse of the original lineup of

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

, Dunbar unsuccessfully tried to recruit

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is an English musician, composer, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session mu ...

as Blue Whale's guitarist. Fripp, in turn, unsuccessfully tried to recruit Dunbar as King Crimson's new drummer. Blue Whale recorded one album, which featured Paul Williams (vocals), Ivan Zagni (guitar), Roger Sutton (guitar), Tommy Eyre (from Retaliation, keys) and Peter Friedberg (bass). Dunbar was later the drummer for

, playing on the solo albums '' Apostrophe (')'' and '' Waka/Jawaka'', and the

Mothers A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestat ...

' albums '' The Grand Wazoo'', '' Fillmore East – June 1971'', and '' Just Another Band from L.A.'', as well as the film '' 200 Motels''. He filled in for Flo and Eddie when they left the Zappa group after an irate British "fan" pushed Zappa off the

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

stage in 1971. In 1974 he played on the soundtrack of '' Dirty Duck'', an adult animated film directed by

Charles Swenson Charles Gregory Swenson (born March 28, 1941) is an American animator, writer, storyboard artist, sound designer, producer and director who worked with animated film for many years. He wrote, directed, and animated the 1974 unrated adult-themed ...

. In the mid-1970s Dunbar played drums for former Grin leader, Nils Lofgren, before joining the newly formed Journey on February 1, 1974. He remained a member until the end of the Infinity Tour on September 2, 1978 in Oakland, a period that encompassed Journey’s first four studio albums. Soon after, he joined

for three albums. On 28 December 1978, he played at Winterland in San Francisco with the Tubes. Dunbar joined

in 1985 and performed on their 1987 album, ''

''. He also spent some time working with Pat Travers,

, UFO, Michael Schenker, Mogg/Way and

the Animals The Animals, currently billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals (featuring original frontman Eric Burdon) and also as Animals & Friends (featuring original drummer John Steel (drummer), John Steel), are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Ne ...

. He has been the drummer for the World Classic Rockers since 2003. In 2005, he drummed on Jake E. Lee's solo '' Retraced'' album. In 2008 Dunbar recorded an album of material for Direct Music with Mickey Thomas of

Starship A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 1 ...

, and musicians such as Jake E. Lee, former guitarist for

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

. The complete recordings of Dunbar's drumming with Frank Zappa at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in October 1971 were released exactly 40 years after the event in a four-CD set. In 2009 the blues album ''The Bluesmasters featuring Mickey Thomas'' was released, featuring Dunbar on drums along with Tim Tucker on guitar and Danny Miranda on bass as well as guest stars such as Magic Slim on guitar and vocals. '' Drummerworld'' recognized Dunbar as the only drummer to have played with such a robust variety of successful bands and musicians. In 2017 Aynsley was inducted into the

as a member of Journey. Dunbar was ranked by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' as 27th greatest drummer of all time.

Personal life

Dunbar's youngest son Dash was diagnosed with cancer in June 1999 and died on 9 May 2000.

Discography

With John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers

* '' A Hard Road'' (1967) * '' Looking Back'' (1969) * ''So Many Roads'' (1969) * '' Thru the Years'' (1971)

With Eddie Boyd

* '' Eddie Boyd and His Blues Band Featuring Peter Green'' (1967)

With Michael Chapman

*''Rainmaker'' (1969)

The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation

* '' The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation'' (July 1968) * ''Doctor Dunbar's Prescription'' (December 1968) * ''To Mum, From Aynsley & The Boys'' (Oct 1969) * '' Remains to Be Heard'' (May 1970) * ''Watchin' Chain'' (unknown; BYG 529501)

With Blue Whale

* ''Blue Whale'' (1971)

With Frank Zappa and the Mothers

* '' Chunga's Revenge'' (1970) * '' Fillmore East - June 1971'' (1971) * '' 200 Motels'' (1971) * '' Just Another Band from L.A.'' (1972) * '' Waka/Jawaka'' (1972) * '' The Grand Wazoo'' (1972) * '' Apostrophe (')'' (1974) * '' You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1'' (1988) * '' You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3'' (1991) * '' You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6'' (1992) * '' Playground Psychotics'' (1992) * '' The Lost Episodes'' (1996) * '' Quaudiophiliac'' (2004) * ''

'' (2011) * '' Finer Moments'' (2012) * '' Road Tapes, Venue 3'' (2016) * ''The Mothers 1970'' (2020) * ''Zappa - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (2021) * '' Funky Nothingness'' (2023)

With Shuggie Otis

* '' Freedom Flight'' (1971)

With Flo & Eddie

* '' The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie (album)'' (1972) * '' Flo & Eddie (album)'' (1973)

With David Bowie

*'' Pin Ups'' (1973) *'' Diamond Dogs'' (1974)

With Lou Reed

*''

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

'' (1973)

With
Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

*''

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

'' (Atlantic, 1973)

With Ava Cherry and the Astronettes

*''People from Bad Homes'' (1973)

With Kathi McDonald

*''

Insane Asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...

'' (1974)

With Mick Ronson

*'' Slaughter on 10th Avenue'' (1974) *'' Play Don't Worry'' (1975)

With Nils Lofgren

*'' Nils Lofgren'' (1975) *'' Cry Tough'' (1976)

With Ian Hunter

*'' All American Alien Boy'' (1976)

With Journey

*'' Journey'' (1975) *'' Look into the Future'' (1976) *''

Next NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...

'' (1977) *''

Infinity Infinity is something which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is denoted by \infty, called the infinity symbol. From the time of the Ancient Greek mathematics, ancient Greeks, the Infinity (philosophy), philosophic ...

'' (1978)

With Sammy Hagar

*'' Nine on a Ten Scale'' (1976)

With Jefferson Starship

*'' Freedom at Point Zero'' (1979) *'' Modern Times'' (1981) *'' Winds of Change'' (1982)

With Paul Kantner

*'' Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra'' (1983)

With Whitesnake

* ''

'' (1987) * '' 1987 Versions'' (1987)

With Ronnie Montrose

* '' The Diva Station'' (1990)

With Pat Travers

*''Just a Touch'' (1992) *''Blues Magnet'' (1994) *''P.T. Power Trio'' (2003)

With Mogg/Way

*'' Edge of the World'' (1997)

With Mother's Army

*'' Fire on the Moon'' (1998)

With Michael Schenker

*'' Adventures of the Imagination'' (2000)

With UFO

* '' Covenant'' (2000) * ''

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

'' (2002)

With Leslie West

* ''Blues to Die For'' (2003)

With Jake E. Lee

*'' Retraced'' (2005)

With Keith Emerson

*''Best Revenge'' (1985) *''Off the Shelf'' (2006)

Aynsley Dunbar

* ''Mutiny'' (2008)

Bibliography

* Bob Brunning (1986) ''Blues: The British Connection'', London: Helter Skelter, 2002, * Dick Heckstall-Smith (2004) ''The Safest Place in the World: A Personal History of British Rhythm and blues'', Clear Books, – First Edition : ''Blowing The Blues – Fifty Years Playing The

British Blues British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s, and reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s. In Britain, blues developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric g ...

'' * Christopher Hjort ''Strange Brew:

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 ...

and the

Boom, 1965–1970'', foreword by

, Jawbone (2007) * Paul Myers: '' Long John Baldry and the Birth of the

'',

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

2007 – GreyStone Books * Harry Shapiro '' Alexis Korner: The Biography'', Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London 1997, Discography by Mark Troster

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunbar, Aynsley 1946 births Living people English rock drummers The Mothers of Invention members John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers members Journey (band) members Whitesnake members UFO (band) members Jefferson Starship members Charly Records artists Musicians from Liverpool English blues musicians English session musicians English expatriate musicians in the United States Glam rock musicians The Jeff Beck Group members Mother's Army members World Classic Rockers members Blue Thumb Records artists