Bruce Rowland (22 May 1941 – 29 June 2015) was an English rock drummer best known for his memberships of The Grease Band and

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

band

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

. He was also a prolific

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

Early career

Rowland was born at

Park Royal Park Royal is an area in North West London, England, divided between the London Borough of Ealing and the London Borough of Brent. It is the site of the largest business park in London, but despite intensive existing use, the area is, togethe ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, on 22 May 1941. In 1968, he played drums on the Wynder K. Frog album "''Out of the Frying Pan''", and in 1969 joined The Grease Band, who were then

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances featuring expressive body movements. Most of his best-known singles, such as "Feelin' Alright ...

's backing band. He played for Cocker's performance at the

Woodstock Festival The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

, on Cocker's second album, ''

Joe Cocker! ''Joe Cocker!'' is the second studio album by English singer Joe Cocker, released in November 1969. Following the template of his first LP, the album features numerous covers of songs originally performed by Bob Dylan (" Dear Landlord"), the ...

'', and on the UK top ten hit single "

Delta Lady "Delta Lady" is a song written and composed by rock singer and pianist Leon Russell. It was first recorded by Joe Cocker for his 1969 album ''Joe Cocker!'' and also appeared on his 1970 concert album '' Mad Dogs & Englishmen''. Cocker's single pe ...

". In 1970, Cocker and the Grease Band parted company, and Rowland stayed with the latter for their albums ''The Grease Band'' (1971) and ''Amazing Grease''. During this period, Rowland also played session for

Shawn Phillips Shawn Phillips (born February 3, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, primarily influential in the 1960s and 1970s. His work is rooted in folk rock but straddles other genres, including jazz fusion and funk. Phillips has reco ...

Andy Mackay Andrew Mackay (born 23 July 1946) is an English musician, best known as a founding member (playing oboe and saxophone) of the art rock group Roxy Music. In addition, he has taught music and provided scores for television, while his work as a se ...

Jackie Lomax John Richard Lomax (10 May 1944 – 15 September 2013) was an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is best known for his association with George Harrison, who produced Lomax's recordings for the Beatles' Apple record label in the late 1 ...

, Gallagher and Lyle, and others, also contributing drums to the original recording of ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. He spent some time with

Ronnie Lane Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (band), Faces (1969–73). Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 afte ...

's Slim Chance, including his solo debut album, '' Anymore for Anymore'', and the Lane/

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

soundtrack album ''

Mahoney's Last Stand ''Mahoney's Last Stand'' is an album by Faces bandmates Ronnie Wood and Ronnie Lane, recorded in 1972 (with sessions overlapping with the early rehearsals for the Faces' final studio album '' Ooh La La''). It is the music soundtrack album of t ...

'' before becoming a full-time sessionist.

Fairport Convention years

Rowland's involvement with

began in 1972, a particularly turbulent year for them, during which they had three drummers. His contributions later appeared on the unreleased, but much bootlegged ''The Manor Album''. The arrangement became more formal during the recording of '' Rising for the Moon'' (1975), when

Dave Mattacks David James Mattacks (born 13 March 1948) is an English rock and folk drummer, best known for his work with British folk rock band Fairport Convention. Fairport Convention He replaced Martin Lamble, who had died on 12 May 1969 in a road ac ...

left the band during the recording sessions, due to differences between himself and producer Glyn Johns. Following a tour, during which roadie Paul Warren played the drums, Johns suggested Bruce Rowland as a permanent replacement for Mattacks. By the following album, '' Gottle O'Geer'', Rowland had become a full member of the band and his contributions extended beyond drums to keyboards and backing vocals, and this continued with the two succeeding studio albums '' The Bonny Bunch of Roses'' and '' Tipplers Tales'', and the 1979 live album '' Farewell Farewell''. Rowland also worked as a session musician, appearing on

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, England, he has released some twenty-two albums and several singles since the ...

's 1975 album '' Sunny Side of the Street''. Fairport took a break apart from playing concerts between 1979 and 1985 and during this period Rowland (sometimes at the same time as Mattacks) provided drums for these performances; he appears on the live album of the 1981 reunion, '' Moat on the Ledge''. Rowland later quit the music business and moved to Denmark. He spent his later years in

Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish in the borough of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. As of the 2021 census, Brixham had a population of 16,825. It is one of the main three centres of the borough, along with ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. He had a paint business and later sold it to retire and concentrate on creating a retirement home for himself and Barbara. He died on 29 June 2015 of cancer, aged 74, not long after marrying his long term companion Barbara. Following his death, some of his musical instruments have been auctioned in aid of Rowcroft Hospice.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowland, Bruce 1941 births 2015 deaths English rock drummers People from Park Royal Fairport Convention members British folk rock musicians English session musicians English expatriates in Denmark Deaths from cancer in England The Grease Band members