Charles W. Ruff III (May 25, 1951 – October 14, 2011) was an American rock drummer well known for his work with

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American multi-instrumentalist, working as a vocalist along with playing keyboards, saxophone, and percussion. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group and their pop ...

on the popular instrumental "

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

Biography

Edgar Winter Group with Rick Derringer 1975

Ruff was born in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, on May 25, 1951, to Charles W. "Bill" Ruff II and Georgie Ruff. He played in the rock group Sawbuck with

Ronnie Montrose Ronald Douglas Montrose (November 29, 1947 – March 3, 2012) was an American musician and guitarist who founded and led the rock bands Montrose and Gamma. He also performed and did session work with a variety of musicians, including Van Morri ...

and Bill Church from 1968 to 1970. Ruff and Montrose later joined Edgar Winter with

Dan Hartman Daniel Earl Hartman (December 8, 1950 – March 22, 1994) was an American pop rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer, and songwriter and original frontman for several bands, including the Soploids, Mak and the Turnarounds, Our Wri ...

to form The Edgar Winter Group in 1972. It was with this band that he had his biggest successes. The album ''

They Only Come Out at Night ''They Only Come Out at Night'' is the debut studio album by American rock band the Edgar Winter Group, released in November 1972 by Epic Records. A commercial success, the album reached #3 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart and features the ba ...

'' (1973) featured "

," which reached No. 1 in the U.S. in May 1973, and the top 15 single " Free Ride", which reached No. 14 that same year. The album ''

Shock Treatment ''Shock Treatment'' is a 1981 American musical comedy film directed by Jim Sharman, and co-written by Sharman and Richard O'Brien. It is a follow-up to the 1975 film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''. While not an outright sequel, the film does ...

'' featured the top 40 hit "River's Risin'" and "Easy Street", which also charted. In 1977, Ruff joined

Sammy Hagar Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a ...

and performed on the albums '' Street Machine'' (1979) and '' Danger Zone'' (1979), including the song "Bad Reputation", which is in the film ''

Up the Academy ''Mad Magazine Presents Up the Academy'' (often shortened to ''Up the Academy'') is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Robert Downey Sr. and starring Wendell Brown, Tommy Citera, Ron Leibman, Harry Teinowitz, Hutch Parker, Ralph Macchio, ...

''. In his later years, Ruff continued performing music in Reno, Nevada, with the Chuck Ruff Group, The Max Volume Band (played drums on the 2007 album ''Illuminaughty'') and his last project, Geezersläw. In 1967, Chuck dated Kristine (Krissy) Pickering, who now sits on the Supreme Court Of Nevada, as of October 29, 2020. Ruff died in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

on October 14, 2011, after a long illness. He was survived by two sons, Dustin and Damian.Chuck Ruff interview @Swampland.com
Retrieved April 14, 2012. Ruff played Gretsch Drums throughout his career.

Discography

*''Sawbuck'' – ''Sawbuck'' (1972), Filmore Records *''

'' –

The Edgar Winter Group Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American multi-instrumentalist, working as a vocalist along with playing keyboards, saxophone, and percussion. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group and their pop ...

(1972),

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

*''

'' – The Edgar Winter Group (1974), Epic Records *''

Jasmine Nightdreams ''Jasmine Nightdreams'' is the fifth studio album by Edgar Winter, released in 1975. Track listing Personnel Musicians *Edgar Winter - "the nightdreamer" - vocals, saxophone, keyboards, synthesizer *Johnny Winter - "slide rider" - slide guitar ...

'' – Edgar Winter (1975), Blue Sky Records *'' Together: Edgar Winter and Johnny Winter Live'' (1976) *''The Edgar Winter Group With Rick Derringer'' (1976), Blue Sky Records *'' Street Machine'' –

Band (1979),

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

*'' Danger Zone'' – Sammy Hagar Band (1979), Capitol Records *''Use It or Lose It'' – Michael Furlong Band (1984),

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

*''Fatal Attraction'' –

Adam Bomb Adam Bomb (born Adam Brenner, 14 August 1963) is an American guitarist who worked with artists like TKO, Black 'N Blue, Steel Pulse, John Paul Jones, and Michael Monroe. His stage name is obviously a play on the name Atom Bomb. Early In 1979 ...

(1985) *''Illuminaughty'' – The Max Volume Band, Tadzhiq Music Group (2007)

Filmography

*''In Concert'' (1972) *''

Kenny Rogers and the First Edition Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, until 1970 billed as the First Edition, were an American rock band. The band's style was difficult to singularly classify, as it incorporated elements of country, rock and psychedelic pop. Its stalwart memb ...

: Rollin' on the River'' (1973) *'' Flipside'' (1973) *''

Don Kirshner Donald Kirshner (April 17, 1934 – January 17, 2011) was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed "the Man with the Golden Ear" by ''Time'', he was best known for managin ...

's Rock Concert'' (1974) *'' The Midnight Special'' (1974) *''

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music series broadcast by the BBC. It was devised by producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough, and aired on BBC2 from ...

'' (1974) *''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

'' (1984)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruff, Chuck American male drummers 1951 births 2011 deaths Musicians from Reno, Nevada Sammy Hagar & the Waboritas members Drummers from Nevada