Denny Carmassi (born April 30, 1947) is an American drummer most notable for playing with many rock bands.

Biography

Carmassi was born into a family of drummers; his father, his uncle, and his brother each played the drums. Some of Denny's earliest memories are his father rehearsing after work with his band in the kitchen of their home. Occasionally they allowed young Denny Carmassi to sit in with them. His father exposed him to great drummers, including

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, Jimmy Vincent and Richard Goldberg. Then Denny listened the radio and discovered several drummers like Earl Palmer,

D.J. Fontana Dominic Joseph Fontana (March 15, 1931 – June 13, 2018) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Elvis Presley for 14 years. In 1955, he was hired to play drums for Presley, which marked the beginning of a 15-year relationsh ...

, Al Jackson Jr. (Denny actually learned to play the drums from listening to Al and playing along with the Booker T. & the M.G.'s ''Green Onions'' album), Clyde Stubblefield,

Jabo Starks Jabo may refer to: * Jabo people, an ethnic group in Liberia * Jabo language, in Liberia * Jabo (Nigeria), a village in Sokoto State * An abbreviation for the German term for fighter-bomber aircraft People with the given name or nickname * J ...

, Dino Danelli,

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and African rhythms and pio ...

Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in '' Billboard' '' ...

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and Tony Williams. Out of high school, Denny started playing topless clubs in San Francisco. He joined a band called Sweet Linda Devine, and recorded an album in New York on

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

, produced by

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...

, but before long they parted ways. Denny went on to work with several local bands in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

and began working with Montrose and Sammy Hagar in the 1970s. Carmassi was a member of the first four line-ups of the band Montrose. After Montrose, he played with his former Montrose bandmate

Sammy Hagar Samuel Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose and subsequently launched a successful solo ca ...

as a solo artist, and with his former Montrose bandmates Ronnie Montrose and Jim Alcivar in the band Gamma. Denny has played with

Heart The heart is a muscular organ found in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon diox ...

, Coverdale-Page,

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

, and David Coverdale as a solo artist. He also recorded with Randy Meisner, Kim Carnes,

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38 Special 38 Special may refer to: * .38 Special, a revolver cartridge * 38 Special (band) 38 Special (also stylized as .38 Special or spelled out as Thirty-Eight Special) is an American rock band that was formed by Donnie Van Zant and Don Barnes in 1 ...

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and many more. Denny toured with Foreigner in 2002. Currently, he performs with Mercy (featuring Lynda Morrison).

Discography

By date

1970s * Sweet Linda Divine – ''Sweet Linda Divine'' (1970) * Montrose – '' Montrose'' (1973) * Montrose – '' Paper Money'' (1974) * Montrose – '' Warner Brothers Presents... Montrose!'' (1975) * Montrose – '' Jump On It'' (1976) *

– '' Musical Chairs'' (1977) * Sammy Hagar – '' All Night Long'' (1978) * Randy Meisner – ''Randy Meisner'' (1978) * St. Paradise – ''St. Paradise'' (1979) 1980s * Gamma – ''

Gamma 2 ''Gamma 2'' is Gamma's second album, released in 1980. On this album Ronnie Montrose keeps his streak of not having the same personnel on two albums in a row, changing the line-up once again. Davey Pattison (vocals), Montrose (guitar), and Jim A ...

'' (1980) * Gamma – ''

Gamma 3 ''Gamma 3'' is the third studio album released by the rock band Gamma. It was released in 1982. Track listing All songs by Ronnie Montrose, Mitchell Froom and Jerry Stahl, except where indicated. ;Side one #"What's Gone Is Gone" – 5:30 #"Righ ...

'' (1982) * Randy Meisner – ''Randy Meisner'' (1982) *

– '' Passionworks'' (1983) * Kim Carnes – Café Racers (1983) *

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is currently the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including ...

– Key of Cool (1984) *

– Russians & Americans (1984) *

– The Confessor (1985) * Heart – ''

'' (1985) * Stevie Nicks – '' Rock a Little'' (1985) *

.38 Special The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & ...

– '' Strength in Numbers'' (1986) * Heart – '' Bad Animals'' (1987) *

– '' Here I Go Again 87'' – Radio-Edit Single (1987) *

– '' Long Cold Winter'' (1988) *

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– ''Russell Hitchcock'' (1988) 1990s * Heart – ''

Brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

'' (1990) * Heart – ''

Rock the House Live! ''Rock the House Live!'' is a live album released by the American hard rock band Heart (band), Heart in 1991. It was recorded at The Centrum, Worcester, MA, USA on November 28, 1990. The band performed a set of 22 songs (including "The Way Back M ...

'' (1991) * Coverdale-Page – Coverdale and Page (1993) * Heart – '' Desire Walks On'' (1993) * Randy Newman – ''Faust'' (1995) *

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock a ...

– '' Spirit of the Wild'' (1995) * Sammy Hagar – ''

Marching to Mars ''Marching to Mars'' is the tenth studio album by American rock singer-songwriter and vocalist Sammy Hagar, and his first post-Van Halen solo album. It features various musicians on different songs. It was released on May 20, 1997, by MCA Records ...

'' (1997) *

– '' Restless Heart'' (1997) 2000s * David Coverdale – '' Into the light'' (2000) * Trip to Heaven – ''707'' (2000) * Gamma – ''

Gamma 4 ''Gamma 4'' is Gamma's fourth and final album and was originally released on Ronnie Montrose's own label, RoMoCo, in 2000. In 2005, it was re-released by Wounded Bird Records. Track listing All credits adapted from the original release. # "Dar ...

'' (2000) * Bruce Turgon – ''Outside Looking In'' (2006) * Mercy (featuring Lynda Morrison) – "Bad Habit" (2014)

By Band / Artist-surname

* Kim Carnes – Café Racers (1983) *

– '' Long Cold Winter'' (1988) * Coverdale-Page – Coverdale/Page (1993) * David Coverdale – '' Into the light'' (2000) *

– Key of Cool (1984) * Gamma – ''

'' (1980) * Gamma – ''

'' (1982) * Gamma – ''

'' (2000) *

– '' Musical Chairs'' (1977) * Sammy Hagar – '' All Night Long'' (1978) * Sammy Hagar – ''

'' (1997) *

– '' Passionworks'' (1983) * Heart – ''

'' (1985) * Heart – '' Bad Animals'' (1987) * Heart – ''

'' (1990) * Heart – ''

'' (1991) * Heart – '' Desire Walks On'' (1993) *

– ''Russell Hitchcock'' (1988) * Randy Meisner – ''Randy Meisner'' (1978) * Randy Meisner – ''Randy Meisner'' (1982) * Montrose – '' Montrose'' (1973) * Montrose – '' Paper Money'' (1974) * Montrose – '' Warner Brothers Presents... Montrose!'' (1975) * Montrose – '' Jump On It'' (1976) * Mercy (featuring Lynda Morrison) – '' Bad Habit'' (2014) * Stevie Nicks – '' Rock a Little'' (1985) * Randy Newman – ''Faust'' (1995) *

– '' Spirit of the Wild'' (1995) * St. Paradise – ''St. Paradise'' (1979) *

– Russians & Americans (1984) * Sweet Linda Divine – ''Sweet Linda Divine'' (1970) * Trip to Heaven – ''707'' (2000) * Bruce Turgon – ''Outside Looking In'' (2006) *

– The Confessor (1985) *

– '' Here I Go Again 87'' – Radio-Edit Single (1987) * Whitesnake – '' Restless Heart'' (1997) *

– '' Strength in Numbers'' (1986)

References

External links

Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carmassi, Denny American rock drummers Whitesnake members Montrose (band) members Heart (band) members Living people Drummers from San Francisco Sammy Hagar & the Waboritas members Michael Schenker Group members Gamma (band) members 1947 births