Jon Povey (20 August 1942 – 9 May 2023) was an English drummer and keyboardist.

Career

Born in London, he grew up in

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and in the early 1960s, Povey played drums in Bern Elliott and the Bluecaps, who had changed their name to Bern Elliott and the Fenmen by 1961. They were a five-piece

beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

band, and after signing to

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, had a Top 20 hit with their cover of "

Money (That's What I Want) "Money (That's What I Want)" is a rhythm and blues song written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, which was the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise. Barrett Strong recorded it in 1959 as a single for the Tamla label, ...

" in December 1963. When lead singer Bern Elliott left the band, early in 1964, the other four continued as The Fenmen, releasing a few singles with strong

vocal harmonies Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chor ...

, such as their cover of "

California Dreamin' "California Dreamin" is a song written by John and Michelle Phillips in 1963 and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in Dec ...

" in 1966. In 1967, Povey and Fenmen

Wally Waller Alan "Wally" Waller or Wally Allen (born 9 April 1944) is an English bassist and producer. He was a member of Pretty Things on their most famous records, '' S.F. Sorrow'' and ''Parachute''. Biography Wally Waller was born Alan Edward Waller in Ba ...

joined

Pretty Things Pretty Things were an English Rock music, rock band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent, taking their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing", and active in their first incarnation until 1971. They released five studio albums, i ...

, with Povey switching to keyboards instead of drums. Povey became the band's first keyboard player. Povey served four tenures in Pretty Things between 1967 and 2007. His first release with Pretty Things was their third studio album, ''

Emotions Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

'' (1967). Povey also released records as a solo artist.

Death

Later on in life, Povey moved to Spain, where he also died at on 9 May 2023 after a few-years battle with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, aged 80. At the time of his death, Povey was working on both a solo album and an autobiography, both of which were to be entitled ''Dartford Boys'', a reference to the city where Povey grew up.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Povey, Jon 1944 births 2023 deaths British rock keyboardists British rock drummers Musicians from London Deaths from leukemia in Spain