Widely-respected drummer Dino Danelli, an unique member of soul-infused Nineteen Sixties New Jersey rockers the Rascals, has died aged 78.
His dying was confirmed by Rascals archivist and pal Joe Russo on Danelli’s Facebook web page, the place Russo wrote, “To know Dino, you must understand that art was his life. Art, music and film consumed his mind and his heart. He was an insomniac, sometimes staying awake for days, because he was always writing, reading, painting, drawing, watching films. He was beyond private and for someone who many consider one of the greatest drummers of all time, humble to a fault.”
Russo stated the drummer who manned the package for the Rascals from 1965-1971 — and likewise carried out with E Street Band member and solo rocker “Little” Steven Van Zandt’s Disciples of Soul from 1982-1984 — was the “most private person I knew.”
‘In a class of very few’
Billy Joel posted: “He was one of the greatest drummers in popular music. My deepest sympathy to his family.” Paul Stanley of Kiss wrote: “Dino was a drummer in a class of very few and a great guy. A showman whose roots in Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich made him a “drummer’s drummer”. What type.”
While Russo didn’t disclose a reason behind dying, he wrote that Danelli was “acutely disappointed” in regards to the “abrupt” conclusion of the Rascals’ 2013 Once Upon a Dream reunion tour and he famous that after it fell aside the timekeeper was “almost obsessed” with looking for a method to “keep the ball rolling” as his well being started to say no.
“When this project attempt failed, it seemed Dino’s intense artistic spirit began to drift away,” Russo wrote of the musician who was born in Jersey City on July 23, 1944 and fashioned the Young Rascals with singer Eddie Brigati, keyboardist Felix Cavaliere and guitarist Gene Cornish in 1964.
“Around this time in 2017, I noticed subtle changes in his movements and ability to walk steady. One day, he asked me to pick him up from a doctor’s visit. We returned to his apartment where he began indicating to me certain wishes he would like honored after his passing,” Russo continued. “It wasn’t alarming for a man his age to do so, but it seemed unusually sudden and out of left field.”
With his musical ventures drying up, Russo stated Danelli’s need and talent “to do the creative things he loved suddenly began dissipating. He stopped being ‘Dino.’ Almost overnight it seemed, a huge aspect of the tremendous personality I knew since I was a teenager virtually began to vanish.” Russo stated Danelli ended up in a hospital after which checked out in Dec. 2019, solely to return in early 2022 to a rehab heart the place his situation shortly deteriorated.
“He’d spend every day there until his passing,” Russo defined. “His primary challenges were coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure, but there were many others. He had already required an angioplasty over a decade earlier.”
Driven by Danelli’s swinging, high-energy drum sound, the Young Rascals (as they had been initially recognized) scored 9 Billboard Hot 100 singles,. They included 1966’s signature No.1 recording of Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick’s “Good Lovin’,” in addition to the 1967 No.1 “Groovin’,” and 1968’s chart-topping civil rights anthem “People Got to Be Free,” written by Brigati and Cavaliere, which touched a nerve within the wake of the assassinations that spring of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. The band — who shortened their title to simply the Rascals in 1968 as they moved away from their extra eclectic storage soul vibe to a extra psychedelic sound — had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
‘The best drummer I had ever heard’
In a 1966 interview with Melody Maker, Danelli was described by bandmate Felix Cavaliere as “just the best drummer I had ever heard.” An early 1967 article in one other UK music weekly, Record Mirror, noticed that though the group had but to have a British hit, Paul McCartney had been to see them twice, and that Danelli particularly had gained the approval of such notables as Keith Moon of The Who, Frank Allen of the Searchers, and Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones. Another avowed admirer was Grand Funk Railroad’s Don Brewer.
After the departure of Brigati and Cornish from the Rascals within the early Seventies, Danelli and Cavaliere carried on and launched two extra albums to diminishing returns earlier than breaking apart in 1971. Danelli fashioned the group Bulldog with Cornish that 12 months and the duo launched a pair of albums earlier than breaking apart three years later. Danelli then bounced round, enjoying with Mountain’s Leslie West and the short-lived energy pop act Fotomaker earlier than becoming a member of Van Zandt’s band within the early Nineteen Eighties and enjoying on the teams first two information, 1982’s Men Without Women and 1984’s Voice of America.
The Rascals reformed in 1988 briefly, with all 4 unique members available for his or her Rock Hall induction in 1997 after which once more for a run of reveals entitled ‘Once Upon a Dream’ in 2012-2013 — which was co-produced and co-written by Van Zandt — earlier than taking that present on the highway for a North American run. In a Facebook message, Cornish wrote, “It is with a broken heart that I must tell you of the passing of Dino Danelli. He was my brother and the greatest drummer I’ve ever seen. I am devastated at this moment. Rest In Peace Dino I love you brother.”
Van Zandt additionally paid tribute, tweeting, “RIP Dino Danelli. One of the greatest drummers of all time. Rascals 1965-1971. Disciples Of Soul 1982-1984. On Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theater in Once Upon A Dream 2013.” While Russo stated Danelli was heartbroken over the lack to hold one with the Rascals, he continued to work with him on video, artwork and pictures tasks in addition to writing, recording and producing “entire albums worth of songs together” that haven’t been launched.
“He was the epitome of ‘cool’ and never ceased to impress me with his seemingly endless reservoir of ideas and approaches,” Russo stated of his pal and collaborator. “The word ‘artist’ is so commonly used to describe even the slightest level of self expression, but let me assure you Dino Danelli possessed a mindset, a creative philosophy and a set of skills as profound as any of the great artists you’ve ever read about.”
‘Our music is very joyous’
In 2012, Danelli instructed author Harvey Kubernick: “Our songs are nonetheless on the radio, soundtracks and flicks. I can’t clarify the magic of the music however there was a chord that struck and related our music with folks. the widespread individual. It’s gone by an American sort of feeling. Our music could be very joyous. No heavy angst or something. It’s all very constructive and you allow the present actually feeling higher than you probably did if you got here in, ’trigger that’s what we do.
“When we played live, I always looked at myself as a frontman behind the drums. Playing with Lionel Hampton and New Orleans dance bands helped establish my style, which was kind of different from everybody’s else. And it was just very helpful in making us unique. I just perform like I’m the lead singer.”