By Monk
Mick Underwood, one of the most experienced and respected drummers of the last 50 years, has died at the age of 78.
Taught to play the drums by Jim Marshall, Underwood is widely credited with helping to kickstart the career of Richie Blackmore, having played with the guitarist in The Dominators when they were still both in their early teens and later The Outlaws. He then went on to join Peter Frampton in The Herd before, having turned down an invitation to join Jimmy Page in what went on to become Led Zeppelin, joining Episode Six, alongside bassist Roger Glover and singer Ian Gillan. After recommending both musicians to Blackmore for his latest band, Deep Purple, Underwood joined Quatermass.
In 1979, Underwood reunited with Gillan in the singer’s self-named band, appearing on all of the band’s recorded albums. Following the break up of the Gillan band, Underwood more or less retired from the music business, appearing on two Ian Gillan solo albums, and briefly re-uniting with Quatermass before launching his own projects, Raw Glory and later Glory Road.
In October last year, it was announced by his wife Sue that the drummer was suffering from mixed dementia.
- Photo courtesy of facebook.com/mickunderwoodofficial/