Bobby Graham

Bobby Graham may not be as well-known as Ringo Starr, or as familiar a name among session men as, say, Jimmy Page or Big Jim Sullivan -- but between 1960 and 1965, he was one of the busiest session drummers in England, was on a lot of records with Page and Sullivan, and could have had the spot that Ringo eventually filled in the Beatles. Graham was born in Edmonton, North London, in 1940, and well before he was in his teens he had manifested a fascination with rhythm and beat. Unlike most boys, he never got interested in sports; instead, he begun hanging out at music stores that catered to drummers, and started taking lessons with Ronnie Verrell, a veteran drummer with Ted Heath's band. His formal education ended at 15 -- he loved jazz, but skiffle was what was happening in England in 1955 and 1956, and he played with various amateur and semi-professional bands, getting back to jazz when he had the chance. He was ultimately unable to resist the chance to join a rock & roll band in 1960, when an invitation came from a former school friend to become a member of Billy Grey & the Stormers for a summer of work at the renowned holiday camp, Butlins. The Stormers ultimately became the Outlaws, the backing band for vocalist Mike Berry, a new discovery of producer Joe Meek -- they played on most of Berry's early records, including the classic "Tribute to Buddy Holly." Graham quickly tired of Meek's disorganized, hurry-up-and-wait approach to recording, however, and came to resent the producer's tendency to sign every composition with his name, whether he'd written it or not. He moved on to another top British backing band, the Bruvvers, who supported Cockney rock & roll singer/guitarist Joe Brown. At the time, Brown was one of the more popular rock & rollers in England, and was...