Carmine Appice | |
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 Appice in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1946-12-15)December 15, 1946 (age 78) New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1966–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | carmineappice |
Carmine Appice (/ˈkɑːrmaɪnæˈpiːs/; born December 15, 1946)[1] is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations withVanilla Fudge;Cactus; thepower trioBeck, Bogert & Appice;Rod Stewart;King Kobra; andBlue Murder. He is the older brother ofVinny Appice. Appice was inducted into theClassic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013[2] and theModern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2014.[3] He is also a bass player.[4]
His best-selling drum instruction bookThe Realistic Rock Drum Method[5] was first published in 1972 and has since been revised and republished asThe Ultimate Realistic Rock Drum Method.[6] It covers the basic subjects of rock rhythms andpolyrhythms,linear rudiments and groupings,shuffle rhythms,hi-hat and double bass drum exercises. Appice influencedJohn Bonham's use of bass drumtriplets and oversized drum kit.[7]Roger Taylor,Tommy Lee,Ian Paice andEric Singer have also credited Appice with influence on their drumming styles.[8]
Appice received classical music training, and was influenced early on by the work ofjazz drummersBuddy Rich andGene Krupa. Appice first came to prominence as the drummer with the late 1960spsychedelic bandVanilla Fudge.[1] He contributed distinctive background harmonies with bassistTim Bogert. After five albums, the pair left Vanilla Fudge[9] to form theblues rock quartetCactus,[10] with vocalistRusty Day and guitaristJim McCarty. Appice and Bogert then left Cactus to joinJeff Beck in thepower trioBeck, Bogert & Appice.[11] Appice joinedRod Stewart's backing band in 1976,[12] co-writing songs such as "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"[1] and "Young Turks". He also played drums on a track onPaul Stanley's eponymoussolo album (1978).[13]
He was a member of KGB, which featured Ray Kennedy,Ric Grech,Mike Bloomfield and Barry Goldberg. Appice has recorded with artists such asStanley Clarke,Ted Nugent andPink Floyd. He has also played withKing Kobra and (alongsideJohn Sykes) inBlue Murder.[1] In late 1983 Appice toured withOzzy Osbourne in support of his gold-sellingBark at the Moon album, but shortly afterward was fired from the backing group.[14][15] Though Osbourne had a good relationship with him, the singer's wife and managerSharon detested Appice, and the decision to fire him was strictly hers.[16]
Appice recordedCaso Cerrado (1995) with the Argentine guitaristPappo.[17][failed verification] They were also joined by bassistTim Bogert on four songs, including "P. B. A. Boogie". He spent 1999 touring Japan with Bogert andChar in a unit called CB&A, with a live album released the following year.[18] In 2000, Appice formed the power trio DBA with Bogert andRick Derringer, and was reunited once again with Bogert when they reformed Vanilla Fudge.
In 2005, he became an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization which provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in less privileged public schools throughout the USA. He has personally delivered instruments to children in the program and has also performed at benefit concerts for the organization and sits on its Honorary board of directors.[19]
In 2006, he formed the drum ensemble SLAMM[20] in which Appice participated on drums playing alongside four young drummers; the resulting show has been described as "Stomp on steroids".[21] The band filmed a promotional video for the Cable Network stationESPN, using aNASCAR garage as a set and mechanics' hardware as instruments.[22] SLAMM was voted as therunner-up in theDrum magazine poll for Percussion Ensemble (2008) after a special appearance at the magazine's drum festival.[23] The group also appears on the Modern Drummer festival DVD (2008).[24]
He recordedCarmine Appice's Guitar Zeus: Conquering Heroes (2009). This was the third album in hisGuitar Zeus series. These albums have featured guitarists such asJennifer Batten,Brian May,Ted Nugent,Richie Sambora andYngwie Malmsteen.
He lent his talents to theSly Stone CDI'm Back! Family & Friends, on which he plays on the Sly classic "Stand!" It was released on August 16, 2011.
2011–2012 saw Carmine performing Drum Wars shows with his brotherVinny Appice and guitarist Michael Hund, as well a reformation ofKing Kobra withJohnny Rod,Mick Sweda, and David Henzerling, withPaul Shortino replacingMarcie Free on lead vocals. This lineup released an eponymous album,King Kobra, in April 2011 on theFrontiers label, which received critical acclaim. A new King Kobra album was released in 2013, titledKing Kobra II, featuring the song "Have a Good Time", for which a music video was filmed in the fall of 2012 at Count's Vamp'd inLas Vegas Valley.
Appice published his memoir,Stick It!: My Life of Sex, Drums & Rock 'n' Roll, in 2016.[25] Appice was set to play withVinnie Vincent in a mini-reunion show slated originally for December 2018 but moved to February 2019 before ultimately being completely canceled.[26] In 2021, Appice releasedEnergy Overload. The album is credited to Appice Perdomo Project, which is a collaboration with multi-instrumentalistFernando Perdomo.[27] A second collaboration called "Running Up that Hill" was released in 2023. Appice collaborated with artist Ed Heck to create artwork to go along with the track Drum City. The artwork was animated to create a music video.[28]
In 2024, Appice teamed with Katja Rieckermann, former saxophone player for Rod Stewart, and Rod Stewart impersonator Rob Caudill to create "Tonight's the Night: Celebrating the Music and Legacy of Rod Stewart."[29]
On May 23, 1981,Tom Bradley,Mayor of Los Angeles, proclaimed that day as Carmine Appice Day in the city, in recognition of the drummer's charitable and educational work.[30]
Carmine Appice lives in Florida with his longtime girlfriend, radio personality Leslie Gold,The Radio Chick.
Appice's name has been pronounced in many different ways, and both he and his brother Vinny pronounce it differently as well.[31] The actual pronunciation is "app-uh-cee".[31] Carmine has heard people call him "a-piece", a-pice" or "a-peach-ee".[31] When he worked withRod Stewart, Stewart asked him to say his surname and told Stewart everyone calls him "a-piece" but he corrects them; Stewart and Appice agreed to just go with "a-piece".[31] An advert featuring Carmine with the text "Everyone wants a piece of the Appice" made everyone call him "a-piece" but when Vinny joinedBlack Sabbath he went as the correct "app-uh-cee" which according to Carmine "he (Vinny) confused everybody, and the confusion is still going on".[31]
Carmine Appice
KGB
Pearl
Travers & Appice[34] (as duo withPat Travers)
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