Carmine Appice

by William Ruhlmann Rock drummer Carmine Appice has appeared in a variety of groups over the years, starting with Vanilla Fudge in 1966. That band made five charting albums between 1967 and 1969, the most successful of which was the gold-selling debut Vanilla Fudge. Appice and Vanilla Fudge bassist Tim Bogert then formed Cactus with guitarist Jim McCarty (not the Jim McCarty from The Yardbirds) and singer Rusty Day. While Appice and Bogert were in the lineup, Cactus charted with four albums between 1970 and 1972, most successfully the debut, Cactus. In 1973, Appice and Bogert teamed up with guitarist Jeff Beck to form Beck, Bogart, Appice, who scored a gold-selling album, Beck, Bogert, Appice. Appice was a member of the supergroup KGB, who featured Ray Kennedy, Rick Grech, Mike Bloomfield, and Barry Goldberg, and made one charting album in 1976. He worked as Rod Stewart's drummer in the '70s and '80s and co-wrote Stewart's hits "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (number one, 1978) and "Young Turks" (number five, 1981). In 1989, he was part of the trio Blue Murder with John Sykes and Tony Franklin, who made one charting album.