# Allan Schwartzberg

Allan Schwartzberg (born December 28, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B. J. Thomas, Linda Ronstadt, Stan Getz band, and the Pat Travers band. He has experienced success as a prolific session musician, through recordings made from the 1970s through today. He has also played on multi genre hits such as Gloria Gaynor "Never Can Say Goodbye", considered the first disco record, James Brown's "Funky President", Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle", Tony Orlando & Dawn's Tie A Yellow Ribbon, Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill", The Spinners' "Workin' My Way Back to You", the Star Wars theme, and Rod Stewart's Great American Songbook series including the hit "What A Wonderful World". He has played with musicians and singers including John Lennon, Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Frank Sinatra, Roxy Music, Robert Palmer, Grace Slick, Roberta Flack, Barry Manilow, Harry Chapin, Barbra Streisand, Deodato, Frankie Valli, and Roger Daltrey. He was also a frequent musician guest with Paul Shaffer's David Letterman Show band.

## Early life and education

Allan Schwartzberg was born on December 28, 1942, in New York City, New York. He is Jewish and attended yeshiva as a child. He began playing the drums at the age of ten and attended the Manhattan School of Music for three years, studying classical percussion. He claims that his real education was listening to and memorizing the work of musicians like Max Roach, Elvin Jones and Philly Joe Jones.
At the age of 20, he was the house drummer at the famed Half Note Club in downtown New York, performing with a variety of jazz musicians, including Stan Getz, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Roy Eldridge, Bob Brookmeyer, Richie Kamuca, Jim Hall, Ron Carter, Anita O'Day, Chris Conner, and Jimmy Rushing.
He was also the leader of the band on the nationally syndicated Geraldo Rivera Show, Goodnight America, which was considered the first rock / R&B "hip" band for a talk show.

## Personal life

On November 12, 1972, Schwartzberg married Susan Schlossberg. They have two daughters, Samona and Nicole; and three grandchildren, Deven, Talia, and Quinton Cole.

## Equipment

Schwartzberg endorses Yamaha drums, Zildjian cymbals, Remo drumheads, and Vic Firth drumsticks.

## Discography
### 1970s

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 1971 | Lay It All Out | Barry Mann |
| 1973 | Tie a Yellow Ribbon | Dawn |
| 1973 | True Stories and Other Dreams | Judy Collins |
| 1973 | Home to Myself | Melissa Manchester |
| 1973 | Dawn's New Ragtime Follies | Tony Orlando & Dawn |
| 1974 | Reality | James Brown |
| 1974 | Twin Peaks | Mountain |
| 1974 | Verities & Balderdash | Harry Chapin |
| 1974 | Barry Manilow II | Barry Manilow |
| 1974 | Veedon Fleece | Van Morrison |
| 1974 | Ladies Love Outlaws | Tom Rush |
| 1975 | Crash Landing | Jimi Hendrix |
| 1975 | Midnight Lightning | Jimi Hendrix |
| 1975 | Waterbed | Herbie Mann |
| 1975 | Never Can Say Goodbye | Gloria Gaynor |
| 1975 | Our Day Will Come | Frankie Valli |
| 1975 | Portrait Gallery | Harry Chapin |
| 1976 | Moon Over Brooklyn | The Group with No Name |
| 1976 | Alice Cooper Goes to Hell | Alice Cooper |
| 1976 | Smile | Laura Nyro |
| 1976 | I've Got You | Gloria Gaynor |
| 1976 | Circus Town | Tatsuro Yamashita |
| 1976 | Conquistador (Theme to Rocky) | Maynard Ferguson |
| 1977 | Peter Gabriel | Peter Gabriel |
| 1977 | Portfolio | Grace Jones |
| 1977 | Glorious | Gloria Gaynor |
| 1977 | Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk | Meco |
| 1977 | Lace and Whiskey | Alice Cooper |
| 1977 | Herbie Mann and Fire Island | Herbie Mann |
| 1977 | Conquistador | Maynard Ferguson |
| 1977 | A Song | Neil Sedaka |
| 1977 | Lady Put the Light Out | Frankie Valli |
| 1977 | Blue Lights in the Basement | Roberta Flack |
| 1977 | Portfolio | Grace Jones |
| 1978 | Songbird | Barbra Streisand |
| 1978 | Gene Simmons | Gene Simmons |
| 1978 | Heavy Metal Be-Bop | The Brecker Brothers |
| 1978 | Think It Over | Cissy Houston |
| 1978 | Peter Criss | Peter Criss |
| 1978 | Double Fun | Robert Palmer |
| 1979 | Platinum | Mike Oldfield |
| 1979 | Two Sides to Every Woman | Carlene Carter |
| 1979 | Nils | Nils Lofgren |
| 1979 | Take a Bite | Marlena Shaw |
| 1979 | Live and Sleazy | Village People |

### 1980s

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 1980 | Flesh + Blood | Roxy Music |
| 1980 | Step Aside for a Lady | Cissy Houston |
| 1980 | Dreams | Grace Slick |
| 1980 | Connections | Richie Havens |
| 1981 | Music from "The Elder" | Kiss |
| 1981 | Scissors Cut | Art Garfunkel |
| 1982 | NunSexMonkRock | Nina Hagen |
| 1982 | It's Alright (I See Rainbows) | Yoko Ono |
| 1983 | School for Spies | Kit Hain |
| 1983 | In My Life | Patti Austin |
| 1984 | Parting Should Be Painless | Roger Daltrey |
| 1984 | Milk and Honey | John Lennon and Yoko Ono |
| 1984 | Cover | Tom Verlaine |
| 1985 | "Tears Are Falling" | Kiss |
| 1987 | Flash Light | Tom Verlaine |

### 1990s

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 1990 | What a Way to Go | Mark Murphy |
| 1991 | Help Yourself | Julian Lennon |
| 1994 | Roberta | Roberta Flack |

### 2000s

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 2003 | As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook, Volume II | Rod Stewart |
| 2004 | Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III | Rod Stewart |