Brian Bennett
Brian Laurence Bennett, (born 9 February 1940) is an English drummer, pianist, composer and producer of popular music. He is best known as the drummer of the UK rock and roll group the Shadows. He is the father of musician and Shadows band member Warren Bennett. Biography. Bennett was born in Palmers Green, North London, England. Educated at Hazlewood Lane School, Palmers Green, London and Winchmore Council School, he finished school at the age of sixteen to play drums in a Ramsgate skiffle group performing for holiday makers. After returning to London he became the in-house drummer  at The 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho and was a regular performer on Jack Good's TV show "Oh Boy!" He then became a member of Marty Wilde's Wildcats in 1959. After a successful period with the Wildcats, during which he appeared on their instrumental record without Wilde (recorded as the Krew Kats), "Trambone", he backed Tommy Steele for some of his London stage performances, and then in October 1961 he joined Cliff Richard and the Shadows as the replacement for Tony Meehan. In 1967, Bennett released a solo album of jazz music, entitled "Change of Direction", in  mono and stereo (neither charted). This was the first solo album by a member of the Shadows. In the 1970s, music by Bennett was selected for several Radley Metzger films, including "Barbara Broadcast" and "The Opening of Misty Beethoven". He stayed with the group throughout all of their subsequent line-ups, and in May 2005 took part in the Shadows' European tour. During a show in Reykjavík, Iceland he sustained what was thought to be a minor injury to a finger. A splinter from a drumstick pierced under his fingernail on his right hand, he removed it with a pair  of old pliers and applied a plaster. A few days later after arriving in Paris, France he was in so much pain he called a doctor. The doctor diagnosed a bad infection and recommended Bennett go to hospital immediately. Thinking it would be a short visit he attended only to find out that it would involve a minor, but very painful, operation to remove the poison. He was due to be playing on stage that evening and had already missed the soundcheck. He arrived at the theatre 15 minutes before the show with his right-hand bandaged and still numb  from the anaesthetic. He managed to play for the whole show using an altered playing style. In addition to his work with the Shadows he has also appeared in Cliff Richard's backing band and plays piano and occasionally vibraphone. He has composed many popular TV theme tunes including BBC sports themes such as "Rugby Special" ("Holy Mackerel") and BBC Golf ("Chase Side Shoot Up"), Channel 9 Australia's cricket theme ("New Horizons"), the sitcoms "Robin's Nest" and "Birds of a Feather", "The Ruth Rendell Mysteries", "Pulaski", "Square Deal", "Close to Home", "Murder in Mind" and, with his son  Warren, composed and played the incidental music in "New Tricks". Two of his most famous works were "The Journey" and "Just a Minute" written under the alias James Aldenham and used for the "ITV Schools on 4" broadcasts between 1987–1993. He scored the British-German film "The Harpist" in 1999. He is also an orchestral conductor, having learned how to arrange and conduct music for orchestras from a correspondence course. His son Warren Bennett formerly played keyboards for the band Glass Ties, and is also a composer and producer. Honours. He was appointed OBE (Officer of the Order of the  British Empire) in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to music. Bennett runs a home recording studio, Honeyhill studios, in Radlett, Hertfordshire. In November 2009, at the age of 69, Bennett completed a 50th Anniversary reunion world tour with Cliff Richard and the Shadows.