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Bev Bevan

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Bev Bevan
Background information
Birth nameBeverley Bevan
Born (1944-11-25) 25 November 1944 (age 79)
OriginSparkhill, Birmingham, England
GenresRock
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Drums, percussion, vocals
Years active1962–present
LabelsUnited Artists, Jet, Harvest, Epic, EMI
WebsiteMusical career

Beverley "Bev" Bevan (born 25 November 1944) is an English rock musician, who was the drummer and one of the original members of The Move and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). After the end of ELO in 1986, he founded ELO Part II.

Bevan also served as the touring drummer for Black Sabbath during the Born Again Tour, and later played percussion on The Eternal Idol album in 1987.

Biography

Bevan was born in Sparkhill, Birmingham, England.[1]

After education at Moseley Grammar School where he gained two O level passes, he worked as a trainee buyer in a city centre department store called The Beehive with school friend Jasper Carrott (Bob Davis). His professional music career started with a stint with Denny Laine in his group Denny Laine and the Diplomats, then with Carl Wayne & the Vikings, followed by The Move in 1966. The Electric Light Orchestra released their first album in 1971, by which time The Move existed only as a recording outfit. They released their final single, "California Man" in 1972.

Bevan has a deep singing voice. While with The Move he lent lead vocals to two tracks: a remake of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" and the country and western spoof, "Ben Crawley Steel Co". He composed one Move song entitled "Don't Mess Me Up", an Elvis Presley spoof from the album Message from the Country. and it was was the B-side of The Move's single, "Tonight". He is also, albeit incorrectly, credited with writing the rock-blues "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" from the album Looking On, but in reality it was Roy Wood who composed the song.[2]

He recorded a solo single in 1976, a cover version of the Sandy Nelson instrumental, "Let There Be Drums". Bevan played on all Electric Light Orchestra and ELO Part II albums up to 1999. In 1980 Bevan published a historical memoir of the Electric Light Orchestra.

In 1983, he replaced Bill Ward in Black Sabbath during the Born Again Tour. Bevan was known for his heavy powerhouse drumming during this tour. Bevan also appeared in two music videos ("Trashed" and "Zero the Hero").

After the death of Carl Wayne in 2004, he formed a new band, Bev Bevan's Move,[3] with Phil Tree and former ELO Part II colleagues Phil Bates and Neil Lockwood, to play a set comprising mostly The Move classics on tour. Bates left in July 2007 to re-join ELO Part II, by then renamed to The Orchestra. Bevan was then joined by former Move guitarist Trevor Burton.

In the 2010 release from Paul Weller, Wake Up The Nation, Bevan played drums on two songs: "Moonshine" and "Wake Up The Nation". Weller told him that he was his second choice; his first choice would have been Keith Moon.[4]

Bevan currently presents a radio show on BBC Radio West Midlands on Sunday afternoons. He also reviews records for the Midlands' Sunday Mercury and has a blog on their website.[5] It was announced at the Best of Broad Street Awards on 17 January 2011 that Bevan would be honoured with a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars.[6]

Bevan is also a patron of The Dorridge Music School (Knowle). In 2012, Bevan narrated the audiobook version of Tony Iommi's biography Iron Man – My Journey Through Heaven and Hell.[7] Bevan's 2014 calendar contained no fewer than 102 gigs in 11 months,[8] some of which formed the final gigs for The Move, before Bevan and Burton went their separate ways again.

Personal life

Bevan lives in rural Warwickshire with his wife, Valerie, and their son, Adrian. He is a keen follower of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC[9][10]

Bibliography

  • Bevan, Bev (1980). Pearce, Garth (ed.). The Electric Light Orchestra Story. Mushroom Books. ISBN 0-907394-01-9.

References

  1. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 673–75. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ "Move drummer Bev Bevan has joined forces with some old friends to form the Bev Bevan Band". Archived from the original on 3 May 2004. Retrieved 19 February 2004.
  4. ^ "Interview: Bev Bevan (The Move,ELO,Black Sabbath)". Hit-channel.com. 30 September 1967. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Blogs.sundaymercury.net". Blogs.sundaymercury.net. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  6. ^ "Top drummer Bev Bevan on Birmingham Walk of Stars". BBC Online. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  7. ^ "Iron Man Book | The Official Tony Iommi Website". Iommi.com. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  8. ^ Cole, Paul (3 February 2014). "'I'll be beat after 102 gigs in 11 months' – Rock legend Bev Bevan". Birmingham Mail.
  9. ^ Bevan, Bev (4 June 2009), "Tony Iommi, the Troggs, the Wolves and Batley Variety Club", Sunday Mercury, Birmingham
  10. ^ "BOING: The rich and famous celebrities who support West Bromwich Albion FC". Baggies.com. 12 June 2005. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
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