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Artist
Eric Delaney's Big Beat Six
12+ albums
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about
Eric Delaney, was one of the most inventive and exuberant of British drummers, captivating audiences with his energetic leaps across the stage from drums to timpani. He pioneered the technique of playing timpani with wire brushes, something that no percussionist had ever tried before. Eric Delaney was born in Acton, west London on May 22 1924. When he was 18 months old, his mother bought him his first drum for sixpence in Woolworths. At 10, billed as Britain’s youngest drummer, he was leading his first band in a variety show at the Troquette, Elephant and Castle. His first professional job came in 1939 when at the age of 15 Eric joined the Ambrose Octet alongside the pianist George Shearing and vocalist Anne Shelton. The main Ambrose band was resident in London’s West End while the octet played the variety theatres, and when war broke out George Shearing, being blind, had no problem getting around in the blackout and would escort the young drummer home at night. Called up at 18, Delaney played in an RAF band for the duration and, listening to a Geraldo broadcast one night, was heard to say: “Marvellous band, I’m going to play with Gerry one day”. Four years later he auditioned for the band, but Geraldo himself was away in America at the time, and Robert Farnon was standing in for him. Nerve-racked at the prospect of playing for the great Farnon, Delaney could hardly believe his ears when he was asked if he would like to stay on for the band’s broadcast that evening. “Yes ple
