Alan White (Yes drummer)

Alan White (14 June 1949 – 26 May 2022) was an English drummer, best known for his almost 50-year tenure in the progressive rock band Yes.

In 1964, the Downbeats changed their name to the Blue Chips and travelled to London to enter an amateur band contest held at the London Palladium by Melody Maker.

They won the contest and were awarded money, new equipment, and a recording contract and recorded several singles which did not chart.

They returned home, and disbanded soon after.

White reduced his music commitments in order to pass his school exams, after which he became interested in studying technical drawing at college with the plan to become an architect.

At seventeen, he pursued music and toured the cabaret circuit as part of Billy Fury's band the Gamblers, which included several gigs in Germany.

White went on to play in Happy Magazine, later known as Griffin, with Alan Marshall and Kenny Craddock, and put out several records with Alan Price as their producer.

White continued to tour and play with Price in his group, the Alan Price Set, and took up several jobs as a session musician.

In 1969, White joined John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band, after Lennon invited him to play at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, followed by a show at the Lyceum Ballroom.

In 1969, White received a call from John Lennon who invited him to join his Plastic Ono Band for their live performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival.

Lennon had attended a Griffin performance in a club and wanted White to join the band of Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, and Klaus Voormann.

White disbelieved Lennon's call and offer and thought he was a prankster, but accepted the invitation for the show which took place on 13 September 1969, at Varsity Stadium in front of 20,000 people.

The set was later released as a live album, Live Peace in Toronto 1969.

The gig landed White further session jobs, including drum work on Imagine and "Instant Karma!" for Lennon and All Things Must Pass by George Harrison, as well as the opening track, the epic "Govinda", for The Radha Krsna Temple (produced by Harrison).

Around the same time, White worked with Denny Laine in his band Balls for several months, which was followed by a ten-week stint with the fifteen-piece band, Ginger Baker's Air Force, and a period with Steve Winwood and Terry Reid.

To save time commuting to London from the house he shared with his Griffin bandmates in Sussex, White shared a flat with engineer and producer Eddy Offord who worked with Yes on their albums and tours.

He notably played drums on the singles "Instant Karma!" and "Imagine", as well as most of Lennon's 1971 Imagine album.

In addition to his work with Yes and John Lennon, White performed on over 50 albums by other musicians, notably George Harrison, Ginger Baker's Air Force, Terry Reid, Joe Cocker and The Ventures.

He joined Yes in 1972 as a replacement for original drummer Bill Bruford.

He was the longest-serving member of the band and the only member besides original bassist Chris Squire never to leave.

In early 1972, White attended their session at Advision Studios to record a promotional film for their arrangement of "America" by Simon & Garfunkel.

Soon after, he turned up to one of their rehearsals of "Siberian Khatru", a song for their fifth album, Close to the Edge.

Their drummer Bill Bruford had to leave the session early, leaving White to sit in with the band for the rest of it.

White then joined Chris Stainton's All Stars for a European tour in support of Joe Cocker, which included a show at the Rainbow Theatre in London that Yes bassist Chris Squire attended.

On 19 July 1972, after Yes had finished recording Close to the Edge, Bruford left to join King Crimson.

With their supporting tour less than a week away, the band were desperate for a replacement.

White then got a call from Tony Dimitriades, who handled Offord's affairs and later became Yes's manager, informing White that the band wanted him to join.

White was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes in 2017.

White was born in the village of Pelton, County Durham, England.

His father had different jobs, working as a clerk, shopkeeper, and a lorry and bus driver who also played the piano in local pubs.

His grandfather played the piano and his uncle was a drummer in local dance bands.

He attended a technical school and, at age seven, moved to the nearby town of Ferryhill, where he spent the rest of his childhood.

At age six, White began to take piano lessons, playing the instrument "very percussively", which his uncle noticed and informed his parents who bought him an Ajax drum kit for Christmas when he was twelve.

White named his uncle as a big influence.

White felt he was pushed to learn and play like his drum instructor and wished "to be more individual" on the instrument, so he began to develop his own style.

His parents went on to buy him a metallic silver Ludwig kit.

Several months into formal drumming lessons, White joined his first band, a local group named the Downbeats, at thirteen.

They performed songs by the Beatles, the Searchers, and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

The group became well known in the Newcastle area, playing working men's clubs and dance halls as much as seven nights a week until late.

White's school teachers only found out about his activities when the band were featured in the local newspaper.