Roderick Morris Buckenham de'Ath (; 18 June 1950 – 1 August 2014) was a Welsh musician, best known for his role as drummer with Irish guitarist

Rory Gallagher William Rory Gallagher ( ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. Due to his virtuosic playing, but relative lack of fame compared to some others, he has been referred to as "the greatest ...

in the 1970s.

Career

With Rory Gallagher

De'Ath was playing with the band Killing Floor when, at short notice, he was offered the job as a temporary substitute for Rory Gallagher's drummer

Wilgar Campbell Wilgar William Campbell (1946 – October 1989) was an Irish blues rock musician, best known for his role as drummer with Rory Gallagher in the early 1970s. Career Early career Campbell played with Belfast band The Method, who moved to London in ...

for a leg of a European tour in 1972. When Campbell left permanently, de'Ath was asked to join full-time. He stayed with Gallagher, performing on several albums, until 1978 when he and keyboard player

Lou Martin Louis Michael "Lou" Martin (12 August 1949 – 17 August 2012) was a piano and organ player from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was an original member of the London-based band Killing Floor, and also worked with fellow Irish musician Rory Galla ...

left the band. Gallagher's bass guitarist

Gerry McAvoy John Gerard McAvoy (born 19 December 1951) is a Northern Irish blues rock bass guitarist. He played with blues rock musician Rory Gallagher between 1970 and 1991, and then with Nine Below Zero until 2011. Biography McAvoy was born in Belfas ...

stated that de'Ath "was the most undrummer-like drummer I ever played with. His technique was so strange that it added a whole new dimension to Rory's sound."

Later career and accident

After leaving Gallagher's band, de'Ath joined Ramrod (with Martin) and then he played with the

Downliners Sect Downliners Sect are an English R&B and blues-based rock band, formed in the 1960s beat boom era. Stylistically, they were similar to blues-based bands such as The Yardbirds, The Pretty Things and the Rolling Stones, playing basic R&B on thei ...

before moving to the United States. In 1981, he played on

Screaming Lord Sutch Screaming Lord Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999), who had his name legally changed from David Edward Sutch, was an English musician and perennial parliamentary candidate. He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party an ...

's new recordings of ''All Black and Hairy'' and ''Jack the Ripper''. In the mid-1980s, he returned to the UK to produce an album for a band called Road Erect. Around this time, he suffered a serious accident while running to catch a train, which led to the loss of one eye and some brain damage. Deciding to return to the UK permanently, he eventually made a near-complete recovery, although he was no longer able to play. He had also been told by doctors that his brain damage would kill him within four years, and although this prognosis proved incorrect, he did not want to contact friends only to tell them that he was terminally ill.

Later life

When Gallagher died in 1995, many obituaries claimed that de'Ath was also dead, and for this reason he stayed away from Gallagher's funeral. McAvoy had heard that de'Ath had been killed in an accident in 1987. However, he appeared at a memorial service a few months later, having "waited for a suitable moment" to show that he was still alive. McAvoy remembered that de'Ath looked very frail and walked with the aid of a stick. Little or nothing was known of de'Ath's whereabouts after 1996, until an interview with him was published in ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

'' magazine in May 2012, within a feature about Rory Gallagher. A few months later in August, de'Ath attended the funeral of former Rory Gallagher and Ramrod band member Lou Martin.

Death

De'Ath died on 1 August 2014, aged 64, after a long illness.

Discography

With Rory Gallagher

*''

Blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

'' (1973)

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States ...

*''

Tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

'' (1973) Polydor *'' Irish Tour '74'' (1974) Polydor *'' Against the Grain'' (1975) Chrysalis *'' Calling Card'' (1976) Chrysalis *'' Notes from San Francisco'' (2011) Capo/ Legacy/ Eagle Rock (recorded 1977)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Death, Rod 1950 births 2014 deaths People from Pembrokeshire Welsh rock drummers British male drummers Place of death missing