Biography
Dave Rowberry ranked among either the luckiest second-tier rock musicians working in mid-'60s England or one of that period’s most unfortunate cases. He performed on several of the Animals’ most recognizable singles and on the band’s strongest albums, yet most histories of the group still mention him almost as an afterthought, eclipsed by the keyboardist he replaced, Alan Price. Active as a musician from his teenage years onward, Rowberry proved so accomplished at the keyboards that he abandoned the degree he had been pursuing at the University of Newcastle. He instead established a local name for himself at the piano and organ in a series of jazz and blues ensembles around the city before entering the Mike Cotton Jazzmen, as the unit was then called, in 1962. While a member of the ensemble, later rechristened the Mike Cotton Sound, he supplied backing for such artists as Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, Solomon Burke, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Tom Jones, and P.J. Proby.
Rowberry entered the Animals’ lineup in May of 1965 after Alan Price abruptly departed. The group had already completed a short Scandinavian tour with Mickey Gallagher (later of Arc, Ian Dury’s Blockheads, and the Clash) filling the keyboard chair when Rowberry took over. Although frequently overlooked in favor of Price because of the latter’s established reputation and omitted from the group’s Rock ’N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction, Rowberry actually reinforced the band at that juncture; he was a dependable keyboardist and, according to both the recorded evidence and interviews quoted in Sean Egan’s 2001 volume Animal Tracks, a stronger harmony vocalist than Price. He contributed to several major successes, among them “We’ve Gotta Get Out of This Place,” “It’s My Life,” and “Don’t Bring Me Down,” and he fashioned the arrangement of “See See Rider” that yielded the band’s Top Ten U.S. hit at the end of 1966. He also appeared on Animalism, widely viewed as the finest (or one of the two finest) albums the group ever made; and, in an ironic twist, it was Rowberry rather than Price whose image graced the cover photograph of The Best of the Animals, by far their biggest-selling American LP (and the version reissued on CD from the late ’80s onward).
After the original Animals (or what remained of them once John Steel had already left) disbanded in September of 1966 following a month-and-a-half U.S. tour, Rowberry turned to session work and kept a comparatively modest profile for several years. During the mid-’90s he rejoined former colleagues Hilton Valentine and John Steel in Animals II, a reconstituted edition of the classic lineup. Devoted followers of the band campaigned unsuccessfully to secure Rowberry’s inclusion in the Rock ’N’ Roll Hall of Fame alongside the other members. Rowberry died of an apparent heart attack on June 6, 2003.
Rowberry entered the Animals’ lineup in May of 1965 after Alan Price abruptly departed. The group had already completed a short Scandinavian tour with Mickey Gallagher (later of Arc, Ian Dury’s Blockheads, and the Clash) filling the keyboard chair when Rowberry took over. Although frequently overlooked in favor of Price because of the latter’s established reputation and omitted from the group’s Rock ’N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction, Rowberry actually reinforced the band at that juncture; he was a dependable keyboardist and, according to both the recorded evidence and interviews quoted in Sean Egan’s 2001 volume Animal Tracks, a stronger harmony vocalist than Price. He contributed to several major successes, among them “We’ve Gotta Get Out of This Place,” “It’s My Life,” and “Don’t Bring Me Down,” and he fashioned the arrangement of “See See Rider” that yielded the band’s Top Ten U.S. hit at the end of 1966. He also appeared on Animalism, widely viewed as the finest (or one of the two finest) albums the group ever made; and, in an ironic twist, it was Rowberry rather than Price whose image graced the cover photograph of The Best of the Animals, by far their biggest-selling American LP (and the version reissued on CD from the late ’80s onward).
After the original Animals (or what remained of them once John Steel had already left) disbanded in September of 1966 following a month-and-a-half U.S. tour, Rowberry turned to session work and kept a comparatively modest profile for several years. During the mid-’90s he rejoined former colleagues Hilton Valentine and John Steel in Animals II, a reconstituted edition of the classic lineup. Devoted followers of the band campaigned unsuccessfully to secure Rowberry’s inclusion in the Rock ’N’ Roll Hall of Fame alongside the other members. Rowberry died of an apparent heart attack on June 6, 2003.