Rock band “The Rascals” Drummer Dino Danelli dead at 78. Joe Russo his spokesman announced his death on Dec 15 on Danelli’s Facebook account. The Rascals was the 1960s famous band.
Dino was an American drummer and was the best-known original member of the band ‘The Young Rascals’ and has been termed as one of the greatest unappreciated rock drummers in history. Born into Italian American family he was into jazz.
Joe who spoke on behalf of Danelli post-death wrote a Facebook post saying
“Our beloved Dino passed away today. I hope you will all continue to appreciate his talent and send him your love. Thank you for supporting his endeavors throughout his career. You all made it possible for him to live his dream, which was to be a musician and artist. Blessings to you all.”
Joe
Gene Cornish who was Danelli’s friend and guitarist in the band shared his sadness with fans on social media which read, “It is with a broken heart that I must tell you of the passing of Dino Danelli. He was my brother and the greatest drummer I’ve ever seen. I am devastated at this moment. Rest In Peace Dino I love you brother.”
Cornish also made it point to thank fans in a separate post during such a difficult time saying, “I wish I could answer all of your questions but as most of you know Dino was a very private person,” he added. “I will say this, Dino never cared about being a ‘rock star’ it was always about the music and art for him. Everything else was window dressing to him.”
The Young Rascals was a band co-founded by Danelli and Cornish in 1965 along with Keyboard player Felix Cavaliere and percussionist Eddie Brigati. The band’s debut happened in New Jersey with “I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore”. Later they released Top 20 singles including No.1 hits “Good Lovin,” “Groovin” and “People Got To be Free”. The band changed their name to The Rascals for their fourth record “Once Upon A Dream” in 1968.
After the release of the seventh album, the band split as Cornish and Brigati left and it was just Danelli and Cavaliere left in ‘The Rascals’ and ran it entirely. Later in 1972 after the ninth album ‘The Island of Real’ the band officially split. Yet they played together in 1997 as original band members in songs “Good Lovin”, “Groovin” and “How can I be sure” at the induction ceremony of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream” event took place at the Capitol Theater in New York and was produced and directed by Bruce Springsteen’s E Street band guitarist Steven Van Zandt and Maureen Van Zandt where also the 60s band reunited again in Dec. 2012 for their first public performance in over 40 years. They toured together for the show on road as The Rascals in 2013.
