Denny Carmassi

Last updated
Denny Carmassi
Born (1947-04-30) April 30, 1947 (age 74)
San Francisco, California, United States
Origin San Francisco, California, United States
Genres Rock
Instruments Drums
Years active1970–present
Associated acts Montrose
Sammy Hagar
Ted Nugent

Denny Carmassi (born April 30, 1947 [1] in San Francisco, California, United States [2] ) is an American rock drummer.



He was born into a family of drummers; his father, his uncle, and his brother each played the drums. Some of Denny's earliest memories are his father rehearsing after work with his band in the kitchen of their home. Occasionally they allowed young Denny Carmassi to sit in with them. His father exposed him to great drummers, including Buddy Rich, Jimmy Vincent and Richard Goldberg. Then Denny listened the radio and discovered several drummers like Earl Palmer, D.J. Fontana, Al Jackson Jr. (Denny actually learned to play the drums from listening to Al and playing along with the Booker T. & the M.G.'s Green Onions album), Clyde Stubblefield, Jabo Starks, Dino Danelli, Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell, John Bonham and Tony Williams.

Out of high school, Denny started playing topless clubs in San Francisco. He joined a band called Sweet Linda Devine, and recorded an album in New York on Columbia, produced by Al Kooper, but before long they parted ways. Denny went on to work with several local bands in the San Francisco Bay Area and began working with Montrose and Sammy Hagar in the 1970s.

Carmassi was a member of the first four line-ups of the band Montrose. After Montrose, he played with his former Montrose bandmate Sammy Hagar as a solo artist, and with his former Montrose bandmates Ronnie Montrose and Jim Alcivar in the band Gamma. [1]

Denny has played with Heart, Coverdale-Page, Whitesnake, and David Coverdale as a solo artist. [3] He also recorded with Randy Meisner, Kim Carnes, Al Stewart, Joe Walsh, 38 Special, Cinderella, Randy Newman and many more. Denny toured with Foreigner in 2002. Currently, he performs with Mercy (featuring Lynda Morrison).


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  1. 1 2
  2. "WHITESNAKE – Группа". 1947-12-29. Archived from the original on 2010-08-22. Retrieved 2011-10-09.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. Adam Budofsky; Michele Heusel; Michael Ray Dawson; Michael Parillo (2006). The Drummer: 100 Years of Rhythmic Power and Invention. Hal Leonard. p.  69. ISBN   1-4234-0567-6.