He is a drummer born Cesario Gurciullo in the Bronx, New York who wrote two books which are considered acknowledged masterworks of drum instruction.
He started out by replacing a studio drummer which went on to see him performing with artists such as The Archies , The Monkees, The Coasters, The Mamas & Papas and Dionne Warwick and hundreds more. He collaborated with Country Joe MacDonald and is known for his drumming on Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl”. He played on hundreds of hit records and had claimed to have notched up 15,000 studio sessions from the 1950s to the 1970s.
In 1964 he started his own group Gary Chester & The Beatle Beat and they produced one album Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
At the beginning of the new decade he became a music contractor for the Broadway production Purlie from 1970 to 1971.
His daughter Katrina is in the rock band Luxx.
He passed away on 17th August 1987when he was 62 years old.
The Archies recordings
Bang Shang-A-Lang (Jeff Barry )
Truck Driver (Jeff Barry )
Here’s “So Long” performed by Gary Chester and the Beatle Beat…
Source:
- gary-chester.com
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Chester
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/397407-Gary-Chester-2
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gary-chester-mn0000988197/biography