Tony Chapman was a British drummer, especially active during the 1960s. He played with an early line-up of the Rolling Stones before they settled on their permanent band members. He appeared with the band in 1962, including a performance at Sidcup Art College, Bexley, which Keith Richards had attended, and was probably the drummer at the first official performance of the group, on 12 July 1962 at the Marquee Club in London. Chapman was the person through whom Bill Wyman was enlisted to the Stones, having been in Wyman’s band The Cliftons. After a short time, Chapman felt he did not fit in with the way-out approach of the group and left to form a band called The Preachers. (More from Wikipedia)
The first performance by what was then called the Rollin’ Stones – named after the landmark blues song “Rollin’ Stone” by Muddy Waters – took place on July 12, 1962 at the Marquee Club in London. The line-up at that time was Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar), Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Dick Taylor (bass), and Mick Avory (drums – Avory himself recalls that it was actually Tony Chapman). Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had known each other as children and were reacquainted by Dick Taylor, who was a mutual friend. Bill Wyman replaced Dick Taylor on bass in December 1962; Taylor then became one of the founding members of the Pretty Things, a band that is as long-lived and (in some circles) as beloved as the Stones, though with a significantly lower profile. When Charlie Watts joined the band on drums in January 1963, and with Ian Stewart removed from the official band membership (also in 1963), the classic line-up of the Rolling Stones was born.
(January 2015/2)
