A drummer's
drummer, "Popey", as he was known to his friends, also worked with Al
Stewart, Harry Nilsson, Kevin Ayers and Cliff Richard. Along with his
friend Keith Moon, and Ginger Baker of Cream fame, he was said to have
inspired Animal, the drummer puppet in the orchestra pit on The Muppets
Show.
Born in
Whitstable, Kent, in 1947, he followed his father and started behind
the kit in his early teens after the family moved to the Southampton
area. By the age of 15 he was a member of the Soul Agents, led by the
virtuoso organist Don Shinn and also featuring bassist David Glover and
guitarist/harmonica player Ian Duck. Their repertoire of rhythm and
blues covers, like the Willie Dixon composition "I Just Want To Make
Love You'', recorded for a Pye single in 1964, ensured their popularity
as Southampton's top mod combo.
He stayed with
them for four years, co-wrote "Gospel Train'', the instrumental B-side
of their excellent second Pye single, the Howard Blaikley composition
"Don't Break It Up", and shone on "A-Minor Explosion", a 1966 Polydor
45. For a while, in 1965, they backed Rod Stewart, who had just
released his debut 45.
Pope first met
Elton John, who had yet to change his name from Reginald Dwight, in
1967, when both worked at Dick James Music, the music publishing
company in Denmark Street, London's Tin Pan Alley. John had teamed up
with the lyricist Bernie Taupin, and Pope helped them record demos of
the songs they pitched to performers like Lulu and Roger Cook. When,
encouraged by music publisher Steve Brown, John began recording some of
their more ambitious material, Pope was the logical choice to play
drums on the singer's first single, "I've Been Loving You'', as well as
"Lady Samantha'', which paved the way for his eventual emergence as a
solo artist.
Pope also
drummed on a third single, "It's Me That You Need'', and John's first
album, Empty Sky, both issued on the newly launched DJM label. Pope was
making ends meet on building sites and missed the sessions for the
Elton John album. However, he was back with guitarist Caleb Quaye and
Glover for the superlative Tumbleweed Connection in 1970 and Madman
Across The Water, the 1971 album which contained "Tiny Dancer'', the
"sleeper" hit that became an FM radio favourite in the US.
By then, Pope
had backed John Kongos on his 1971 Kongos album produced by Gus Dudgeon
between John albums, and also recorded It Ain't Easy, the Long John
Baldry album co-produced by Stewart and John, with whom he'd gigged in
Steampacket and Bluesology respectively. With Duck, Glover and Quaye,
Pope formed the rock group Hookfoot, named after his trick for keeping
his hi-hat stand in place. Between 1971 and 1973 they made four albums
for DJM, while John recruited drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee
Murray and then added guitarist Davey Johnstone and percussionist Ray
Cooper to his live band.
When the
superstar dissolved that group after Captain Fantastic and the Brown
Dirt Cowboy in 1974, he retained Cooper and Johnstone, added bassist
Kenny Passarelli and recalled Quaye as well as Pope, who had remained
within his orbit as part of the Kiki Dee Band and recorded her I've Got
The Music In Me album. That line-up made its live debut in June 1975 at
Wembley Stadium, topping a Midsummer Music bill featuring Rufus and
Chaka Khan, Joe Walsh, the Eagles and the Beach Boys.
Pope remained
with John for another 83 concerts over the next couple of years,
including two sold-out shows at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and a
week at New York's Madison Square Garden. He also backed John on the
Rock Of The Westies album in 1975 and on Blue Moves, the album
featuring the Transatlantic Top 10 hit "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest
Word", in 1976. When John bizarrely "retired" after another Madison
Square Garden run, Pope teamed up with Johnstone for the short-lived
China project, and then, along with Quaye and Passarelli, found gainful
employment with the blue-eye soul duo Hall & Oates, as demonstrated
on the Livetime concert recording and the studio album Along The Red
Ledge (both 1978). He later battled with alcoholism.
In October
2000, I met Pope when he was invited by John – "a generous bugger"
according to his old bandmate – to attend the two performances at
Madison Square Garden that became the singer's One Night Only – The
Greatest Hits live album and DVD. At that time, a new generation was
discovering "Tiny Dancer" after it was featured in Almost Famous,
Cameron Crowe's engaging, autobiographical coming-of-age movie about a
teenage journalist going on the road with a rock band in the early
1970s. Pope enjoyed catching up with Johnstone and Olsson but walked
out halfway through the first night's show before John made a
retirement announcement he retracted the next day. "I could see Elton's
face. I know them eyeballs, and I knew he was about to quit!" mused
Pope, who had been there before.
Pierre
Perrone
Roger
Pope, drummer: born Whitstable, Kent 20 March 1947; twice married; died
Southampton 18 September 2013.
