Eric Delaney was an English drummer and bandleader

Bandleader

A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....

, popular in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Career

Delaney was born in Acton, London

Acton, London

Acton is a district of west London, England, located in the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross.At the time of the 2001 census, Acton, comprising the wards of East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 53,689 people...

. Aged 16, he won the Best Swing Drummer award and later joined the Bert Ambrose Octet which featured George Shearing

George Shearing

Sir George Shearing, OBE was an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s...

 on piano. During 1947–54 he appeared with the Geraldo

Gerald Bright

Gerald Walcan Bright, better known as Geraldo was a British bandleader....

 Orchestra and filled his time with regular session work in recording studios and on film, TV and radio. In 1954 he formed his own band and later signed with the new Pye Records

Pye Records

Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...

 label. He made three Royal Variety Show appearances, the first in 1956.

Delaney specialised in up-tempo dance hall

Dance hall

Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub...

 music, often carrying a rock n' roll label but closer in spirit to that of Geraldo and Joe Loss

Joe Loss

Joshua Alexander "Joe" Loss LVO OBE was a British musician and founder of the Joe Loss Orchestra.-Life:Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Israel and Ada Loss, were Russian Jews and first cousins. His father was a cabinet-maker who had an office...

. As with many similar artists, the music he performed became less popular after The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 entered the musical scene. He remained active touring in the UK, notably in holiday resorts, nonetheless.

Although best known as a jazz drummer, Delaney was a multi-percussionist. As well as the drums he played xylophone, glockenspiel, timpani, military side drum, tubular bells, a variety of Chinese gongs and tam tams and incorporated many everyday items such as brushes and whistles into his shows over the years.

Pye

THE ERIC DELANEY BAND

• N.15046 Cockles and Mussels/Say Si Si (04/56)
• N.15054 Oranges and Lemons/Delaney's Delight (07/56)
• N.15069 Rockin' the Tymps/Ain't She Sweet (09/56)
• N.15079 Rock 'n' Roll King Cole/Time for Chimes (02/57)
• 7N.15113 Fanfare Jump/Jingle Bells (11/57)

ERIC DELANEY'S BIG BEAT SIX

• 7N.15782 Big Noise from Winnetka/Big Beat (02/65)

Parlophone

THE ERIC DELANEY BAND

• R4646 Bass Drum Boogie/Let's Get Organised (1960)
• R4753 Drum Twist/Yes Indeed (1961)
• R4876 Washboard Blues Twist/Sing, Sing, Sing (1962)
• R4925 Manhattan Spiritual/Down Home (1962)

A more complete list of Delaney's records (78rpm to CD) including earlier Mercury recordings together with a tentative filmography and videography are in

Marble Arch

THE BIG BEAT OF-ERIC DELANEY

• MAL 768 LP Disributed Pye Records Ltd 1968 (UK)