‘I never sat around for five years and got fat’
Legendary drummer Vnny Appice looks back

LOS ANGELES — One of the world’s most foremost drummers, Appice has done it all — from working with John Lennon when he was just to a teenager, to playing with Derringer, Black Sabbath and Dio, to the very latest mini-tour with equally legendary drummer Carmine.

The “Drum Wars” comes to the Whisky on Thursday, July 16, so what better time for Metal Sludge exclusive?

METAL SLUDGE: You were the last drummer to play with John Lennon before he died. That’s pretty amazing.

VINNY APPICE: Oh, it’s incredible. The funny thing is, I only first realized that about a year ago by reading that in a magazine, but yeah, that was the last gig, and now that I know that, it’s become very special. I mean, oh my god, I wound up being the last one. It was amazing. I was blown away just be involved like that.

The interesting part is John Lennon was actually involved when you got your first break in the business, so you actually knew each other a long time

APPICE: What happened was, Jimmy Iovine was a good friend of our guitar player, so way back when, we used to hang out at the Record Plant. He produced this band I was playing with, so we had our own room at the Record Plant, and that’s how I hooked up with John Lennon. He was recording “Whatever Gets You Through the Night,” and he needed some hand claps or whatever, so we did that for him, and he would hang out with us, smoke a couple of joints, and we would all play pool in the pool room.

Wow. That’s a trip.

APPICE: John Lennon, he even re-wrote the lyrics for us on song called “Jubilation,” so that was pretty amazing, I was only 17 or 18 at the time, so this was  really cool thing. I tried to act really professional, you know, and I never asked for an autograph or anything like that — but I could kick myself for not doing that!

So who is a better drummer, you or your brother Carmine?

APPICE: I am definitely better! Way faster and way louder. A lot more power. He is sloshy right now. We did a couple of shows together on the East Coast and Vegas, and we’re coming to the Whisky on July 16. It’s going to be great show with a full band.

Who’s the singer?

APPICE: Jim Crean. He’s real good, a lot of power, and a great guy. The guitar player is from Sweden, T-Bone, and the bass player is Phil Soussan.

Ah yes, Phil Soussan. Finally a celebrity.  Take us back. Tell me about first joining Black Sabbath.

APPICE: I just got a phone call from someone who said they were looking for a drummer, and my name came up. I met Tony Iommi and we got along, and he invited me to come down and play with the band at SIR Studios on Sunset Boulevard — it’s not there anymore — and I met Ronnie James Dio, and we played “Neon Nights”and jammed a bit. And they just said, “OK, you’re in.”

Just like that.

APPICE: Yeah. I was like, “Great.” The first show, we played to like 13,000 or 14,000 in Hawaii, and I remember to learn all the music, I really had to cram for that one and listen carefully to all the intros and everything, I had listened to all the old songs with Ozzy like “Ironman” and “Paranoid,” but I didn’t know the new stuff as much with Ronnie James Dio. I liked it though. It was so heavy.

So were there ever any girls in the crowd?

APPICE: I think I saw two. (laughs). And they didn’t look like girls. I remember we used to kid about having no girls in the audience, just all guys in leather jackets.

Did they pay you well? How much?

APPICE: We got a salary, and then there was was more stuff at the end. I went from not making that much with Rick Derringer, who I was playing with before, to being in this band, Black Sabbath, and like I say, there was weekly money plus other income, and you’ve got to remember I was still only 19 years old, maybe 20.

Carmine is 11 years older. What did he think of all this?

APPICE: Well, I did this on my own. He had not set up anything, same as John Lennon, so from where I was at the time, in Black Sabbath, i have no idea to this day how I got that phone call. The ironic thing is, before all this, Sharon Osborne had asked me to join Ozzy. I said, “Wow, he’s crazy now with the drinking and stuff,” and I asked Carmine about it, asked him if it was worth doing. Because you’ve got to remember, at this point, Ozzy wasn’t that big yet. He had just been thrown out of Black Sabbath, so nobody knew if Ozzy was going to do something, or was he going to fade away? It’s pretty crazy. I kind of put a downer on it, and I called Sharon and said I couldn’t do it. I passed it up, and that was one month earlier. Also, Ozzy was in the UK, in England, so I would have had to fly to England to see how things would go. But Black Sabbath, they were right her in L.A., in Los Angeles.

That’s interesting. So what was it like. This was in the 70s still. Was there a lot of drug use?

APPICE: Nah, there wasn’t too much. I didn’t observe any real drug use. It wasn’t a big party band. You’d find Geezer and Ronnie James Dio at the bar, and Toni Iommi was doing his own thing. We were the ones who would hang out, me and Tony and Ronnie James Dio.

Then you stuck with Dio when he went solo.

APPICE: Yeah, when we were in Sabbath together, we were like brothers. We got along great.

He was very successful with “Holy Diver.” Did you have total faith in him?

APPICE: I did because we were coming off Black Sabbath and doing arenas, so there was a built-in audience, so my thinking was, this should do OK, and we were back playing arenas again very quickly. We got Jimmy Bain and Vivian Campbell, and we rehearsed and smoked a lot of pot to make those records. It was fun. It was like boys club, 7 p.m. at Sound City, we would play and jam and record. Ronnie James Dio was really happy that we made a great record, and it became a rock classic that still sells today. It’s amazing.

You must appreciate being able to do this for this long, to still be doing it.

APPICE: I’ve been doing this almost 40 years. It’s insane. Yeah, it’s amazing that I am still doing it. I can still play my ass off, I don’t abuse myself, I get healthy, and I’ve always just kept on playing. That’s the most important thing to do. When I’m in my 60s, I’m still going to kick ass — on the road, doing gigs. See, I never sat home for five years and got fat. I’ve kept in shape, mind and body.

OK, let’s finish up with a Sludge-type ranking. You rank the following drummers, one through 10, with a little comment, OK?

APPICE: Yes, OK.

Neil Peart

APPICE: I would say a nine. An eight or a nine. I’m not a fan, but he is an incredible drummer.

Tommy Lee.

APPICE: I would say an eight. He’s a powerful drummer with great feel, and he’s a great showman. Not as much technically but solid.

Alex Van Halen.

APPICE: An eight. He’s a great rock drummer with great feel, and he has great ideas.

Tommy Aldridge.

APPICE: I would say he plays some good stuff. I would say a seven.

Frankie Banali.

APPICE: A seven. He isn’t technical, but he’s a good rock drummer.

John Bonham.

APPICE: Oh, he’s an 11.  The sound is incredible, his techniques are incredible, and he’s very creative.

Last one: Rikki Rockett.

APPICE: I would say he’s a good showman, a six. My main guy is Buddy Rich, though. He’s an 11.

Gerry Gittelson can be reachd at gspot@metalsludge.tv