Rick Coonce
| Rick Coonce | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Erik Michael Coonce |
| Born |
August 1, 1946 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | February 25, 2011 (aged 64) Canada |
| Genres | Folk, rock, country, pop |
| Instruments | Drums, fiddle, percussion |
| Years active | 1966–2011 |
| Labels | Dunhill, ABC |
| Website | The-GrassRoots.com |
Erik Michael Coonce (August 1, 1946 – February 25, 2011), better known as Rick Coonce, was the drummer for The Grass Roots, a successful rock group that received heavy airplay on the radio from 1967 to 1972. Due to renewed interest in classic bands, The Grass Roots and Coonce's driving drum beats are popular even into the new millennium. He was born in Los Angeles, California on August 1, 1946, at The City Of Angels Hospital.
He attended a Catholic school for six years while his mother worked to support the family. His father played the fiddle and his mother sang. Rick developed a keen interest in music at an early age by observing his parents and his older brother's guitar lessons. Rick's mother insisted he should play the accordion despite his interest in guitar. While pursuing the accordion he noticed that girls had little interest in that particular instrument.
At 12 Coonce decided he wanted to play drums. His mother surprised him with the special Christmas present of a used snare drum, hi-hat cymbal, and stand. Rick added to his set right away, acquiring mismatching pieces as he could.
At 16 years old Coonce taught drums at the Adler Music Store. Befriending the owner, Herb Wall, he was offered a new set of drums with nothing down and payments each month. He went to high school in Simi Valley and became active in bands, playing wherever he could. He also worked at the Sunkist Orange packing house, and often played gigs after work.
An early group was named The Beethovens. With the exception of Coonce, all the members were Mexican-American. They played anywhere they could to get noticed. Freddie Trujillo played lead guitar, John Sepulvada played bass, Mike Vasquez played sax and Ruben Arvizo played rhythm guitar. The band was affectionately called “four beans and a tortilla”. They covered several Beatles songs, with an emphasis on achieving the harmonies of Lennon and McCartney. Coonce was strongly influenced by Mexican folk music and rock legend Ritchie Valens. Rick’s older brother went to the same high school as Valens, and attended at the same time.
In 1966, The Beethovens played at a Battle Of The Bands in Hollywood and took second place. A future band mate, Rob Grill was a singer in one of the other competing bands that night. They actually did better than The Beethovens but were disqualified because one of their band members was a professional musician, so Rick’s group moved up in rank.
...
Wikipedia