Viv Prince
| Viv Prince | |
|---|---|
| Born |
9 August 1941 Loughborough, England |
| Genres | Rhythm and blues, rock, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Drummer, percussionist |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1961–present |
| Associated acts | Carter-Lewis and the Southerners, The Pretty Things, The Jeff Beck Group, The Denny Laine String Band |
Viv Prince (born 9 August 1941) is an English drummer. He played in a variety of bands during the 1960s, including The Pretty Things. He was noted for his wild and eccentric behaviour, which garnered a lot of publicity for the group and influenced Keith Moon.
Viv Prince was born in Loughborough. His father, Harry Prince, played in a local jazz band.
His first professional work was with the Dauphin Street Six in 1961. He joined Carter-Lewis and the Southerners in June 1963, but left them during a tour in Denmark to form his own group, The Jazz Cardinals. Without a work permit, he soon had to return to London, earning a living as a session musician. He became a member of The Pretty Things in 1964 and played the drums on their first two albums, The Pretty Things and Get the Picture?, both released in 1965.
The Pretty Things often made the headlines for their wild antics, which were due in no small part to Prince. Often inebriated or high on amphetamines, he would leave his drum stool to roam around the stage, and generally cause havoc wherever he went. A young Keith Moon attended several Pretty Things concerts to study Prince's style. This culminated in a tour of New Zealand in August 1965, during which he paraded around in a leopard-skin pillbox hat, carrying around a dead crayfish on a string. Over time, he would miss recording sessions more and more often, and the band had to call upon other drummers to replace him, including Bobby Graham, Mitch Mitchell and Twink. His tenure with the Pretty Things ended in mid-November 1965, when the band sacked him due to his growing unreliability. He was replaced by Skip Alan.
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