1. Mick Underwood first played drums at the age of 14 and was a professional musician by the time he left school.
15 Facts About Mick Underwood
1. 2.
Mick Underwood collaborated with a number of notable musicians and groups, including Jet Harris, The Outlaws, The Herd, Episode Six, Quatermass and Gillan.
3.
Mick Underwood was the drummer for Mick Underwood's Glory Road and Raw Glory.
4.
Mick Underwood received drum tuition from Jim Marshall, who went on to become the inventor and manufacturer of the Marshall amplifier.
5.
Mick Underwood left school at 16 to work with Jet Harris, and joined a tour of Britain with Sam Cooke and Little Richard.
6.
When Mick Underwood arrived to audition for Meek, the Outlaws were recruiting for a lead guitarist and it was Mick Underwood who suggested Ritchie Blackmore should fill the role, an invitation he duly accepted.
7.
Shortly afterwards, Mick Underwood left The Outlaws to take up an offer to join The Herd.
8.
Mick Underwood considered the offer, but instead accepted one to join established act Episode Six.
9.
Mick Underwood departed in July 1968 after EMI declined to release intended single She's Not There, with Decca having done the same with the band's planned debut single, Smokeytime, Springtime, the previous autumn.
10.
Mick Underwood called on Gillan to produce their first single, and the band then went into rehearsals for their debut album, which was then recorded in a single 72-hour session.
11.
Mick Underwood worked again with Gillan as the support act on the UK tour of the Ian Gillan Band, whose line-up included former Quatermass colleague John Gustafson, on bass and backing vocals.
12.
Strapps fourth and final album Ball of Fire was recorded at Ian Gillan's Kingsway studios and during recording Mick Underwood was asked by Gillan if he could use a couple of hours of their studio time to lay down a vocal with his latest band, Gillan.
13.
Mick Underwood played it brilliantly but he had to lie down on the floor for five minutes afterwards.
14.
Mick Underwood did not want to join because of our fast tracks, he said he no longer wanted to play stuff like that.
15.
Mick Underwood performed as a session musician on hundreds of recordings, and much of his catalogue of later works has been reissued on retrospective compilations of other artists' works.