Dennis Bryon - You Should Be Dancing: My Life with the Bee Gees

BY

Andy Fairweather Low

When Dennis asked me to write the foreword for his book I thought, Well, of course he would . Typical of me: I was the self-absorbed, self-obsessed lead singer in Amen Corner, the band we were in together all those years ago. And its not like Dennis isnt aware of my many faults. Yet despite them, he wanted me to write this. Thats Dennis.

Recently, I saw some super- footage of Amen Corner when we lived in London in the late sixties filmed by Neil, our guitar player. Boys-being-boys stuff. With the hindsight of more than forty years, I can see clearly that Dennis was the heart and soul of that band. I had always felt we could be a band a real band but Dennis was the one who decided it was going to be fact.

I will always remember how I first met Dennis. I was lucky enough to see him in a great band in 1965 : Brother John and the Witnesses, one of many great Cardiff bands. When I was looking to form Amen Corner, Dennis was my first choice as drummer. It was a time when drummers were actually required to play . And yep he could play. (Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of much of todays Pro Tools generation.)

As a band, we had a residency at a fantastic late-night club in London, the Speakeasy, which was the best . Jimi Hendrix was a frequent visitor, and one night he borrowed Neils guitar, turned it upside down, and started playing with us and Dennis stepped up to the plate, straight away. I know that despite my aforementioned quirks and faults, Dennis and the band tolerated me for whatever reasons. And I am very, very grateful to them. Dennis got to deliver his dream from Cardiff, Wales, to the U.S.A. with one of the biggest-ever bands in the world. That wasnt by luck, and it wasnt an accident. You cannot survive in the music business by luck. Not as a player.

I miss Dennis (he now lives in America, and I in the U.K.), but his memory and presence stays with me. And we do get together now and then. We recently met for a band-reunion meal in Cardiff a curry, of course.

We were boys in a mans world, a long time ago. What a joy what a joy

Love you, Den.

Andy Fairweather Low

Lead singer and founder of Amen Corner and Fair Weather. Session musician for Roy Wood, Leo Sayer, Gerry Rafferty, The Who, Joe Satriani, Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, Ronnie Lane, Dave Edmunds, Bill Wyman, and George Harrison.

You Stepped Into My Life

FOREWORD

BY

Zoro

A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.

Jackie Robinson

YOU SHOULD BE DANCING!

Why?

Because nothing brings joy to the human spirit quite like dancing. The desire to dance is written into the genetic code of every human being, and life gives us many reasons to dance.

Have you ever given thought to what prompts us to dance in the first place?

Its called rhythm. And behind all of those beautifully crafted rhythms is a drummer. The role of a drummer in all cultures is the same to create a groove, a pulse, a special magical feel that inspires people to move their bodies and feel a passion and vibrancy for life. Drumming is a noble and culturally important calling. Without the cadence of drummers from every tribe and tongue, the world would be a terribly unexciting place.

Life has a rhythm to it, and You Should Be Dancing recounts the rhythmic journey of a great drummer. Since the mid- 1970 s, Dennis Bryons hypnotic drum grooves have been responsible for luring much of the worlds population onto the dance floor. Dennis accomplished this incredible feat by playing on one of the best-selling albums of all time the iconic Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Released in 1977 , the double album received a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and the music on it became a phenomenon that changed the cultural landscape, prompting more people to enroll in dance classes than ever before in history.

Saturday Night Fever featured some of the most memorable songs in pop music history. Bee Gees anthems such as Stayin Alive, Night Fever, Jive Talkin, You Should Be Dancing, How Deep Is Your Love, and More Than a Woman all bore the imprint of Denniss undeniable feel.

Equally so, the drum part he played on Nights on Broadway, from the 1975 Bee Gees album Main Course, was incredibly infectious and so in the pocket it felt unreal. It remains one of my all-time favorite grooves.

On top of playing such beautifully crafted drum parts as Fanny (Be Tender With My Love), Dennis pushed the known musical boundaries with the highly innovative -note hi-hat pattern he played on the bridge of Love You Inside Out . It is one of the hippest drum parts ever created, and it really blew me away when I first heard it. The song reached number one on the Billboard charts in June 1979 and was just one of the many musical gems that sprang from the Bee Gees Spirits Having Flown album.

I also have great personal reason to thank Dennis. Whereas countless drummers would cite the names of Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Ringo Starr, John Bonham, or Keith Moon as their greatest influences and the reason they picked up sticks in the first place, for me it was the grooves Dennis played with the Bee Gees that beckoned me down the path to becoming a drummer. His drumming made an indelible mark on my soul and set my feet dancing, which I did plenty of in those days. It also birthed within me the desire to become a professional groove drummer and play in the R&B style that Dennis had done so successfully.

When I started playing the drums back in 1977 , the Bee Gees dominated the airwaves. The group penned great songs that featured catchy melodies and beautiful, warm harmonies. Intoxicating rhythm tracks were combined with crisp horn parts and lush string arrangements all played by real musicians in real time.