Mike Gibbins

Michael George Gibbins (12 March 1949 – 4 October 2005) was a Welsh musician, most notable for being the drummer of Badfinger.

Michael George Gibbins started playing drums while in the sea cadets. He played around South Wales for a time with a group called "The Misfits" before auditioning for the rival Welsh band The Iveys in 1964. The Iveys had a minor hit with "Maybe Tomorrow". In 1969, Paul McCartney produced the song "Come and Get It" for The Iveys, who prior to its release, changed their name to Badfinger and replaced Griffiths with guitarist Joey Molland.

After the success of "Come and Get It", Badfinger enjoyed success with hit songs "No Matter What", "Day After Day", and "Baby Blue". From early on, Gibbins began to contribute songs to the albums, despite often being overshadowed by the compositions of the other members, particularly Ham. He also composed and sang the originally unreleased songs "Loving You" (from the unreleased sessions for the album Straight Up), "Rockin' Machine", and "Back Again" (from the unreleased album Head First). All of these recordings have now been issued on CD.

During his tenure with Badfinger, Gibbins – along with the other members of the band – contributed musically to the George Harrison album All Things Must Pass, and played at The Concert for Bangladesh. While working on All Things Must Pass, producer Phil Spector recognized Gibbins' talent at playing the tambourine, earning Gibbins the nickname "Mr. Tambourine Man" after the Bob Dylan song.

After Pete Ham died by suicide in 1975, Badfinger broke up and Gibbins found work as a session drummer in Wales. One of the more notable songs that Gibbins played on during this time was "It's a Heartache" by Bonnie Tyler.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.