Bev Bevan

Beverley "Bev" Bevan (born 25 November 1944) is an English rock musician who was the drummer and one of the original members of the Move and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). After the end of ELO in 1986, he founded ELO Part II.

Bevan also was a drummer for Black Sabbath during the Born Again Tour, and later played percussion on The Eternal Idol in 1987. Bevan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 as a member of Electric Light Orchestra.

Bevan was born in South Yardley, Birmingham. His father Charles used to play drums and was nicknamed Bev, which is how Bevan got his name. Charles died when Bev was 11 years old. After attending Moseley Grammar School, where he gained two O level passes, he worked as a trainee buyer in a city-centre department store called The Beehive with school friend Jasper Carrott (Robert Davis).

His professional music career started with a stint with Denny Laine in his group Denny Laine and the Diplomats, then with Carl Wayne & the Vikings, followed by the Move in 1966. The Move was known for being the boost to fame for Roy Wood. The Move's highest-selling songs are "Fire Brigade" and "Blackberry Way".

Bevan has a deep singing voice. With the Move he sang lead on a remake of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" and the country and western spoof, "Ben Crawley Steel Co". He composed one Move song: "Don't Mess Me Up", an Elvis Presley spoof from the album Message from the Country, which was also the B-side of the Move's single "Tonight". He is also credited with writing the rock-blues "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" on Looking On: Roy Wood actually composed the song, but gave the songwriting credit to Bevan as a reward for his promotional efforts on behalf of the band.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.