Crazy Cavan

Biography

"Crazy" Cavan Grogan (died 15 February 2020) was a Welsh rockabilly singer and band leader. He formed Crazy Cavan & The Rhythm Rockers in 1970, with the band still actively touring and recording prior to Grogan's death in 2020. Grogan started out as "Screamin' Count Dracula & the Vampires", along with Lyndon Needs, Terry Walley and Gerald Bishop. Although they loved doing those first early gigs, the band was short-lived due to their young ages and no one having a driver's license. It was a good...

"Crazy" Cavan Grogan (died 15 February 2020) was a Welsh rockabilly singer and band leader. He formed Crazy Cavan & The Rhythm Rockers in 1970, with the band still actively touring and recording prior to Grogan's death in 2020.

Grogan started out as "Screamin' Count Dracula & the Vampires", along with Lyndon Needs, Terry Walley and Gerald Bishop. Although they loved doing those first early gigs, the band was short-lived due to their young ages and no one having a driver's license. It was a good start, though, and encouraged by those who went to see them, they knew that, despite the media not playing it, Rock 'n' Roll wasn't dead and forgotten, and there were still thousands of kids out there who hadn't even heard of Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent or Johnny Burnette.

Grogan's sound was first heard of as far back as 1964, when Grogan, Lyndon Needs and Terry Walley decided to form a group which at first was called "Count Dracula and the Vampires" and later for a short time was known as "The Sundogs". In 1968 Grogan, Needs and Walley teamed up with boogie piano player Brian Thomas and bass player Don Kinsella, as "The Sundogs".

They got 'Crazy' Cavan Grogan; a dynamic, mean-looking and rubber-legged singer with the longest pair of drainpipes in the business. Lyndon Needs, fresh from school and the guitar shop; ready to play all the flashy leads, and if you gave him an inch of stage he'd leap miles in every direction. Terry Walley, who doffed a rhythm guitar and a cowboy hat and hasn't been seen without either since. Mike Coffey, a tubs man with a fearful backbeat; who, you might be forgiven for thinking, learned to play drum by sinking piles in Cardiff dockyard single- handed. And, of course, a Mr. Bassman. First it was Don Kinsella, a powerful anchor for six years. Now new boy Graham Price (a fully paid-up Welshman) has slotted in neatly as the four-string backman.

A source of inspiration at that time was when Newport Rock 'n' Roll fan, and editor of "Boppin News", "Breathless" Dan Coffey, who had for some time been shipping hundreds of rare, mostly unreleased, and uptill then unheard of Rockabilly records out of the USA into Newport.

When in 1970 this band was joined by Don Kinsella and Mike Coffey it was the start of "Crazy Cavan and the Rhythm Rockers". For four years they build up fame as a semi- professional unit, playing their own music, which, influenced by rockabilly, rock 'n' roll and country music, became known as "crazy rhythm". By the end of 1973 they had acquired a large following and there was increasing demand for a record by the group. It all resulted in the release of a single and an EP on their own label "Crazy Rhythm".The demand far exceeded the supply, however, and very soon these records became collector's items. Even though they did not perform in many countries, fans from everywhere responded to their music. To reach more people, the band decided to become fully professional and soon bookings flowed in thick and fast. March 1975 stands as a landmark in their development, for then they were top of the bill at the famous "Lyceum" in London, England. Fans from all over often travelled hundreds of miles to this concert, which turned out to be an enormous success. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.