Vintage View: Cozy Powell Kit
Those of you that have picked up our special 25th anniversary issue of Rhythm will have seen that this month's Vintage View features a jaw-dropping chrome kit once owned and played by the late Cozy Powell. But, current owner Bob Richard's collection of Cozy gear was so great that we couldn't fit it all into the mag, so take a look inside to see his enviable heap of classic rock drumming paraphernalia.
Bob Richards has gigged this kit at the Royal Albert Hall with Man, for a charity gig in about 2004 and also in Cardiff International Arena and the Patti Pavilion in Swansea every Christmas with Man.
He said: "I also use it in my Rainbow tribute band, Catch The Rainbow. It's amazing to play that set on that kit. And I've recorded two albums with the kit, with my band from Birmingham called Shy."
Cozy bass drum heads
“The coloured ones were given to me by Cozy’s tech Ashley Williams, the last guy to work on this kit. He knew Cozy from the early days, from the mid ‘70s when he worked for the Tasco PA company on the Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll and Down to Earth tours with Rainbow. He was Cozy’s tech from 1982 when he played with Whitesnake. The heads are genuine, printed on Yamaha skins, but I don’t think they were ever put on the kit. “The black heads are from Cozy’s time with Black Sabbath, around 1991-2.”
Cozy promo stickers
The oblong stickers are from Japan in about 1984. I think they were just for Cozy to hand out at clinics. Cozy’s drumtech Ashley Williams had a pile of them that he gave to me. There are pictures of Cozy on a black Yamaha kit in Japan and those stickers are on the toms. “I believe the oval stickers, which say ‘YD-9000 series’, were printed in 1977 for Cozy’s first Yamaha kit, the original chrome Yamaha that he played in Rainbow. The larger ones were for his toms and bass drums and the smaller ones for this snare drums. They printed loads and again I think he gave those out at clinics. Ashley had the one card left and I couldn’t believe it when he gave it to me.”
Cozy's sticks, gloves and laminate
“The rigger’s gloves were Cozy’s, worn during Whitesnake’s Slide It In era, around 1984. Ashley remembered buying a couple of pairs of those.
“This pass was used by Ashley Williams on the Slide It In tour in 1984.
“The sticks are actually Cozy’s. They were given to me by Les Cole who was Cozy’s drumtech in the Sabbath days. They are heavier than 3S’s and a nightmare to play with. They kill your cymbals, but surprisingly, Ashley says Cozy never split any hi hats while he worked for him.”
Cozy's Snare
“The snare did not belong to Cozy but I managed to track this one down. It’s similar to the one Cozy used with this kit, although the badge is silver and says ‘Made In Taiwan’, rather than Japan. The rims I have put on came from another one of Cozy’s techs, Les Cole, and are similar to marching band hoops. I don’t think they were made especially for Cozy. You could get a set for snare drums in solid steel, but Cozy must have ordered them for top and bottom of all the toms as well. Bobby Rondinelli (drummer for Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult) told me they only made them for snare drums and they were $300 a set back then.”
