Keef Hartley

Keith "Keef" Hartley (8 April 1944 – 26 November 2011) was an English drummer and bandleader. He fronted his own band, known as the Keef Hartley Band or Keef Hartley's Big Band, and played at Woodstock. He was later a member of Dog Soldier, and variously worked with Rory Storm, the Artwoods and John Mayall. He studied drumming under Lloyd Ryan, who also taught Phil Collins the drum rudiments. His career began as the replacement for Ringo Starr as a drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a Liverpool-based band, after Ringo joined the Beatles. He then formed The Keef Hartley (Big) Band, mixing elements of jazz, blues, and rock and roll; the group played at Woodstock in 1969.

While in John Mayall's band, Mayall had pushed Hartley to form his own group. A mock-up of the "firing" of Hartley was heard on the Halfbreed album's opening track, "Sacked". Hartley wrote about his life growing up in Preston, and his career as a drummer and bandleader, including the Keef Hartley Band's appearance at Woodstock.

Hartley died of complications from surgery on 26 November 2011, aged 67, at Royal Preston Hospital in Fulwood, north Preston. Overdog (1971) Little Big Band (live at the Marquee Club) (1971) Seventy-Second Brave (1972) Not Foolish Not Wise (1968–1972 / studio + live) (1999; reissue: 2003) Live At Essen Pop & Blues Festival 1969-1970 (2024)

Solo Lancashire Hustler (1973)

Dog Soldier Dog Soldier (1975) UAS 29769, recorded at Island Basing Street Studios, London, 18 November – 15 December 1974

With John Mayall Crusade (1967) The Blues Alone (1967) The Diary of a Band - Volume One (1968) (live) The Diary of a Band - Volume Two (1968) (live) Live in Europe (1971) Back to the Roots (1971) (some tracks only) Moving On (1973) (live) Ten Years Are Gone (1973) (studio + live)

With Vinegar Joe Rock'n Roll Gypsies (1972)

Michael Chapman (singer) Pleasures Of The Street (1975) Savage Amusement (1976) The Man Who Hated Mornings (1977)