Denny Carmassi is an
American drummer. He was born into a family of drummers; his father, his uncle, and his brother each played the drums. Some of Denny's earliest memories are his father rehearsing after work with his band in the kitchen of their home. Occasionally they allowed young Denny Carmassi to sit in with them. His father exposed him to great drummers, including
Buddy Rich, Jimmy Vincent and Richard Goldberg. Then Denny listened the radio and discovered several drummers like
Earl Palmer,
D.J. Fontana,
Al Jackson Jr. (Denny actually learned to play the drums from listening to Al's and playing along with the
Booker T. & the M.G.'s "Green Onions" album),
Clyde Stubblefield,
Jabo Starks,
Dino Danelli,
Ginger Baker,
Mitch Mitchell,
John Bonham and
Tony Williams.