came out of one of the most creative periods in the British music scene, the late '60s and early '70s. He was involved in groups such as
, which combined various roots styles such as country and blues, and attracted a lot of positive critical attention, but never enjoyed the massive international success of other, "luckier" bands from the same era. Certainly established as a musician's musician,
. He also followed guitarist
-- playing a sidekick in several bands with him -- and he was into a variety of interesting session opportunities before (apparently) retiring from drumming to concentrate on a business remodeling houses.
Of the many projects involving
Gavin, the
Heads Hands & Feet band seems to have left behind the most devoted fans, although
Vinegar Joe enjoyed a large following for its live shoes. Although the latter group never really captured the excitement of its stage act on record,
Heads Hands & Feet came up with a debut album featuring much the same blend of country and rock played by groups such as
the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and
the Grateful Dead. As a result,
Gavin and company were considered ahead of their time, and have enjoyed a fair amount of interest in the reissue market. The group evolved out of another band featuring both
Lee and
Gavin, entitled
Poet & the One Man Band. Like many British musicians,
Gavin cut his teeth playing in the bands of British bluesmen, and shows up on some efforts in this style by
Long John Baldry.
Vinegar Joe, mostly known as one of the early bands to feature vocalist
Robert Palmer, was a rhythm & blues outfit with an average of about a dozen musicians on-stage. Its high energy show was compared to the revue of
Ike & Tina Turner and featured the young
Palmer in a winning combination with female singer
Elkie Brooks. Ironically, the band evolved out of a much more experimental outfit entitled
Dada, which recorded one eponymous album for Atco in 1970.
Lee and
Gavin were both enlisted by
Cocker following a mass exodus of sidemen from
Cocker's band. Both went on to play in the first edition of
Joe Cocker & the Cock N Bull Band, which never recorded. The drummer also appears on a variety of sessions, including records by
Don Everly,
Teresa Brewer,
Shirley Bassey, and
Al Stewart. The
Brewer recordings, taped at live shows in London in the early '80s, seem to be
Gavin's last major recordings.
–
Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi