Viv Prince obit

The Pretty Things Drummer Viv Prince Dead At 84

 

He was not on the list.

Viv Prince, the wildman drummer who was notorious for his short stint with British Invasion rockers the Pretty Things, has died. Jack White broke the news of Prince’s passing on Instagram, writing, “Viv was an incredible drummer, wild and full of abandon. He played for the band The Pretty Things, and he influenced many other musicians like Keith Moon. I was lucky enough to meet Viv some years ago who was working on his farm in Portugal at the time. He was an inspired and eccentric rock and roller and maybe I’ll have to put together a team to work on a documentary about this man one day.” No cause of death has been reported. Prince was 84.

Vivian Martin Prince was born in the British town of Loughborough, and he started out playing jazz guitar before switching to drums. In the early ’60s, Prince toured Europe with a number of traditional jazz bands, then worked as a session musician in London. In his time playing with Jimmy Page in the band Carter-Lewis & The Southerners, Prince was a known figure within the London rock ‘n’ roll scene, a flamboyant and erratic showman. In 1964, managers for London rockers the Pretty Things convinced Prince to join up, replacing original drummer Viv Andrews.

Vivi Prince only played on two Pretty Things albums, the band’s self-titled debut and Get The Picture?, both of which came out in 1965. Pretty Things songs like “Don’t Bring Me Down,” “Honey I Need,” and “Cry To Me” became moderate UK hits, and Prince’s onstage antics served as a draw. Keith Moon, legendary drummer for the Who, went to Pretty Things shows and learned from Prince’s outlandish performances. But Prince wasn’t a very reliable bandmate, and he was kicked out of the Pretty Things before the end of 1964. Prince went on to release a 1966 solo single and had short tenures in a few more groups, but he’d been out of the music business for decades before his passing. In 1999, the Pretty Things dedicated their song “Vivian Prince” to him. Pretty Things leader Phil May passed away in 2020.