Gary Young

Born in New York and growing up in Melbourne, Australia, musician Gary Young has been a part of several legendary rock bands as a drummer, guitarist, singer, and songwriter.

Starting out playing drums, Young formed his first band in high school during the early '60s, the Fenders, followed by the Silhouettes, which later became the Lincolns. With the addition of singer Bob Johnson, the Lincolns became popular around Melbourne; nevertheless, Young decided to leave the band in 1965 to form the duo Double Trouble with Issy Di. They quickly folded and his next outing was with the Rendells, the backing outfit for Bobby & Laurie, and they toured until their breakup in 1967. Young briefly joined Changing Times before joining the Laurie Allen Revue. They released several singles before Bobby & Laurie reunited in 1969 and Young took up with Melbourne R&B-jazz band the Ram Jam Big Band, appearing on their final single, "Lost and Found," released in May 1969. After forming the short-lived band Turnstile at the end of 1969, Young became a member of Ross Wilson's and Ross Hannaford's part-time progressive rock project Sons of the Vegetal Mother which led to the influential Daddy Cool.

Influenced by their mix of country, blues, and rockabilly Young began writing songs for the band and also sang on several tracks until their breakup in August 1972. Young, now switching to rhythm guitar and vocals, formed the band Hot Dog before again joining the re-formed Daddy Cool. They broke up again in September 1975 and Young became a founding member of Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons. During 1976 he collaborated with Ross Wilson and Wayne Burt for the soundtrack to the film Oz and appeared as a session player on Mandu's To the Shores of His Heaven and Bandicoot's self-titled album. Young stayed with Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons until June 1981 when he formed the Rocking Emus. They released Gary Young and the Rocking Emus in May 1982 and he also toured with the Rock Doctors who released the live album Now Hear This! in August of that year.

During 1983, Young became a member of the Phil Manning Rock 'n' Roll Trio while also filling in for Steve Prestwich during a Cold Chisel tour. After touring with singer Renee Geyer, the Phil Manning Rock 'n' Roll Trio broke up. In 1984, Young joined the Black Sorrows and appeared on two albums: Sonola and Rockin' Zydeco. He then left to join the Dancehall Racketeers, appearing on their self-titled debut album released in 1984. Young then moved away from regular performing, taking up a career in radio, although he regularly played one-off gigs and continued session work. He performed with the Beat Boys during 1988, the Midnight Trio during 1989, Leslie Avril's backing group, the Cool Healers and blues boogie band Southern Lightning during 1991, Andy Baylor's Cajun Combo from 1992-1993 and the Mick Hamilton Trio from 1992-1997. Young has also appeared on albums by the Glass Hamilton Young Band and Andy Baylor's Cajun Combo album in 1992. ~ Brendan Swift, Rovi