Rob Townsend

Rob Townsend is the drummer heard on every Family studio album. Born 7 July 1947 in Leicester, he was a school classmate of Roger Chapman at Ellis Intermediate Boys School and joined Family in September 1967, replacing Harry Ovenall after the Family name was already established. He stayed from Music in a Doll's House (1968) through It's Only A Movie (1973), then returned for the 2013–2016 Family reunion shows — the only returning member besides Chapman to appear on every original studio album and every reunion date.

Leicester (early 1960s)

Townsend's first bands were the local Leicester R&B / soul circuit: The Beatniks, Broodly Hoo and Legay — three groups that document the city's pre-Family ferment. Broodly Hoo was managed by a small Leicester company run by Charlie Whitney, putting Townsend in the orbit of his future Family bandmate years before the Farinas became Family. Legay released a single on Fontana Records in the late 1960s — a Leicester Mercury (February 1998) retrospective described them as "Tamla fans in make-up with songs like 'Vacuum Cleaner Mother' and 'Steam Driven Banana'" — and later evolved into Gypsy. Founder member Legay Rogers died of asbestosis just before Christmas 1997.

The jazz interest that turned Townsend into a drummer in the first place — "like the other Manfreds, it was a love of jazz which drew Rob Townsend into music" — would surface again decades later when he joined Manfred Mann's reunion act The Manfreds.

Family (September 1967 – October 1973)

Townsend joined Family in September 1967, replacing Harry Ovenall before the first album sessions. He played every Family studio LP — Music in a Doll's House (1968), Family Entertainment (1969), A Song For Me (1970), Anyway (1970), Fearless (1971), Bandstand (1972), It's Only A Movie (1973) — and was on the bandstand from the band's first BBC sessions in 1967 to the final Leicester Polytechnic show on 13 October 1973. His drumming under the violin–flute–vibraphone instrumentation that distinguished Family from its peers ("unheard of in those early guitar, bass and drums days") was the rhythmic anchor that allowed the band's more adventurous instrumentation to function as rock at all.

Townsend's account of the 1969 Fillmore East mike-stand incident is the most-quoted firsthand version of the story: "He pulled the mike out of the stand and threw the stand away. But unfortunately he threw it too far and the stand, which was very heavy, just missed Graham's head. Graham seemed to think the band was trying to make its name by killing him. It was all a mistake."

Medicine Head, sessions and Axis Point (1974–1982)

After Family dissolved, Townsend joined Medicine Head for about eighteen months and played on Thru a Five (1974). He then moved into freelance work with artists including Peter Skellern, George Melly and Bill Wyman, as well as The Scaffold's Sold Out (1975) and Kevin Ayers' Yes We Have No Mañanas… (1976) and Rainbow Takeaway (1978). The October 1976 BBC In Concert session for Ayers paired Townsend with Andy Summers, Zoot Money and Charlie McCracken.

Townsend did not play with Streetwalkers; their principal mid-1970s drummer was Nicko McBrain. His continuing Chapman–Whitney connection instead came through Axis Point (1978–1980), the band formed by Charlie Whitney with Eddie Hardin and Charlie McCracken. Townsend also appeared on Dance Band's Fancy Footwork (1980) and Eddie Hardin's Circumstantial Evidence (1982).

The Blues Band and The Manfreds (1982 onwards)

When Hughie Flint vacated the drum stool in The Blues Band in 1982, Townsend stepped in and remained through the band's farewell in 2022. Fronted by ex-Manfred Mann singer Paul Jones with Dave Kelly and Tom McGuinness, the group became Townsend's principal touring home for four decades. He has also held the drum chair in The Manfreds, the reunion group formed by former members of Manfred Mann.

Other long-term collaborations include the Memphis Slim and Duane Eddy sessions of the 1970s and the Dave Kelly Band dates that orbit the Blues Band schedule, plus appearances with Buzz Ford & The Classics and Gary Benson.

The 2013–2016 Family reunion

For the first time in forty years, Family reformed for two London shows on 1–2 February 2013 with Townsend, Chapman, Poli Palmer and Jim Cregan in the lineup. The reunion played the Rockin' The Park festival at Clumber Park on 16 August 2013 and continued with a limited run of dates through 2016 — a whole second Family chapter, fifty years on from the first. As the drummer on every Family studio album, Townsend was a natural anchor for the reunion; that he was still touring with two other working bands made him perhaps the most quietly busy of the returning musicians.

Selected discography

With Family (1967–1973, all 7 studio LPs and the 2013–2016 reunions)

Post-Family bands and selected sessions — Medicine Head Thru a Five (1974) · The Scaffold Sold Out (1975) · Kevin Ayers Yes We Have No Mañanas… (1976), Rainbow Takeaway (1978), BBC In Concert (October 1976) · Axis Point (1978–1980) · Dance Band Fancy Footwork (1980) · Eddie Hardin Circumstantial Evidence (1982)

Long-running bands

• The Blues Band — 1982–2022
• The Manfreds — drums from the group's early-1990s formation onward
• Dave Kelly Band

Born: 7 July 1947, Leicester, England
Family tenure: September 1967 – October 1973 · 2013–2016 reunions
Instruments: drums, percussion

Sources: Leicester Mercury (February 1998); "Faulty Towers" — John Bungey, MOJO (August 1996), in the Press Archive; Mike Dolbear's Rob Townsend interview; The Manfreds biography; The Weaver's Answer fanzine; original album credits.

Footnote — Dean Ford Band, 1978. A 2023 reader recollection places Whitney, Townsend and bassist Charlie McCracken behind Dean Ford (ex-Marmalade) at The Music Machine, Camden, in February 1978, billed as the Dean Ford Band. The timing fits Townsend and McCracken's overlapping work with Kevin Ayers and the beginning of Axis Point, but no tape, setlist or press notice has surfaced, so the lineup remains tentative. If you remember the show or have paperwork from the run, please leave a comment.