Rock drummer Carmine Appice has appeared in a variety of groups over the years, starting with Vanilla Fudge in 1966. That band made five charting albums between 1967 and 1969, the most successful of which was the gold-selling debut Vanilla Fudge. Appice and Vanilla Fudge bassist Tim Bogert then formed Cactus with guitarist Jim McCarty (not the Jim McCarty from the Yardbirds) and singer Rusty Day. While Appice and Bogert were in the lineup, Cactus charted with four albums between 1970 and 1972, most successfully the debut, Cactus. In 1973, Appice and Bogert teamed up with guitarist Jeff Beck to form Beck, Bogert & Appice, who scored a gold-selling album, Beck Bogert & Appice. Appice was a member of the supergroup KGB, who featured Ray Kennedy, Rick Grech, Mike Bloomfield, and Barry Goldberg, and made one charting album in 1976. He worked as Rod Stewart's drummer in the '70s and '80s and co-wrote Stewart's hits "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (number one, 1978) and "Young Turks" (number five, 1981). In 1989, he was part of the trio Blue Murder with John Sykes and Tony Franklin, who made one charting album. Always busy, Appice worked on albums with King Cobra, Travers & Appice, Cactus (Cactus V appeared in 2006) and with a reunited version of Vanilla Fudge, who re-formed in 2000. He also began his Guitar Zeus project, pairing a core band with many of the most dynamic guitarists in rock and metal. Guitar Zeus appeared in 1996, followed by Guitar Zeus, Vol. 2: Channel Mind Radio a year later in 1997. The best of these two releases were combined for 2009's Carmine Appice's Guitar Zeus: Conquering Heroes. 2011 saw the release of a new eponymous King Kobra LP, followed in 2013 by the like-minded King Kobra II. In 2016 Appice reunited with Pat Travers for the cheekily-titled Balls Album, which saw the dynamic duo tearing through a set of classic blues-rock numbers. ~ William Ruhlmann & Steve Leggett