Paul Burgess

Paul Burgess

Paul Burgess is a drummer from the United Kingdom whose work spans British rock, folk rock and related session work. He also appears as a folk fiddler and singer. He is associated with a long list of bands and touring projects, rather than a single fixed group.

Career

Burgess is known for extensive work with 10cc, which he joins on their 1973 UK tour and officially joins in 1976 after the departures of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. He plays on the live album King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents 10cc In Concert, recorded in 1975, and his first studio album with the band is Deceptive Bends, which includes the hits The Things We Do For Love, Good Morning Judge and People In Love. He continues with 10cc on Bloody Tourists (1978), Look Hear? (1980) and Ten out of 10 (1981), and returns for the band’s 1983 tour. He also re-joins 10cc in 2000 for live shows.

Outside 10cc, Burgess plays drums on Graham Gouldman’s Animalympics soundtrack and on Eric Stewart’s solo albums, including the soundtrack to the French film Girls (1980) and Frooty Rooties (1982). He becomes a member of The Invisible Girls, backing John Cooper Clarke on several late 1970s and early 1980s recordings, and leaves temporarily in 1980, when John Maher replaces him for Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls.

He also plays with folk-rock group Magna Carta on Midnight Blue (1981), then briefly joins Jethro Tull the following year, touring Europe and North America without recording with the band. After 10cc splits in 1983, Burgess joins Camel in 1984, replacing Stuart Tosh. He records the studio album Stationary Traveller and the live album Pressure Points before Camel dissolves in 1985.

Session and touring work

In the mid-1980s Burgess works as session drummer for The Colourfield, playing on almost all the tracks on their debut album Virgins and Philistines without becoming an official member. He tours with Joan Armatrading in 1986, then returns to Magna Carta after the group reforms. During the late 1980s he also performs live with Alvin Stardust and Gloria Gaynor.

In 1990 Burgess replaces Zak Starkey in The Icicle Works and records Permanent Damage before that group ends. When Camel reforms in 1992, he returns to the drums and stays until 1993, recording Dust and Dreams and Never Let Go. Around this period he works on the debut album by Jynine James, which also features Peter Frampton on lead guitar.

Later work

Burgess joins Chris Farlowe’s R&B-oriented backing band in 1995 and works with Farlowe for about a decade. In 2003 he plays with The Soul Company, led by Dave Sharp of The Alarm, and with Then Came The Wheel, a group made up of several figures from the UK folk rock scene. From the mid-2000s he also plays and tours with The Removal Men from Stockport, and he later performs with Katy Lied, whose album Late Arrival is released in 2008.

Other work

He is also credited as a folk fiddler with Old Swan Band.