Sneed, Floyd (22nd November 1942-27th January 2023)

He was a drummer born in Calgary, Canada, to a musical family whose parents were church musicians. He became interested in drums while still young and was given his first kit when he was 19 by his sister. She was married to Tommy Chong who took him to play in his band Little Daddy & The Bachelors and soon he was heard performing around Vancouver.

He put together the band Heatwave and relocated to Los Angeles, California in 1966 and a couple of years later became acquainted with the singing trio made up of Chuck Negron, Cory Wells and Danny Hutton and the bass guitarist Joe Schermie. He became a backing musician for them and went onto to become the original drummer for them in their group Three Dog Night. This was his route to success as they became one of the most successful groups in the history of pop music in the US from around 1969 to the mid-1970s. Their chart entries were numerous and include the hit singles “An Old Fashioned Love Song”, “Black and White”, “Joy to the World “, “Mama Told Me (Not To Come)”, “Shambala” and “The Show Must Go On”.

In 1977 they disbanded and he toured with The Ohio Players before joining the band S.S. Fools that had been put together by Joe Schermie and others from Three Dog Night. In 1979 he worked with Lowell George on his album Thanks I’ll Eat Here and then Three Dog Night reunited in the 1980s.

In 1990 he appeared as a drummer in the film Far Out Man with Tommy Chong.

When the 2000s came around he performed and recorded with the band K.A.T.T. and in later years he was heard playing with the group Dog & Katt. Outside of music he was a surrealist-type painter and his website sells and displays much of his artwork.

He died in January 2023 when he was 80 years old.

He performs here…

Sources:

Sneed, Floyd (22nd November 1942-27th January 2023)

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