Bobby Graham (born Robert Francis Neate, 11 March 1940 – 14 September 2009) was an English session drummer, composer, arranger and record producer.
[2] Graham was a part of the British elite session team (comparable to the American "Wrecking Crew") made up of artists such as Big Jim Sullivan, Vic Flick and Jimmy Page.
In 1962, while touring with Joe Brown in Liverpool, Graham was asked to replace Pete Best in the Beatles.
In a discography that counts approximately 15,000 titles, he played on hits by John Barry, Shirley Bassey, Joe Cocker, Billy Fury, Herman's Hermits, Benny Hill, Rod Stewart, Dave Berry, Joe Brown and the Bruvvers, Chubby Checker, Petula Clark, Brenda Lee, Lulu, Brian Poole & the Tremeloes, the Pretty Things, PJ Proby, Van Morrison, Them, the Walker Brothers, and Marianne Faithfull.
On 14 September 2009, Bobby Graham died at the Isabel Hospice in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England after battling stomach cancer for five months.