Canadian Drummer Pentti 'Whitey' Glan Passes

INNISFIL, Ontario (CelebrityAccess) — Canadian drummer Pentti "Whitey" Glan, who performed with artists such as Alice Cooper and Lou Reed, died on Nov. 7th. He was 71.

"I picked Whitey Glan for the Welcome To My Nightmare tour because he was simply the best drummer around, not knowing he could drink me under a table! Everybody who worked with Whitey was his best friend. He was certainly one of rock's premier drummers, but he was under-rated and under-publicized. Canada is less one world class musician now," rocker Alice Cooper said in a statement following news of Glan's passing.

A native of Finland, Glan moved to Toronto, where he learned how to play drums. In 1965, he formed his first group, which was initally called The Rogues before they changed their name to Mandela.

The group scored some minor chart hits, including "Opportunity" on Chess Records but later disbanded.

Glan also performed with Canadian group Bush, which toured with Steppenwolf, and did a turn as a drummer with Lou Reed in the 1970s, performing on a pair of live albums and one studio album.

In 1975, Glan performed on Alice Cooper's debut solo album "Welcome To My Nightmare" and later toured with Cooper from 1975 to 1979 during the Madhouse Tour.

Glan also played with Anne Murray and appeared as the drummer in the Bette Midler movie "The Rose."

“He was the stuff of legend,” Barrie Jazz and Blues Festival organizer Robin Munro told the Simcoe County News.

“He was a major influence on me as a drummer, going back to the '60s and '70s, but over the past four years he’s been part of my group in Barrie playing jazz,” Munro added. “We became good pals.”