IT is amazing to think that a paperboy who once delivered The Northern Echo to homes in Ferryhill came to play drums on some of the most totemic pop songs ever recorded.

For instance, Alan White, who has recently died at the age of 72, played on Imagine by John Lennon.

He is best known for being the drummer with the prog-rock band Yes for nearly 50 years, but he also worked with George Harrison, The Who and Billy Fury.

It was a far cry from his days in the clubs of Durham with the Downbeats.

Alan was born in Pelton, near Chester-le-Street, in 1949, but his parents, Ray and May, moved to Ferryhill when he was seven. Ray was quite musical and started the boy at piano lessons.

"My uncle Kenny was a drummer in dance bands," Alan told The Northern Echo in 1998. "He was quite famous around the village and Darlington, but unfortunately he got killed in a railway accident. He was a big inspiration, and he said to my parents that they should buy me a drum kit because I had a percussive style on piano.”

Because of uncle Kenny’s urgings, he got his first drum kit when he was 12.

“Within three months I was playing the clubs,” Alan said. “I went to The Broom Secondary School in Ferryhill. I used to deliver The Northern Echo every morning, come home, mum'd make my breakfast, and then after school I'd be going out to play in the clubs.

"I was playing Beatles covers with The Downbeats at Durham Working Men's Club when I was 13 or 14 and this old guy came up to me and said that one day I would play with the Beatles. That's always stayed with me."

The Northern Echo: Alan White with the Downbeats, a Ferryhill beat band which played Beatles covers in Durham clubs in the late 1960s. This picture was lent to Memories by lead singer Ken Potts, on the right, who in later life became a busman in Ferryhill. Also in the

Alan White with the Downbeats, a Ferryhill beat band which played Beatles covers in Durham clubs in the late 1960s. This picture was lent to Memories by lead singer Ken Potts, on the right, who in later life became a busman in Ferryhill. Also in the picture are Dave Roberts and Dom Aston

After the Broom, Alan started at Bishop Auckland Technical School training to be a draughtsman with the hope one day of becoming an architect, but the Downbeats had turned into the Blue Chips and won a recording contract in a national competition.

“I shall always remember the school principal called me into his office and said congratulations and that I should stick with the music because I must be pretty good and that I'd make money,” he said. “That was pretty radical advice for a principal of a school!"

It led to him joining The Gamblers, a Newcastle band who were backing Billy Fury on a continental tour. His parents waved him off from Newcastle station, anxious at the thought of their kid getting mixed up in the heady world of rock ‘n’ roll.

The Northern Echo: Alan White's mother, May, with her favourite picture of him at her home in Ferryhill in 1998

Alan White's mother, May, with her favourite picture of him at her home in Ferryhill in 1998

“It was the first real time he'd been away," May told the Echo. "You do worry about things, like the drugs, and we did try to keep a tag on him, but his uncle Kenny said that he'd had the chance to go into music but he hadn't been allowed, and he said 'Don't stop him'. So we decided to let him make his own mind up."

The tour in Germany lasted three months. "I grew up very quickly," said Alan. It led to work with Alan Price, and in a London club, he was spotted by Lennon.

The Northern Echo:

John Lennon with Yoko Ono in 1973, when Alan was working with them

"The next day he rang me up to ask me to come and play on TV in Toronto with Eric Clapton and Yoko," said Alan. "I thought someone was playing a joke on me and I put the phone down, so he had to call back."

It was the start of a three-year working relationship, which included the recording of the Imagine album, and its famous title track. “I came up with what I thought was an appropriate approach to the song, nothing really complicated,” he said, “but that’s what it called for.” He also played vibrophone on Jealous Guy.

Through Lennon, Alan got to know George Harrison and worked on his best-known solo works, Instant Karma and My Sweet Lord.

"One minute I was playing with my band and then the next with all of those Beatles," Alan said in 1998, still amazed at the turnaround of the early 1970s.

The Northern Echo: Yes drummer Alan White.

Alan White behind his drumkit

After touring with The Who, Ginger Baker and Joe Cocker, in 1973 he joined Yes with Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman. "I said I'd give it three months, and I'm still there 26 years later," he said.

In fact, it was to be 49 years, which included their biggest hits Wonderous Stories of 1977 and Owner Of A Lonely Heart in 1983. Since 2016, due to ill health, his involvement with Yes has been reduced, but he was due to celebrate his 50th anniversary with the band by joining their tour this autumn. Yes are now going to dedicate the tour to his memory.