John Petersen (musician)


John Louis Petersen was an American drummer, most notably for rock bands The Beau Brummels and Harpers Bizarre.

Early Life

John was born to Louis Sylvester Petersen and Mila Marie Williams in Rudyard, Michigain on January 8th, 1942, and moved to San Francisco at the age of five years old. Petersen attended Longfellow Elementary School in Long Beach as a child.

Career

In 1964 Petersen joined the Beau Brummels, whose first two singles, "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little", reached the U.S. top 20. He appeared with the band in the 1965 science-fiction/comedy movie Village of the Giants, which was featured in a 1994 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Petersen also appeared with the band as The Beau Brummelstones on The Flintstones television animated sitcom in the season six episode "Shinrock A Go-Go," which originally aired on December 3, 1965.
Petersen left the group after their third album, Beau Brummels '66, to join Harpers Bizarre. Formerly known as the Tikis, Harpers Bizarre had a top 20 hit with a remake of Simon & Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song " in 1967. The group broke up in 1970, but Petersen returned for a reunion album in 1976. Petersen also occasionally reunited with the Beau Brummels. In 1975, he played with and recorded on the band's self-titled album.

Personal life

Petersen married Roberta Templeman, sister of Harpers Bizarre's Ted Templeman, in 1969. Roberta Templeman became a vice president at Warner Bros. Records in the 1980s. Petersen died from a heart attack on November 11, 2007 at the age of 62. Roberta died on August 15, 2019 after battling dementia, at age 74.