His best-selling drum instruction book The Realistic Rock Drum Method.[4] was first published in 1972 and has since been revised and republished as The Ultimate Realistic Rock Drum Method.[5] It covers the basic subjects of rock rhythms and
polyrhythms,
linear rudiments and groupings,
shuffle rhythms,
hi-hat and double bass drum exercises. Appice has claimed that he influenced
John Bonham's use of bass drum
triplets.[6]
He was a member of KGB, which featured Ray Kennedy,
Ric Grech,
Mike Bloomfield and Barry Goldberg. Appice has recorded with artists such as
Stanley Clarke,
Ted Nugent and
Pink Floyd. He has also played with
King Kobra and (alongside
John Sykes) in
Blue Murder. On May 23, 1981,
Tom Bradley, the then
Mayor of Los Angeles, proclaimed that day as Carmine Appice Day in the city, in recognition of the drummer's charitable and educational work.[12] In late 1983 Appice toured with
Ozzy Osbourne in support of his Gold-selling Bark at the Moon album, but shortly afterward was fired from the backing group.[13][14] Though Osbourne had a good relationship with him, the singer's wife and manager
Sharon detested Appice, and the decision to fire him was strictly hers.[15]
Appice recorded Caso Cerrado (1995) with the Argentine guitarist
Pappo.[16][failed verification] They were also joined by bassist
Tim Bogert on four songs, including "P. B. A. Boogie". He spent 1999 touring Japan with Bogert and
Char in a unit called CB&A, with a live album released the following year.[17] In 2000, Appice formed the power trio DBA with Bogert and
Rick Derringer, and was reunited once again with Bogert when they reformed Vanilla Fudge.
In 2005, he became an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization which provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in less privileged public schools throughout the USA. He has personally delivered instruments to children in the program and has also performed at benefit concerts for the organization and sits on its Honorary board of directors.[18]
In 2006, he formed the drum ensemble SLAMM[19] in which Appice participated on drums playing alongside four young drummers; the resulting show has been described as "Stomp on steroids".[citation needed] The band filmed a promotional video for the Cable Network station
ESPN, using a
NASCAR garage as a set and mechanics' hardware as instruments.[20] SLAMM was voted as the
runner-up in the Drum magazine poll for Percussion Ensemble (2008) after a special appearance at the magazine's drum festival.[21] The group also appears on the Modern Drummer festival DVD (2008).[22]
2011–2012 saw Carmine performing Drum Wars shows with his brother
Vinny Appice and guitarist Michael Hund, as well a reformation of
King Kobra with
Johnny Rod,
Mick Sweda, and David Henzerling, with
Paul Shortino replacing
Marcie Free on lead vocals. This lineup released an eponymous album, King Kobra, in April 2011 on the
Frontiers label, which received critical acclaim. A new King Kobra album was released in 2013, titled King Kobra II, featuring the song "Have a Good Time", for which a music video was filmed in the fall of 2012 at Count's Vamp'd in
Las Vegas Valley.
Appice published his memoir, Stick It!: My Life of Sex, Drums & Rock 'n' Roll, in 2016.[23]
Appice was set to play with
Vinnie Vincent in a mini-reunion show slated originally for December 2018 but moved to February 2019 before ultimately being completely canceled.[24]
In 2021, Appice released "Energy Overload". The album is credited to Appice Perdomo Project which is a collaboration with Multi Instrumentalist
Fernando Perdomo. [25]
Hjort, Chris and Hinman, Doug. Jeff's book : A chronology of Jeff Beck's career 1965–1980 : from the Yardbirds to Jazz-Rock. Rock 'n' Roll Research Press, (2000).
ISBN0-9641005-3-3
Realistic Rock: 35th Anniversary Special Edition. Appice, Carmine. Alfred Publishing Company (March 2007)
ISBN0-7390-4566-0
The Ultimate Realistic Rock Drum Method. Appice, Carmine. Alfred Publishing Company (July 2000).
ISBN0-89724-486-9
Ultimate Play-Along Drum Trax. Appice, Carmine Guitar Zeus. Alfred Publishing Company (August 2004)
ISBN0-7579-1916-2
Rudiments to Rock. Alfred Publishing Company (July 1995).
ISBN0-7692-5075-0
Realistic Rock for Kids. Alfred Publishing Company (2003)