Mike Kowalski (born July 28, 1944) is an American drummer, percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as a longtime touring and session drummer for the rock band the Beach Boys. Early career Mike Kowalski was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. He started singing and playing piano at the age of three. His first professional engagement was playing boogie-woogie piano with Mel Torme on drums for a television pilot at the age of five, filmed on location at Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco. At age ten, he was given a set of Slingerland Radio-King drums by actor Jack Webb of Dragnet, a noted jazz aficionado. At the age of fifteen, he was playing drums professionally with various local rock and rhythm and blues bands. He performed both on stage and on screen as his family was affiliated with the film and television industries. By age nineteen he was playing drums with Los Angeles-based singers Pat and Lolly Vegas, whom later formed the pop/rock group Redbone. Also during this time, Kowalski performed and recorded with Sonny & Cher, Little Anthony & the Imperials and Etta James. Kowalski, along with the Vegas Brothers and several players from The Wrecking Crew, recorded "Laugh At Me", Sonny Bono's only hit song as a solo artist. Produced by Bono and Snuff Garrett, the song reached the Top 10 in the US, UK, and Canada in August 1965. At age 21, Kowalski was the drummer on the record. On January 3, 1968, Kowalski flew to London to join guitarist Ed Carter's blues rock band, The New Nadir, with Gary Thain on bass. Over the next several months, The New Nadir performed regularly on the city's club circuit. The trio shared the bill at the Marquee Club with Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, The Nice, the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, and the Jeff Beck Group, to name a few. A highlight for Kowalski was at the Speakeasy, when a friend of Carter's sat in with the band. That friend was Jimi Hendrix. In March, producer Joe Boyd signed The New Nadir to his production company, Witchseason Productions. The New Nadir recorded three songs for Boyd, written by Carter and Peter Dawkins. In May, the group disbanded. Kowalski and Carter returned to Los Angeles, while Thain remained in London, eventually gaining recognition with Keef Hartley and Uriah Heep. In the winter of 1969, Kowalski and Carter returned