There have been a number of drum related posts here, I know. You know who you can thank for that? My friend PJ. A drummer going back to the seventies. I'm sure that a lot of rock and blues drummers respect drummers of other disciplines. Drummers dig drummers. But PJ seems like a student whenever he starts talking about drummers. I saw it first years ago. In the front of my recent plays was vintage Gene Krupa LP that I'd rescued from the ninety nine cent bin. Dude was practically drooling. I gave him the record because it meant a whole lot more to him than it did to me. He is a drummer who is massively appreciative of any skin beating deity. He is also the guy who turned me on to The Ultimate Elvin Jones.
Last week PJ stopped by with his squeeze and I was finally able to give him something I'd been holding onto for a while. An Earl Palmer LP, autographed on the cover by the man himself. The record was beat up, and it was just semi-throwaway instrumentals, likely joined by his Wrecking Crew cohorts. But, hey, it was Earl Palmer's autograph, he actually held the album cover. So when I was giving it to PJ, I was handling an album cover that touched the hands that held the drum sticks that played on a bunch of Little Richards early cuts.
Palmer started out in New Orleans, playing on records by Little Richard, Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Lloyd Price, and Smiley Lewis. That's enough right there. He then moved to Hollywood in 1957 and snuggled in with the Wrecking Crew, playing on sessions for Frank Sinatra, Phil Spector, Ricky Nelson, Bobby Vee, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Eddie Cochran, Ritchie Valens, Bobby Day, Don and Dewey, Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys, Larry Williams, Gene McDaniels, Bobby Darin, and Neil Young, and with jazz artists David Axelrod, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, and Count Basie. The guy was the shit, some of his work in New Orleans, particularly with Little Richard, is like a rock 'n' roll template for drummers.
Last week PJ stopped by with his squeeze and I was finally able to give him something I'd been holding onto for a while. An Earl Palmer LP, autographed on the cover by the man himself. The record was beat up, and it was just semi-throwaway instrumentals, likely joined by his Wrecking Crew cohorts. But, hey, it was Earl Palmer's autograph, he actually held the album cover. So when I was giving it to PJ, I was handling an album cover that touched the hands that held the drum sticks that played on a bunch of Little Richards early cuts.
Palmer started out in New Orleans, playing on records by Little Richard, Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Lloyd Price, and Smiley Lewis. That's enough right there. He then moved to Hollywood in 1957 and snuggled in with the Wrecking Crew, playing on sessions for Frank Sinatra, Phil Spector, Ricky Nelson, Bobby Vee, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Eddie Cochran, Ritchie Valens, Bobby Day, Don and Dewey, Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys, Larry Williams, Gene McDaniels, Bobby Darin, and Neil Young, and with jazz artists David Axelrod, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, and Count Basie. The guy was the shit, some of his work in New Orleans, particularly with Little Richard, is like a rock 'n' roll template for drummers.
A couple days after PJ's visit, I came across a period Moog related LP, circa '69, with the corniest synth cover versions you can possibly imagine. Okay, this would be bookmarked for a slow night. That's what I thought. Then I scrolled down to the credits. Drums: Earl Palmer. Yikes! Double yikes!! Then I remembered, put things in perspective. The dude was a session drummer. You show up, you're handed the sheets, you play your part, you get your check. But this Moog gig of Palmer's is just plain embarrassing for a drummer of his caliber.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:Little Richard - Tutti Frutti mp3 at Drummer World
Little Richard - Lucille mp3 at Drummer World
Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep, Mountain High mp3 at Drummer World
Yikes session:
Plastic Cow - Sunshine of Your Love mp3 at Internet Archive
Plastic Cow - Born To Be Wild mp3 at Internet Archive
Visit:
Earl Palmer profile at Drummer World More music, bio and videos
The Plastic Cow Goes Mooooog at Internet Archive
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