Earl Palmer & Nappy Brown RIP

Another final farewell, this time to the great New Orleans drummer Earl Palmer who has died aged 84. Earl was a central figure in New Orleans R and B, providing the back beat for, among many others, Fats Domino (The Fat Man, I'm Walkin'), Little Richard (Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally), Lloyd Price (Lawdy Miss Clawdy) and Smiley Lewis (I Hear You Knocking) at Cosimo's studio. After moving to LA he backed Ritchie Valens (La Bamba), Eddie Cochran (Something Else) and a host of jazz and blues artists, among them B B King, Sam Cooke and Ray Charles. Later he became part of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and played on numerous TV and film scores. Amazingly, he had little regard for rock and roll. "What was rock and roll to me?" he reportedly said. "I was not interested in Little Richard or Fats Domino." Interested or not, he left a tremendous legacy.

Here are a couple of his obituaries from today's UK press http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4798895.ece http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/earl-palmer-drummer-at-the-heart-of-rock-lsquonrsquo-roll-937692.html

And now it's Nappy Brown that's passed away, aged 79. One of the original R and B stars of the 50s, with hits like Don't be Angry and the original version of (Night Time is the) Right Time, he made a comeback in the 1980s and recorded an album for Blind Pig as recently as last year. Here's a report of his death that I've found http://www.highway61radio.com/?p=457 There's an excellent obit in today's Indy http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/nappy-brown-gospel-singer-who-switched-to-rhythm-n-blues-and-influenced-james-brown-and-otis-redding-941409.html