Sandy Nelson RIP

It's been a truly dreadful few weeks for the world of drumming. Within a couple of weeks we have lost renowned Memphis drummer Howard Grimes, Philip Paul, who kept the beat behind a string of great R and and blues artists at King, Sam Lay, a top Chicago blues drummer, and Clifton 'Fou Fou' Eddie, who drummed with soul acts such as the Dells and Patti LaBelle. Now we have news that perhaps the most successful drummer of them all - Sandy Nelson - has passed away at the age of 83. Sandy's career began with a band called the Renegades who recorded 'Geronimo', produced by Kim Fowley. He was a well known session man, having played the drums on the Teddy Bears' 'To Know Him Is To Love Him' in 1958 and, later, on 'Alley Oop' by the Hollywood Aygylls and 'A Thousand Stars' by Kathy Young. But he came to fame with the 1959 instrumental hit 'Teen Beat', recorded for Original Sound, which sold a million copies and was a big hit in the UK as well as the US. He moved to Imperial and although his records were formulaic, with heavy drumming and pounding guitar (provided by Richard Polodar) he had another top ten hit in the UK and the US in 1962 with 'Let There Be Drums' and another significant hit with 'Drums Are My Beat'. Other 45s in the early sixties included 'Drum Party', 'I'm Walkin'', 'Drumming Up A Storm' and 'And Then There Were Drums'. Sandy lost part of his right leg in a motor cycle accident in 1963 but continued to record several albums a year throughout the sixties, often featuring instrumental versions of pop hits. In 2008 he joined up with Eddie Angel of Los Straitjackets and others to record an album of original compositions called 'Nelsonized'.