did sandy nelson ever play on other dudes sessions
ako
https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
the dudes solo lp's are unavoidable, but how did he get this reputation of being such an amazing drummer (which kinda confuses me anyway since hes not really very impressive...)ive never seen him listed playing on somebody else's record...did he ever?
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"Sandy Nelson was the biggest -- and one of the few -- star drummers in the late 1950s and early 1960s era in which instrumental rock was at its peak. He landed two Top Ten hits, "Teen Beat" (1959) and "Let There Be Drums" (1961), which surrounded his Gene Krupa-inspired solos with cool, mean guitar licks that were forerunners of the surf sound. Nelson had only one other Top Forty hit, "Drums Are My Beat" (1962). He ground out a quick series of instrumental albums in the early 1960s -- eight within 18 months, as a matter of fact -- with several other top Hollywood rock and pop session musicians. Nelson was not that great a drummer, although he was good. His principal importance is that he found a place for drum rock solos in hit instrumental singles, and the more reckless elements of his style no doubt influenced other musicians, such as surf drummers and, later, Keith Moon.
Nelson started to play rock'n'roll as a teenager in Los Angeles in the 1950s, forming a group that included Jan Berry, Dean Torrence, and Bruce Johnston, all of whom would be important to the surf and hot rod scenes a few years down the line. By the late 1950s he was playing sessions, including drums on the Teddy Bears' chart-topper "To Know Him Is to Love Him." After his "Teen Beat" became a hit for Original Sound in 1959, he signed with Imperial as a solo artist, and continued to work as a session musician. For instance, he's heard on Gene Vincent records of the time, as well as the Hollywood Argyles' big hit "Alley Oop," on which he also did some screams. Nelson's numerous solo albums, despite the assistance of top fellow sessioneers like Steve Douglas (sax), Ernie Freeman (piano), and Rene Hall (guitar), had a lot of basic and unimaginative instrumental rock, whether original material or covers of well-known hits of the day. As with Duane Eddy's recordings, however, these simple albums might have helped inspire aspiring musicians, as things to play along and learn with if nothing else.
Near the end of 1963, Nelson was involved in a serious motorcycle accident that necessitated amputation of his right foot and part of his leg. Nonetheless, he managed to resume his drumming career and continued to churn out albums, as well as some singles, of which "Casbah" (1965) is the highlight, with its wild splashing drums and frenetic middle eastern-surf guitar. "
Now, who's gonna go to bat for Preston Epps???
I think he got known due to the fact that he had a few hit singles during the golden era of rock instrumentals. Not many artists I can think of who could get a start-to-finish drum solo on Top 40 radio (Cozy Cole? "Wipe Out"? My man Epps up there?).
Well, he got known for one song, but then went on to seemingly declare himself the greatest drummer alive on all his albums. Like I said, I used to play drums and took drum lessons and never heard of the guy until I got into digging and collecting vinyl. Based on the hype on his LP jackets I originally thought he must've had some great following or done a lot of notable music things but it doesn't seem like that was the case at all. His albums certainly weren't horrible but definitely didn't live up to the self-hype on the album jackets.
want to say the Sandy Nelson albums Superdrums and
especially Cheetah Beat have some very cool tracks on
them - mostly by virtue of what covers are done (garage/psych
hits like "Gloria" & "Happenings 10 Years Time Ago") - but they
are pretty cool fuzzed-out instros with heavy drums...
hey...the guy from the dj shadow video!