r.i.p. Earl Palmer

johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
edited September 2008 in Strut Central
b,121 b,121RIP Earl Palmerb,121a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080920/music_nm/palmer_dc" target="_blank"1http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080920/music_nm/palmer_dc/a1b,121b,121Leading R&B drummer Earl Palmer dies at 84b,121b,121LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Leading R&B drummer Earl Palmer, best known for his New Orleans recording sessions with the likes of Fats Domino and Little Richard, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles at age 84, his family said.b,121b,121Palmer, who died after a lengthy illness, played on hundreds of hits during a career that ran from the 1940s through the 1970s and earned him an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.b,121b,121His drumming on such hits as Fats Domino's "The Fat Man," Richard's "Tutti Frutti and Smiley Lewis's "I Hear You Knockin"' featured the strong back beat that was his signature and helped transform the lope of rhythm and blues into the full-tilt thrust of rock 'n' roll.b,121b,121"That song required a strong after-beat throughout the whole piece," Palmer wrote of his work on "The Fat Man" in his 1999 autobiography, "Backbeat -- The Earl Palmer Story."b,121b,121"With Dixieland you had a strong after-beat only after you got to the shout last chorus," he said. "It was sort of a new approach to rhythm music."b,121b,121Palmer also played drums on Domino's "I'm Walkin,"' the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin,"' Ike and Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High," and Sam Cooke's "Twistin' the Night Away."b,121b,121His handiwork behind the drums was featured as well on a number of popular television themes, including "The Odd Couple," "77 Sunset Strip" and "The Brady Bunch."b,121b,121In addition to his collaboration with R&B and blues artists in New Orleans, Palmer was a highly sought-after session player for recording stars ranging from Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan to Elvis Costello, Ray Charles, Dizzie Gillespie and Count Basie.

  Comments


  • ElectrodeElectrode Los Angeles 3,126 Posts
    I met him on his 80th birthday at the Italian place next to the quaint Valley jazz landmark, Charlie O's, where he played with a local trio. He was flattered that I enjoyed his drumming that he ordered me a calamari side and a beer (I was slightly underage at the time). Wonderful man. RIP

  • dayday 9,611 Posts
    No. That was my first thought when I saw this thread.b,121b,121One of my favorite drummers of all time. What a terrible year this has been. b,121b,121Rest in Peace to one of the greatest.b,121img src="http://drummertalk.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/earlpalmer1.jpg"1

  • The man put the backbeat mojo on everything from "Tutti Fruitti" to the theme from i1The Flintstones[/i]. GOT to respect this man. Rest in peace.

  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    RIPb,121b,121Dude shredded.

  • dayday 9,611 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121The man put the backbeat mojo on everything from "Tutti Fruitti" to the theme from i1The Flintstones[/i]. GOT to respect this man. Rest in peace. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121Lest we forget all his work with Soulstrut's favorite...b,121b,121img src="http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/artists/images/DavidAxelrod.jpg"1

  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121 his 1999 autobiography, "Backbeat -- The Earl Palmer Story."b,121 b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1 b,121b,121This was a good read. You could tell the man was for real from his words.b,121b,121His fingerprints (and drumbeats) are all over rock history. R.I.P.

  • /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121The man put the backbeat mojo on everything from "Tutti Fruitti" to the theme from i1The Flintstones[/i]. GOT to respect this man. Rest in peace. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121Lest we forget all his work with Soulstrut's favorite...David Axelrod[/b]b,121b,121img src="http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/artists/images/DavidAxelrod.jpg"1 b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1

  • /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121EP: How music came to me from the tap dancing ??? and being a drummer I always thought I had somewhat of an advantage over most drummers 'cause being a tap dancer I had built in??? what you cannot teach a drummer is syncopation and the songs, you know, knowing the songs, know the bridge, know if there's a tag or a couple of extra bars to a phrase and so forth. If you know the song, when you're playing the instrument you got that built in. People say, "Well, why you playin' that F?' Because that's the melody, that belongs to the song, and it helps playing drums, you know when to change color, you know that you don't???for example, one thing I tell young drummers, you see a lot of young drummers with a whole mass of cymbals all around him and he's playing behind a trumpet soloist. And after the trumpet solo is finished he's playing on one cymbal to get a level and a sound, for him. Then the next soloist is a saxophone player. It seemed to me a waste of cymbals and a waste of thought to not change cymbals for that other instrumentalist. Because what you're saying is 'Now he's finished, here he is' and you change a little sound by playing another cymbal and you also, you lay back a little to get under him and then you goose him on to the rest of his solo, you know what I mean? And that's part of the color and the shading that a drummer should know. Because he's not playing a melodic instrument he's playing an instrument really, the drums is an accompanying instrument, really, and if you don't know how to accompany then you're not a good drummer, you're just a soloist. That's all you know how to do. It's a team instrument, really. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121from a href="http://www.satchmo.com/halloffame/interview.html:" target="_blank"1http://www.satchmo.com/halloffame/interview.html:/a1 an interview with Palmer & Dr. John by some tool. Lots of the interview is pretty stupid, although it's great later on when Palmer reveals his nickname for Dr. John - Mac Rabbit Neck (!!!) b,121b,121b,121object width="425" height="344"1param name="movie" value=""1/param1param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"1/param1embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"1/embed1/object1 b,121b,121who's that playin piano...oh yeah, it's Allen Toussaintb,121b,121b,121RIP Earl. b,121img src="http://www.drummerworld.com/pics/drum44/earlpalmerblazer.jpg"1

  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    A bad week for musical innovators. Dude pretty much invented modern rock'n'roll drumming. RIP.

  • ReynaldoReynaldo 6,054 Posts
    RIPb,121b,121One of my favorites and one of the best. So much swing!

  • Dang. RIP.b,121b,121Pretty much the first dude to make the kick drum be heard loud and proud on rock n roll records.b,121b,121A giant.

  • the_dLthe_dL 1,531 Posts
    it is getting so depressing watching all these greats drop off at an alarming rate, and I still believe there is so few, maybe even no one that will ever replace them for their vision and natural inclination to see music progressb,121RIP to a true master

  • kennykenny 1,024 Posts
    NOO!!b,121b,121R.I.P. Mr Palmer

  • corsiccorsic oakland, ca 232 Posts
    DAMN!b,121b,121The world is now a lot less funky.
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