9.13.2008

Sandy Nelson: In Beat (1966, Us)

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.


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.




Something different here...
instrumental songs, rockabilly and classic rock base.
One of the greatest drummers ever. Dig it.


LINK: BEAT`EM ALL UP ! ! !

12 comments:

Vente de garage said...

Hey!
excellent blog, great stuff in here!
Check out Vente de garage's blog if you're interested in obscure Quebec garage and more!
ventedegaragepodcast.blogspot.com
Thanks!
Felix

Anonymous said...

i'd completely forgotten about Sandy Nelson's music ... thanks for the reminder. have a great day.

Vente de garage said...

Hey!
Oh course I'll come back often... and I just added you in my links!
hasta la proxima!
Is this he right expression?
Thanks!
Felix

The Bomber said...

Passw:
mza-garage

Mara Bunta said...

Este me ha gustado :D

Mucho...jejeje

Un abrazo perla ;)

Anonymous said...

Just found you by coincidence (looking for Sandy Nelson stuff). I'll check the rest of the blog, looking forward to it. Thanks from Germany!

Anonymous said...

Thanks!
Zeno

Anonymous said...

I've always loved Sandy Nelson, thank you so much. Let There Be Drums!

Anonymous said...

not working for me, archive seems to be corrupt :(

The Bomber said...

rare, try again & let me know bro

Anonymous said...

OK, working from rapidshare ! !
Thanks ! !

voraxine said...

Dude, great blog, could you send me the rapidshare link to my mail? because every time I've tried to enter, it sends me to a linkprotector message that says something about a bad referrer. This is my mail coversbeatles@hotmail.com