Earl Cyril Palmer (October 25, 1924 - September 19, 2008) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drummerA drummer is a person who plays drums, particularly a drum kit , marching percussion or hand drums. The term percussionist applies to a musician performing on any percussion instrument, but usually refers to one who plays classical or Latin percussion. Most bands for Rock, Pop, Jazz, R&B etc...
and member of the
Rock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music...
.
Palmer played on many recording sessions, including
Little RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and recording artist, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s...
's first several albums and
Tom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
' 1978 album
Blue ValentineBlue Valentine is an album by Tom Waits, first released in 1978 on Elektra Entertainment. The woman pictured with Waits on the back cover is Rickie Lee Jones, another singer/songwriter with whom he was having a relationship at the time....
. According to one obituary,
"his list of credits read like a Who's Who of American popular music of the last 60 years".
Born into a showbusiness family the New Orleans and raised in the
TreméTreme is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Esplanade Avenue to the north, North Rampart Street to the east, St...
district, Palmer started his career at five as a
tap danceTap dance is a form of dance characterized by a tapping sound that is created from metal plates that are attached to both the ball and heel of the dancer's shoe...
r, joining his mother and aunt on the black
vaudevilleVaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
circuit in its twilight and touring the country extensively with
Ida CoxIda Cox was an African American singer and vaudeville performer, best known for her blues performances and recordings....
's Darktown Scandals Review.
Earl Cyril Palmer (October 25, 1924 - September 19, 2008) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drummerA drummer is a person who plays drums, particularly a drum kit , marching percussion or hand drums. The term percussionist applies to a musician performing on any percussion instrument, but usually refers to one who plays classical or Latin percussion. Most bands for Rock, Pop, Jazz, R&B etc...
and member of the
Rock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music...
.
Palmer played on many recording sessions, including
Little RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and recording artist, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s...
's first several albums and
Tom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
' 1978 album
Blue ValentineBlue Valentine is an album by Tom Waits, first released in 1978 on Elektra Entertainment. The woman pictured with Waits on the back cover is Rickie Lee Jones, another singer/songwriter with whom he was having a relationship at the time....
. According to one obituary,
"his list of credits read like a Who's Who of American popular music of the last 60 years".
Biography
Born into a showbusiness family the New Orleans and raised in the
TreméTreme is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Esplanade Avenue to the north, North Rampart Street to the east, St...
district, Palmer started his career at five as a
tap danceTap dance is a form of dance characterized by a tapping sound that is created from metal plates that are attached to both the ball and heel of the dancer's shoe...
r, joining his mother and aunt on the black
vaudevilleVaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
circuit in its twilight and touring the country extensively with
Ida CoxIda Cox was an African American singer and vaudeville performer, best known for her blues performances and recordings....
's Darktown Scandals Review. His father was thought to be local pianist and bandleader Walter "Fats" Pichon.
Palmer served in the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, eventually being posted in the European Theatre. His biographer states,
-
- Most Negro recruits were assigned to noncombatant service troops: work gangs in uniform. "They didn't want no niggers carrying guns," says Earl; they carried shovels, and garbage cans instead. Earl's job, loading and handling ammunition was relatively technical, but his duty was clear: to serve white infantrymen.
After the war ended he studied piano and percussion at the Gruenwald School of Music in New Orleans, where he also learned to read music. He started drumming with the
Dave BartholomewDave Bartholomew is a musician, band leader, composer, and arranger, prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century.-Overview:...
Band in the late 1940s. Palmer was known for playing on New Orleans recording sessions, including
Fats DominoAntoine Dominique "Fats" Domino is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter.-Imperial Records era :...
's "
The Fat Man"The Fat Man" is a rhythm and blues song by Fats Domino, considered to be one of the first rock and roll records.The record was recorded for Imperial Records in Cosimo Matassa's J&M studio on Rampart Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on Saturday, 10 December, 1949...
" (and all the rest of Domino's hits), "Tipitina" by
Professor LonghairProfessor Longhair was a New Orleans, Louisiana blues singer and pianist...
, "Tutti Frutti" by
Little RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and recording artist, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s...
(and most of Richard's hits), "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by
Lloyd PriceLloyd Price is an American vocalist. His first recording, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" was a huge hit on Specialty Records in 1952, and although he continued to turn out records, none were as popular until several years later, when he refined the New Orleans beat and achieved a series of national hits...
, and "I Hear You Knockin'" by
Smiley LewisSmiley Lewis was an American New Orleans rhythm and blues musician. The journalist, Tony Russell, in his book The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, stated "Lewis was the unluckiest man in New Orleans...
.
His playing on "The Fat Man" featured the back beat that has come to be the most important element in
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
. Palmer said, "That song required a strong afterbeat throughout the whole piece. With
DixielandDixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s...
you had a strong afterbeat only after you got to the shout
lastA last is the form in the rough form of a human foot, used in shoemaking to provide the fit and style of a shoe. It is used by cordwainers or shoemakers in the manufacture or repair of shoes...
chorus. . . . It was sort of a new approach to rhythm music." Reportedly,
he was the first to use the word "funky", to explain to other musicians that their music should be made more syncopated and danceable.
Palmer left New Orleans for Hollywood in 1957, initially working for
Aladdin RecordsAladdin Records may refer to:* Aladdin Records * Aladdin Records...
. For more than 30 years he was to play drums on the scores and soundtracks of many movies and television shows. His career as a session drummer included work with
Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the...
,
Phil SpectorHarvey Philip "Phil" Spector is an American pioneering record producer and songwriter who was convicted of murder in 2009....
, Rick Nelson, Bobby Vee ,
Ray CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He brought a soulful sound to country music and pop standards through his Modern Sounds recordings, as well as a rendition of "America the Beautiful" that Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes called the "definitive version of...
,
Eddie CochranRaymond Edward "Eddie" Cochran was an American rock and roll musician and an important influence on popular music during the late 1950s, early 1960s.- Early life and career :...
,
Ritchie ValensRichard Steven "Ritchie" Valenzuela , better known by the stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
,
Bobby DayBobby Day , was an early African American rock and roll and R&B musician.Born Robert James Byrd, Sr., , in Fort Worth, Texas, he moved to Los Angeles, California at the age of fifteen...
,
Don and DeweyDon and Dewey were an American rock and roll duo, comprising Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Dewey Terry . Both were born and grew up in Pasadena, California....
,
Jan and DeanJan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
, the Beach Boys,
Larry WilliamsLarry Williams was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana...
,
Gene McDanielsGene McDaniels is an American singer and songwriter, who had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s.-Career:...
,
Bobby DarinBobby Darin was an American singer and musician.Darin performed widely in a range of music genres, including pop, jazz, folk and country...
,
Neil YoungNeil Percival Young, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and film director. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1995 and also as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997....
and
B. Bumble and the StingersB. Bumble and the Stingers were an American instrumental ensemble in the early 1960s, who specialized in making rock and roll arrangements of classical melodies. Their biggest hits were "Bumble Boogie" and "Nut Rocker", which reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1962...
, as well as
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
sessions with
Dizzy GillespieJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer.Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
,
Earl BosticEarl Bostic was an American jazz and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist, a pioneer of the post-war American Rhythm and Blues style. He had a number of popular hits such as "Flamingo", "Harlem Nocturne", "Temptation", "Sleep" and "Where or When", which showed off his characteristic growl on the horn...
and
Count BasieWilliam "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Widely regarded as one of the most important jazz bandleaders of his time, Basie led his popular Count Basie Orchestra for almost 50 years...
, and appearing on blues recordings with
B. B. KingRiley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter acclaimed for his expressive singing and guitar playing....
. He was also in demand for TV and film scores.
Palmer played drums in a recording session with west-coast folk singer-songwriter Jim Sullivan around 1969 or 1970. The album was released twice with different audio mixes. On the Monnie Records album, "U.F.O.", Palmer's drumming can be clearly heard, but on the Century City Record, "Jim Sullivan" the drums, percussion and bass were moved back in the mix.
He remained in demand as a drummer throughout the 1970s and 1980s, playing on albums by
Randy NewmanRandall Stuart “Randy” Newman is an American singer/songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is notable for his mordant pop songs and for his many film scores....
,
Tom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
,
Bonnie RaittBonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter, born in Burbank, California. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially accessible...
,
Tim BuckleyTimothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist and musician who went through many distinct phases spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which he incorporated aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock...
,
Little FeatLittle Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....
and
Elvis CostelloElvis Costello is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s, and later became associated with the punk rock and New Wave musical genres...
.
In 1982, Palmer was elected treasurer of the Local 47 of the American Federation of Musicians. He served until he was defeated in 1984 and was re-elected in 1990.
His biography,
Backbeat: the Earl Palmer Story, written by Tony Scherman, was published in 1999. In 2000, he became one of the first session musicians to be inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music...
. In recent years, he played with a jazz trio in Los Angeles.
Personal life
He married four times, and had seven children: Earl Cyril Palmer, Jr., Donald Alfred Palmer, Ronald Raymond Palmer and Patricia Ann Palmer from his marriage to Catherine Palmer; Shelly Margaret Palmer and Pamela Teresa Palmer from his marriage to Susan Joy Weidenpesch; and Penny Yasuko Palmer from his marriage to Yumiko Makino. He married his fourth wife Jeline Palmer in November 2004, and lived in California.
Quotations
- "You could always tell a New Orleans drummer the minute you heard him play his bass drum because he'd have that parade beat connotation." --Earl Palmer.
- Late in his career, Palmer appeared in a music video
A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music/song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the...
with CrackerCracker is an American alternative rock band featuring singer David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman. They are best known for their platinum-selling 1993 album, Kerosene Hat, featuring the hit songs "Low", "Eurotrash Girl", and "Get Off This"....
on the song "I hate my generation". As Addicted to NoiseAddicted to Noise was an online music magazine in the early days of the World Wide Web. Founded by ex-Rolling Stone editorwriter Michael Goldberg, it published its first issue in January 1995. It was originally push was to become the online equivalent of Rolling Stone magazine, but failed in the...
tells the story:"According to Cracker leader David LoweryDavid Lowery is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter; he is the founder of alternative rock band, Camper Van Beethoven, and co-founder of the more traditional rock band, Cracker....
, when Palmer was asked if he would be able to play along with the songs, he gave Lowery a look and said, 'I invented this shit.'"
- "I've been asked if people could borrow my drums because they like their sound. What the hell, they think the drums play themselves? I said, 'You really want 'em? Really? Okay. Cost you triple scale and cartage.'"
- When asked by Max Weinberg
Maxwell Sachel Weinberg is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.Weinberg grew up in suburban...
what more of the recording sessions he'd played on Palmer replied:
- Don't ask me which ones I played on.. I should have done like Hal
Hal Blaine is an American drummer and session musician. He is most known for his work with the Wrecking Crew in California. Blaine played on numerous hits by popular groups, including Elvis Presley, Simon & Garfunkel, The Carpenters and the Beach Boys...
. Hal used to get gold records for all the things he played on. I never did that, you know. I would like to have a room with all those things in them. It would have been nice - show my grandchildren when they grow up so they don't say, 'Oh shut up old man and sit down.' I could just say, 'Look. I don't have to tell you nothing. There it is.'
Albums
- Here's Little Richard
Here's Little Richard is the debut album from Little Richard, released on March 1957. He had scored six Top 40 hits the previous year, some of which were included on this recording. It was his highest charting album, at 13 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. In 2003, the album was ranked number 50...
- Little RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and recording artist, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s...
(1957)
- Swinging Flute in Hi-Fi - The Strollers (1958)
- The Fabulous Little Richard
The Fabulous Little Richard was the third album from Little Richard, and the end of his Rock 'n' Roll period. Released seventeen months after he had left the Specialty Records label, Richard had returned to religion and turned his back on the music that made him famous...
- Little RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and recording artist, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s...
(1959)
- Sinatra and Swingin' Brass
Sinatra And Swingin' Brass is a 1962 studio album by Frank Sinatra.This is the first time Sinatra worked with arranger/composer Neal Hefti...
- Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the...
(1962)
- The Astounding 12-String Guitar of Glen Campbell
The Astounding 12-String Guitar of Glen Campbell is the 3rd album by American singer/guitarist Glen Campbell, released in 1964 .-Track listing:Side 1:# "Lonesome Twelve" - 2:30...
- Glen CampbellGlen Travis Campbell is a Grammy and Dove Award-winning and two time Golden Globe-nominated American country pop singer, guitarist and occasional actor...
(1964)
- Accent on Africa - Cannonball Adderley (1968)
- The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees
The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees is a studio album by The Monkees released in April 1968.-History:The year 1968 brought mixed returns for The Monkees. Their television series was cancelled, their first motion picture project, Head, failed at the box office, and in December, Peter Tork left the group...
- The MonkeesThe Monkees were a pop rock quartet assembled by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider in Los Angeles in 1966 for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968...
(1968)
- Head - The Monkees
The Monkees were a pop rock quartet assembled by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider in Los Angeles in 1966 for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968...
(1968)
- People Like Us - The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a vocal group of the 1960s. The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
(1971)
- Look at the Fool
Look at the Fool is the ninth and last album by singer-songwriter Tim Buckley before his death in 1975 and was recorded at Wally-Heider Sound Studios & Record Plant in Los Angeles, California.-Track listing:...
- Tim BuckleyTimothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist and musician who went through many distinct phases spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which he incorporated aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock...
(1974)
- King of America
King of America is the tenth album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, billed as "the Costello Show featuring the Attractions and Confederates."...
- Elvis CostelloElvis Costello is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s, and later became associated with the punk rock and New Wave musical genres...
(1986)
- Seasons in the Sun (Unreleased) - The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band. Formed in 1961, the group gained popularity for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of cars, surfing, and romance...
- Ins and Outs - Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine pianist and composer. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the Mission: Impossible theme. He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations.-Biography:...
Singles
- The Fat Man
"The Fat Man" is a rhythm and blues song by Fats Domino, considered to be one of the first rock and roll records.The record was recorded for Imperial Records in Cosimo Matassa's J&M studio on Rampart Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on Saturday, 10 December, 1949...
- Fats DominoAntoine Dominique "Fats" Domino is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter.-Imperial Records era :...
(1949)
- Lawdy Miss Clawdy
"Lawdy Miss Clawdy" is a song by Lloyd Price. It was first recorded by Price at the New Orleans recording studio of Specialty Records in March of 1952. It was released under the Specialty label in April and was number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart for seven weeks and stayed on the...
- Lloyd PriceLloyd Price is an American vocalist. His first recording, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" was a huge hit on Specialty Records in 1952, and although he continued to turn out records, none were as popular until several years later, when he refined the New Orleans beat and achieved a series of national hits...
(1952)
- The Girl Can't Help It
The Girl Can't Help It is a 1956 comedy/musical film, starring Jayne Mansfield, Tom Ewell, and Edmond O'Brien. It was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenplay written by Frank Tashlin and Herbert Baker from an uncredited novel Do Re Me by Garson Kanin...
- Little RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and recording artist, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s...
(1956)
- "Busy, Busy", "My Heaven" - Dan Bowden (1958)
- Donna
"Donna" is a song written and sung by Ritchie Valens. The song was released in 1958 on Del-Fi Records. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the following year, becoming Valens' highest-charting single. The song was covered by another Del-Fi artist and western actor, Johnny Crawford, in 1962...
- Ritchie ValensRichard Steven "Ritchie" Valenzuela , better known by the stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
(1958)
- "Polly Molly", "Forever And A Day" - 5 Masks (1958)
- "Patricia Darling", "Whatta You Do" - Ray Willis (1958)
- Rockin' Robin
Rockin' Robin usually refers to either:* Rockin' Robin , Robin Smith, a professional female wrestler* Rockin' Robin , a rock 'n' roll song...
- Bobby DayBobby Day , was an early African American rock and roll and R&B musician.Born Robert James Byrd, Sr., , in Fort Worth, Texas, he moved to Los Angeles, California at the age of fifteen...
(1958)
- Nervous
"Nervous" is a rockabilly/doo-wop song first recorded by Gene Summers and His Rebels in 1958 and later covered by Robert Gordon and Link Wray, among others. It was composed by Mary Tarver in 1957, published by Ted Music, BMI and issued on Jan/Jane Records...
, Gene SummersGene Summers is a rock/rockabilly singer and entertainer. Some of his classic recordings include "School of Rock 'n Roll", "Straight Skirt", "Nervous", "Gotta Lotta That", "Twixteen" and his biggest-selling single "Big Blue Diamonds"...
(1958)
- Gotta Lotta That
"Gotta Lotta That" is a song written by Bernice Bedwell in 1958 and published by Song Productions, BMI. It was first recorded by Gene Summers and His Rebels in 1958 and issued by Jan/Jane Records...
, Gene SummersGene Summers is a rock/rockabilly singer and entertainer. Some of his classic recordings include "School of Rock 'n Roll", "Straight Skirt", "Nervous", "Gotta Lotta That", "Twixteen" and his biggest-selling single "Big Blue Diamonds"...
(1958
- Twixteen
"Twixteen" is a song written by Mary Tarver in 1958 and published by Ted Music, BMI. It was first recorded by Gene Summers and His Rebels in 1958 and issued by Jan/Jane Records...
, Gene SummersGene Summers is a rock/rockabilly singer and entertainer. Some of his classic recordings include "School of Rock 'n Roll", "Straight Skirt", "Nervous", "Gotta Lotta That", "Twixteen" and his biggest-selling single "Big Blue Diamonds"...
(1958)
- "Crazy Cat Corner" - Gene Summers
Gene Summers is a rock/rockabilly singer and entertainer. Some of his classic recordings include "School of Rock 'n Roll", "Straight Skirt", "Nervous", "Gotta Lotta That", "Twixteen" and his biggest-selling single "Big Blue Diamonds"...
(1958)
- La Bamba
"La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a top 40 hit in the U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs.-Traditional origins:...
- Ritchie ValensRichard Steven "Ritchie" Valenzuela , better known by the stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
(1959)
- Walking to New Orleans
Walking to New Orleans is a 1960 song by Bobby Charles, written for and recorded by Fats Domino.Domino was a hero of Charles. Domino had previously recorded the Charles tune "Before I Grow Too Old"...
- Fats DominoAntoine Dominique "Fats" Domino is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter.-Imperial Records era :...
(1960)
- The Lonely Bull
The Lonely Bull, released in 1962, is the debut album from Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, and was also the first album ever released by A&M Records - which was co-founded by Alpert and Jerry Moss...
- Herb AlpertHerbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass or just TJB...
(1962)
- "High Flyin' Bird" - Judy Henske
Judy Henske is an American singer and songwriter, once known as "the Queen of the Beatniks".-Life and recording career:...
(1963)
- "Please Let Me Love You" - The Beefeaters (who later became the Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock and roll band. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964, The Byrds underwent several personnel changes, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973....
) (1964)
- The Little Old Lady from Pasadena
"The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" is a song written by Don Altfeld, Jan Berry and Roger Christian, and recorded by 1960s American pop singers, Jan and Dean. The song reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964...
- Jan and DeanJan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
(1964)
- Dead Man's Curve
"Dead Man's Curve" is a 1964 hit song by Jan and Dean detailing a teen drag race gone awry. It reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart....
- Jan and DeanJan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
(1964)
- You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" is a 1965 number-one hit single in the United States and the United Kingdom by The Righteous Brothers. In 1999, the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. announced that it was the most-played song of the 20th century...
- The Righteous BrothersThe Righteous Brothers were the musical duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. They recorded from 1963 through 1975, and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003...
(1964)
- Please Let Me Wonder
"Please Let Me Wonder" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for American band The Beach Boys. The song was the B-side of the single "Do You Wanna Dance?" which was released by The Beach Boys in 1965 through Capitol Records...
- The Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band. Formed in 1961, the group gained popularity for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of cars, surfing, and romance...
(1965)
- Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me
"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" is a popular song written by Harry Noble in 1952. It was a hit in 2 different decades and is considered a classic of the early Rock/Pop era. The original version was released by Karen Chandler in 1952, released by Coral Records as catalog number 60831...
- Mel CarterMel Carter is an American singer.Although Carter's work was not the perfect companion to the soul music produced by others during his active artistic output, it is representative of the tenor of the genre/time in and of which he sung...
(1965)
- River Deep - Mountain High
"River Deep - Mountain High" is a 1966 single by Ike & Tina Turner. Considered by producer Phil Spector to be his best work , "River Deep - Mountain High" was commercially unsuccessful upon its original release in the United States, but was a huge hit in Europe, peaking at #3 in the United Kingdom...
- Ike & Tina TurnerIke & Tina Turner were an American rock & roll and soul duo, made of the husband-and-wife team of Ike Turner and Tina Turner in the 1960s and 1970s. Spanning sixteen years together as a recording group, the duo played among its repertoire, rock & roll, soul, blues and funk...
- (1966)
- "We Were Made for Each Other" - The Monkees
The Monkees were a pop rock quartet assembled by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider in Los Angeles in 1966 for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968...
(1968)
- I'll Be Back Up On My Feet
"I'll Be Back Up on My Feet" is a song by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, which was recorded by The Monkees during the 1960s.The first Monkees version of the song was recorded on October 26, 1966, during the period when the band did not perform their own instruments on their recordings...
- The MonkeesThe Monkees were a pop rock quartet assembled by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider in Los Angeles in 1966 for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968...
(1968)
- "Magnolia Simms" - The Monkees
The Monkees were a pop rock quartet assembled by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider in Los Angeles in 1966 for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968...
(1968)
- "Whistlin' Past the Graveyard" - Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
- (1978)
- "Sweet Little Bullet From a Pretty Blue Gun" - Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
- (1978)
Film scores
Palmer was the session drummer for a number of
film scoreA film score is an alternative word used for the background music of a film . The term soundtrack is often confused with film score, though a soundtrack may also include songs featured in the film as well as previously released music by other artists, while the score does not...
s, including:
1961
- Judgement at Nuremberg, score by Ernest Gold
Ernest Gold , born Ernst Sigmund Goldner, was an American award-winning composer. Born in Vienna, Austria; Gold wrote nearly 100 film and television scores between 1945 and 1992...
1963
- Hud
HUD may refer to:* Head-up display, a visual display technology for fighter airplanes, cars and others** HUD , a method of visually representing information in computer and video games...
, score by Elmer BernsteinElmer Bernstein was an American film score composer. He was famous for composing music for The Ten Commandments, The Man with the Golden Arm, The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, Meatballs, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Ghostbusters.-Early life:Bernstein was born in New York City, the son of...
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Stanley Kramer about the madcap pursuit of $350,000 in stolen cash by a diverse and colorful group of strangers. The ensemble comedy premiered on November 7, 1963.-Plot:...
, score by Ernest GoldErnest Gold , born Ernst Sigmund Goldner, was an American award-winning composer. Born in Vienna, Austria; Gold wrote nearly 100 film and television scores between 1945 and 1992...
1964
- Baby the Rain Must Fall
Baby the Rain Must Fall is a 1965 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Horton Foote is based on his play The Travelling Lady.-Plot:...
, score by Elmer BernsteinElmer Bernstein was an American film score composer. He was famous for composing music for The Ten Commandments, The Man with the Golden Arm, The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, Meatballs, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Ghostbusters.-Early life:Bernstein was born in New York City, the son of...
- Ride the Wild Surf
Ride the Wild Surf is romantic drama in the beach party style. It was filmed in 1963 and distributed in 1964. Unlike most films in the genre, it is known for its exceptional big wave surf footage – a common sight in surf movies of the time, but a rarity in beach party films...
score by Stu PhillipsStu Phillips is an American composer of film scores and television-series theme music, conductor and record producer.-Career:...
- Robin and the Seven Hoods, score by Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American bandleader, arranger and orchestrator whose career spanned from the late 1940s, struggled with the advent of rock 'n' roll, and saw a career revival in the early 1980s...
1965
- Boeing-Boeing, score by Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series of the same name.He began arranging...
- Harlow
Harlow is a former new town and now a borough town and local government district in Essex, England. It is located in the west of the county and on the border with Hertfordshire, on the Stort Valley. The town is near the M11 motorway and forms part of the London commuter belt...
, score by Neal HeftiNeal Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series of the same name.He began arranging...
- How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is a 1965 beach party film from American International Pictures. The sixth entry in a seven-film series, the movie features Mickey Rooney, Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Brian Donlevy, and Beverly Adams...
, score by Les BaxterLes Baxter was an American musician and composer.Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer...
- A Patch of Blue
A Patch of Blue is a 1965 film directed by Guy Green about the relationship between a black man, Gordon , and a blind white female teenager, Selina , and the problems that plague their relationship when they fall in love in a racially divided America...
, score by Jerry GoldsmithJerrald King "Jerry" Goldsmith was an American film score composer from Los Angeles, California. Goldsmith was nominated for eighteen Academy Awards , and also won four Emmy Awards...
1967
- Pretty Polly
Pretty Polly, also known as A Matter of Innocence, is a 1967 British film, directed by Guy Green and based on the short story, Pretty Polly Barlow, by Noël Coward. It stars Hayley Mills, Shashi Kapoor and Trevor Howard....
, score by Michel LegrandMichel Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist of French and Armenian descent....
- Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American drama film starring Paul Newman and directed by Stuart Rosenberg. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from the novel by Pearce. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D. Cannon, and Morgan Woodward.Newman stars in the title...
, score by Lalo SchifrinLalo Schifrin is an Argentine pianist and composer. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the Mission: Impossible theme. He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations.-Biography:...
- In the Heat of the Night, score by Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. is an American music conductor, record producer, musical arranger, film composer and trumpeter. During five decades in the entertainment industry, Jones has earned a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991...
1968
- A Dandy in Aspic
A Dandy in Aspic is a 1968 British spy film, directed by Anthony Mann, based on a novel of the same name by Derek Marlowe and starring Laurence Harvey, Tom Courtenay and Mia Farrow....
, score by Quincy JonesQuincy Delight Jones, Jr. is an American music conductor, record producer, musical arranger, film composer and trumpeter. During five decades in the entertainment industry, Jones has earned a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991...
Television scores
Palmer was also the session drummer for a number of television show themes and sountracks, including:
- Flintstones Theme Song
The Flintstones is an animated American television sitcom that ran from 1960 to 1966 on ABC. The series was the first prime-time animated series aimed at adults. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions , The Flintstones is about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next door...
- M Squad
M Squad is an American police drama television series that ran from 1957 to 1960 on NBC.-Synopsis:Set in Chicago, Illinois, it starred Lee Marvin as Detective Lieutenant Frank Ballinger, a member of "M Squad," a special unit of the Chicago Police, assisting other units in battling violent crime...
- 77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
- Bourbon Street Beat
Bourbon Street Beat is a private detective series which ran on the ABC network from 1959 through 1960 and featured Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, Richard Long as Rex Randolph, Van Williams as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell as Melody Lee Mercer .-Characters:The series was one of several Warner Bros...
- Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
- Peyton Place
Peyton Place is an American prime time soap opera which aired on ABC in half-hour episodes from September 15, 1964 to June 2, 1969.Based upon the 1956 novel of the same name by Grace Metalious, the series was preceded by a 1957 film adaptation. A total of 514 episodes were broadcast, in...
- I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2000-year-old female genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
- Green Acres
Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a farm in the country...
- Ironside
Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to February 6, 1975. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967....
- The Outsider
-Literature:* The Outsider , a book by Colin Wilson* The Outsider , a novel by Richard Wright* The Outsider , a 1960s literary magazine* "The Outsider" , a short story by H. P...
- It Takes a Thief
- The Leslie Uggams Show
The Leslie Uggams Show is a short-lived American variety television series starring actress/singer Leslie Uggams. The series aired on CBS as part of its 1969 fall lineup, and was the second variety series to feature an African American host since 1956's The Nat King Cole Show.-Synopsis:The Leslie...
- The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American television sitcom. starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis, which revolves around a large blended family...
- Delta
Delta is a short-lived U.S television sitcom series produced by ABC starring Delta Burke. Burke plays a woman who leaves her life behind to pursue her dream as a country music singer...
- The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family was an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embarked on a music career. The family lived in San Pueblo, a small fictional town in Northern California...
- The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing but...
- The Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...
Show
- M.A.S.H.
- The Midnight Special
The Midnight Special was the name of a passenger train formerly operated by the Chicago and Alton Railroad and its successor, the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad. The train ran on an overnight schedule, and in later years carried the last regularly scheduled Pullman sleeping car between Chicago,...
- Mannix
Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is an Armenian-American private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors, an...
- Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force...
External links