Earl Palmer Tribute to repeat this week.

Due to popular demand, the Earl Palmer Tribute Show will be repeated twice this week.
Date and times are as follows:
Wednesday, October 1 from 4-6 PM
Sunday, October 5 at 9 PM.
* All times are Pacific Standard Time.

This Friday, September 26, from 3 - 5 PM (PST) on LuxuriaMusic.com, I will celebrate the life and career of session drummer Earl Palmer. He died last week at the age of 84.

Mr. Palmer grew up in New Orleans and as a child he performed as a tap dancer in Vaudeville shows. And it was there on the Vaudeville stage that his keen sense of rhythm took root.

Fresh from a stint in the US Army during World War 2, Palmer began playing drums at the ripe old age of 24. A jazz drummer at heart, he soon found himself playing alongside pioneering New Orleans based r&b and rock & roll musicians like Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino (I’m Walkin’, My Blue Heaven), and Little Richard (Tutti Frutti, The Girl Can’t Help It, Lucille).

In the mid-50’s Mr. Palmer moved to Southern California to escape the racial tension of the American South. He also moved there in order to further his career as a musician. He quickly found work beating the skins on early rock and roll classics like Rick Nelson’s cover of I’m Walkin’, Eddie Cochran’s Summertime Blues, La Bamba by Richie Valens and You Send Me by Sam Cooke, among hundreds of other sessions.

ABOVE: A Mystic Moods Orchestra session. Earl's back in to the camera.

ABOVE: Earl Palmer with Percy Faith

It wasn’t long before his talent and musical education made him the ideal choice for film and television composers like Henry Mancini, Lalo Schifrin, Neil Hefti, Michel Legrand, Vic Mizzy, Stu Phillips & Quincy Jones. From the late 50’s to the early 1970’s, Palmer was one of the most prolific session drummers working in Los Angeles. He played drums at recording sessions for such artists as Sam Cooke, Phil Spector, Sonny & Cher, The Righteous Bros, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Neil Young, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Randy Newman, Tom Waits, and Andy Williams....to name a few. Maybe you’ve heard of the other more famous session drummer, Hal Blaine? Earl gave him his first break in studio work.

In 2006, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Palmer for a documentary film about Los Angeles based session musicians. Though at the time he was suffering from declining health, (he’d even been in an auto accident the night before!), he was a true professional. He was everything I hoped he would be - a very sweet, funny and gracious man, who emanated inner strength and integrity.

I'll miss sharing this planet with him, but I'm happy that he's no longer suffering.

Rest In Peace, Earl.

Earl & Jeline Palmer in 2006.

Below is a sampling of some of the recordings you’ll hear during Friday’s tribute set:

Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep-Mountain High
The Beach Boys - Please Let Me Wonder
Hugo Montenegro - I Dream Of Jeannie theme
Nino Tempo & April Stevens - Deep Purple
H.B. Barnum - Golden Boy
Lalo Schifrin- Mission Impossible theme
David McCallum - House Of Mirrors
David Axelrod - Song Of Innocence
Frank DeVol - The Brady Bunch theme
Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
Quincy Jones - Happy Feet
Neal Hefti - Batman Theme
The Ronettes - Born To Be Together
B. Bumble & The Stingers - Nut Rocker
Fats Domino - I Hear You Knockin’
The Mystic Moods Orchestra - The Look Of Love
H.B. Barnum - Calypso Blues

See you all Friday afternoon.

Chuck Kelley

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