Md Earl Palmer

8/19/2019 Md Earl Palmer

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EARIPATMERwithhim. However,Palmer was not thefirstdrummer to regularlyplay back-beats. The groundworkwas laid by hardshufflingboogie-woogiemusicians likeLouis Jordan (and his drummers), and thefoÍgotten drummer-bandleaderRoy

Milton. Milton isoften referred to as the"Grandfather 0f Rhythm &Blues."Althoughhe's not widelyrecognized,Mitton'sdrumming in the 1940s pro-vided a firmmusical foundationÍor Earlto buildupon.

In the early to mid '50s, Earl madenumerous recordings withSmileyLewis.Alongwith the Dominorecordings, theseselections feature Earl's early backbeatsin more traditional6/8 and 1218 con-texts. 0n these recoÍdings you can hear

the control that Earl had overhis earlydrum sound, as wellas the "swingfactor"that he infused into these traditionalgrooves. Check out the tunes "Shame,Shame, Shame," "IHear You Knocking,"and "BigMamou."Although thiswasyears beÍore Palmer's widespread popu-larity,you can already hear a real dis-tinctionin Earl's drumming.

In his biogÍaphy,Earl explains therelationship betweenhis early jazz

drumming and his "invention"of thebackbeat: "ïmade much moreof a namefor myselfin the other music frock'n'roll],but ask yowself:If I was one of the begin-ners of rhythm&blues, what was I play-ing before? I'ma jazz drummer. Jazz is al1

anybody played until westaÍted makingthose records. The backbeat came aboutbecause the publicwasn't buyingjazz, so

we put something inthat was simpler,and that's what made the difference."

Earl Palmer was the fiÍst drummeÍtomake the transitionto playingbackbeatson nationalhit records, and LittleRichardwas his most importantbeneÍiciary.Earl's insistent straight Bth-note$ooveevolved out ofa shuffle, and sparkedmost of Richard's most popularearly

recordings. The steps in this "gïoove evo-lution"created hit records, but therewere rhythmicbumps along the way.

On 1955's "TuttiFrutti,"you can hearEarl playinga shuffle behind Richard'sstraighterïight-handBth notes. \Mhilethis clearlydidn'tdetract from the popu-larityof the song, we can hear a blt of a"conflict"in the groove between the twomusicians on this specific recording.IAIhenPalmer recalled this session, he

stated that he was just trying to "matchLittleRichard's frenetic righthand."

By 1 956, when Earl and Richardrecorded "Lucille,""SlippinAnd Slidin,""The GirlCan't Heip lt,"and "GoodGollyMissMolly," the Íhythmicconflicthad

been resolved. Eari's popping time feeland Richard's poundlng piano rhythmswere now as complementary as redbeans and rice. Together they locked intoa relentless groove, and rock'n'roll'sbackbeat was here to stay. By the timewe hear LittleRichard's "lGot It"in the'60s, the gÉoove had matuÍed into rockin'Palmer perfection. Most of theserecord-ings, and more oftheir genre-defininghits, are includedon the CD -LiftleRichard: The Georgta Peach.

New OrleansTo Los Angeles:The Hitmaker

Earl made numerous memorablerecordings that had a certifiableNeworleans R&Bfeel about them. None werebetter than Shirley&Lee's "LetThe GoodTimes Roll,"ThuÍstonHaris's "LittleBittyPretty One," and Emie Fields'rocked-upversionof "lnThe Mood" {a11of whichEarl also ananged).



EARL PALMEREarl infuseda creative and funkytradi-

tional second-lineapproach on EddieLang's "l'mBeggin'WithTears" and Big"T"Tyler's "KingKong." Butit's Palme/spocket playingon RichaÍd Berry's"Mad

AboutYou," Joe Don &Dewey's"Koko,"

and Eddie Cochran's"Somethin' Else"that finds thepedect positionbetween aswung and a straight 8thnote, whichwillÍorever define the elusive concept ofgr0ove.

0n ArtNeville's swinging"ooh-WheeBaby" and the unigue"quasi half-timefunk" feeloÍ "The WhiffenpoofSong,"

Earl's feel is sheeÍ pedection. Many oÍPalmer's greatest recordings(as wellas a

few rarities as a leader) aÍe collected onan absolutely essential CD titled:Backbeat, The World's Greatest Rock'N'

Rou Drummer. Also checkout AÍtNevilie's

SpecialtyRecordtngs 1956-58 for more oÍEarl's greatest grooves.

After makingmajor contributionsto thebeginning of rock'n'roll,Eari followedthe industry west andarrived in Los

Angeles in 1957. There ShellyManneintroduced himaround, and before longPalmer and his trustyRogers drums

became an integral part oÍ the LosAngeles sessron scene. Earl proceeded tomake hundreds oÍ ÍilmsoundtÍacks andtelevision jingies. iThere's a sizable list inthe book Ei:tbeat.)Interestingly, thedrumme: :::a--:C ihat the Warner Bros"

cartoon :r:s-: -,','as ïhe most difficultmusic ii:a::: :',-er had to play.

Earl's ê:,:::-:nafdrummingput a legionoÍ tunes :::r -i:c chafis and propelledmany oÍ =3:r :c Decome ali-tlmehits.The "La::-::rg:"cf RitchieValens'"LaBamba," ihErafib$ctiousbackbeats ofËddie Cocnlar's "SummeftimeBlues" andIke AndJlna --';mer's "RiverDeepMountainÍgh,"and the minimalistper-fectionof rhe RighteousBrothers'"You've

Lost That LovlngFeeling" and Nat"King"Cole's "Ramblin'Rose"are a mere sam-plingoÍ nis "magrctouch."

It's no coincidence that Earl's contdbu-tions to many of Sam Cooke's tuneshelped create instant classics. \Àhilehisdrummingon "YouSend Me,""Cupid,""Shake," and "AChange Is Gonna Come"is not flashy, attention gÍabbing,or eyepopping,Earl providedthe pedect time-keeping concept to frane great tunes andclassic peiÍormances. It's thissupportive

example that everyone ÍÍomRingo Starrand Charle Watts to James Gadson andJim Keltnerhave foLlorved,Allof theseperÍormances can be foundon the vitalSam Cooke coliectronPortÍaít 0f A Legend195 1 -1964.

Long-Playing MasterpiecesBut it wasn't allrock'n' rollsingles

and Tom And Jerry cartoons. There wereseveral artlsts that calied on Earl'smusi-cality tocreate full-lengthmusical mas-

terpieces. llany of the gïeatest singersinslsted on Earl forthelr best recordings.Lou Rawls called onthe drummer formany of his popularCapitol recordings.Yet none are better than Rawls' 1966recording simplytitled live.This exquis-ite small-grouprecording blursthe linebelween lazz, soul, R&B,and pop music,and Earl ',vas clearly the ideal drummeÍtosupport Rawls' "good time music." Thespiritand the enthusiasm that Earl'sgrooves exude on this CD show us all the

way to become a successful workingdrummer in Just about any context.

Because of his many pop successes,many people forget that Earl was a fan-tastic blg banddrummer. The Explostve

52



EARIPALMERSide OÍ Sarah Vaughan (nowavailableasThe BennyCorter SessÍons,/ and MelTormé's Sunday In New YorkÍtndBarlsetting up hits, backingsaxophone sec-tion soli's, and unifying thegroove onoutstandingcharts writtenbyHollywood's toparrangers.

But it's the singers that gain the mostírom Earl's tastefulsupport on theserecordings. He doesn't make these datesinto "lookat me" drum Íeatuïes. Rather,he plays the charts and supports thesingers with finesse and excitement.These recordings feature Earlin his most

54 MoDERil ITRUMMER. MARCH2oo9

swingingcontexts. In fact, one couldalmost mistake Earl forthe $eat MelLewison either of these recordings. AIsocheck out the contdbutionsthat Earlmakes to Frank Sinatïa's Sinatra AndSwingin'Brass and Ray Charles' ModernSounds In CountryAndWestem Music.

RepresentingHis BrotherMusicians

As Palmer spent more time in themusic industry, he sawa pattern ofneglect among musicianstowards busi-ness interests. So in 1983 Earl began

workingwith the musicians union as sec-retary treasurer, fighting hardfor musi-cians'rights. Paimer's work directlycre-ated (and increased) income formusi-cians, and helped the musicians whoweren't lookingout Íor themseives.

In I 994 the producers at HighStreetRecords assembled an outstanding group ofNew orleansmusical legends for therecording Crescent CityGold 0n it,Earl andhis old friends AllenToussaint, Lee Allen,and Alvin"Red" Tyler don't just re-createsome of their oldmagic, they take the con-cept of an all-star session to new heights.This recording is an indispensable exampleof Earl Palmer'sgroove wizardry.

There are several drum solosinciudedon this CD {a Palmer Íarity),but thegroove on "MidCrty Bop" and others Ísworththe price of admission alone. Whilethere isn't any specifÍc"drum sound"commonly associated withEarl, pay closeattention to what Ëarl produces on thedrums and cymbals. Histouch wos hissound. That's immediately apparentonthis well-recordedCD.

Earl On TapeBecause Earl did most of his work

behind the closed doors ofthe recordingstudios, there's not that much videodocu-

mentationof his work.This made hisinstructionalvideo From R&BTo Ftnkvery welcomed.0n it, Earl breaks downmany of his grooves and approaches, andwe get to see the magic up close. In addi-tion, theconcert DVDMake ItFlnkyincludes some outstandingfootage oÍ Earlplayrng double drumswithSteveJordan, as wellas some interviewswith the master.

Thairkfully,Eari Palmer's legend andÍnnovations were acknowledged whenhe was inducted intothe Rock AndRollHall0f Fame in March of 2000.Appropriately,he was one oÍ the firstinductees in the sideman category.

Earl Palmer helpedcreate Ameilcanpopular music, and withhis recentpassing, musicwillnever be the same.But throughhis vast recorded legacy,we willall continue toleam from hisimpeccable sense of giroove,time,andmusical wisdom.

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Md Earl Palmer

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