Sandy Nelson

bobwright

Member
I know he was classed as a bit of a "pop" drummer and there were some who wanted him "drummed" out of the Corps, but listening to some of my old records the other night made me appreciate some of his work again.

No matter what he played he kept that high hat going at a rock steady pace and there's a few numbers where he does some very Gene Krupa-ish snare work which I know I could never emulate.

Not many know that he actually had one leg due to a bike accident when a teenager, guess to keep that great high hat work going he must have had a prosthetic leg......????

Let there be drums.............http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAJ8BNmvl2A (sadly no high hat work on this one but some great snare work)
 
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Re: SANDY NELSON

Cut my teeth on Let There Be Drums. I still have the album but it is just about worn out. I can remember the frustration of trying to get my little Ludwig jazz kit to sound like the drums on the recording :>). John
 
Re: SANDY NELSON

My opinion is that Sandy Nelson is probably one of the most underrated drummers out there.

I also grew up listening to his music and have several of his old albums on vinyl. One of the best drummers out there!
 
Re: SANDY NELSON

Sandy Nelson is also the only drummer (of any type/class of music) to make a living off of drum solo and highlighted drum recordings. Many of the worlds best drummers 'cut their teeth' on Sandy Nelson records.
 
Re: SANDY NELSON

A very popular drum solo with the masses was Topsy Pt II by Cozy Cole. It came out on
a 45 in the 1950's. In the 1960's Sandy Nelson put out a lot of recordings and albums like
Let There Be Drums and Drums Are My Beat were very popular with the public. The Sandy
Nelson recordings had a wide appeal with drummers that had already started where tunes
like Wipeout (and it's straight 8 time vs swing) had a wider appeal to those just starting to
play at the time.
 
Re: SANDY NELSON

Reading those replies makes me think of the "tom tom" drumming of some of the Surf music that came out in the sixties.......Atlantics, Surfaris, Ventures.....great stuff !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caDKxgQhd1M Enjoy the clip.
 
Re: SANDY NELSON

My opinion is that Sandy Nelson is probably one of the most underrated drummers out there.

I also grew up listening to his music and have several of his old albums on vinyl. One of the best drummers out there!

I agree....I still have Drums Are My Beat album, really got me into drumming.
 
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