From the LuxuriaMusic Archives - BACKBEAT: Earl Palmer's Story

Session Drummer Earl Palmer passed away on Friday at the the age of 84. Culled from the LuxuriaMusic archives, this is Guy Benoit's review of Mr. Palmer's autobiography, "Backbeat -  Earl Palmer's Story," that we first published back in 2000.
You have heard Earl Palmer

You have heard Earl Palmer.

You've heard Earl Palmer even if you've never heard of Earl Palmer. One of the most imitated musicians of the 20th Century, Palmer is a drummer of astonishing ability.

  Palmer has played with everyone. He provided Little Richard's best efforts with their unique drive. Phil Spector employed him on "You Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." He drummed behind Sinatra, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughn, Neil Young and Ray Charles. Goddamn it, he even played on the theme to The Brady Bunch. Once again, you've heard Earl Palmer.

The man's reflections on his career are collected in this work, co-written with Tony Scherman. It is an essential read for anyone interested in American Popular Music.

Earl Palmer began his show-biz career at age 5, performing as a tap dancer in Ida Cox's Darktown Scandals vaudeville show. These evocations of a Jim Crow-era South are unforgettable. So are Palmer's caustic descriptions of spending WWII in a thoroughly segregated US Army. After the "good war," he returned home and became the top drummer in New Orleans. That sort of means he became the top drummer in the world. Later, he moved to L.A. to play with Phil Spector and...

Ah hell, you don't need to know what this book is about. You need to actually read this book. Scherman, the work's co-writer, begins each chapter with a useful introduction and then allows Palmer to tell the story in his own words. The results are much grittier than the average "show biz" auto-bio. Palmer's language is clear and direct. His views on racism and the machinations of the music business are startling in their immediacy.

Once again, most people who should know Earl Palmer unfortunately do not. The limited publication of Backbeat probably won't do much to change that. However, if you're a fan of American Popular Music, you could do much worse than to pick up this earthy, engaging work.

Hardcover - 196 pages (May 1999) Smithsonian Institution Press; ISBN: 1560988444