Earl Palmer, 84, a Jazz Session Drummer, Dies

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 22, 2008

Earl Palmer, a session drummer whose pioneering backbeats were recorded on classics like Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” and the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 84.
His death was confirmed by his spokesman, Kevin Sasaki.
Mr. Palmer was born in New Orleans in 1924 and worked extensively both there and in Los Angeles, where he later moved.
He recorded on thousands of tracks, and his session credits include artists as diverse as the Monkees, Neil Young and Frank Sinatra. His beats form the backdrop on Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High,” “The Fat Man” by Fats Domino and “I Hear You Knockin”‘ by Smiley Lewis. He also played for Phil Spector and Motown.
Ed Vodika, the pianist in the Earl Palmer Trio, recalled that the group’s weekly gigs in Los Angeles attracted a host of big-name musicians, from Bonnie Raitt to Ringo Starr. “He worked with so many people in his career, you never knew who would be in the audience,” he said.
Mr. Palmer was inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. According to the institution’s Web site, rockhall.com, Little Richard wrote in his autobiography that Mr. Palmer “was probably the greatest session drummer of all time.”
Mr. Palmer was married four times and is survived by seven children.
His biography by Tony Scherman, “Backbeat: Earl Palmer’s Story,” was published in 1999.