Artist:Sandy Nelson
Song:Let There Be Drums
Album:King of the Drums: His Greatest Hits
The 1961 single Let There Be Drums was one of two top ten hits for drummer Sandy Nelson. He started out playing sessions and lucked into a recording career in the 60s. He was born Dec. 1, 1938 in Santa Monica, CA. He attended high school with Jan & Dean and record producer Kim Fowley. And it's Fowley who got Nelson into the music business. Nelson was in the band The Renegades with guitarist and future record producer Richard Podolor, future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston and future record producer Nick Venet. Fowley produced their 1959 single Geronimo which appeared in the film The Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow. Meanwhile, Nelson's Buddy Rich influenced style got the attention of producers and he played on The Teddy Bears' 1958 #1 hit To Know Him Is To Love Him among other things. Los Angeles DJ Art Laboe was starting his Original Sound label. Nelson wrote Teen Beat and all the labels turned it down until Laboe agreed to record it. Teen Beat reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Podolor and Johnston played on the record. Nelson did not have a contract with Laboe. So he signed with Imperial Records. After his first few singles flopped, Imperial was going to drop Nelson. But Let There Be Drums was his last chance in 1961. And it reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Again, Richard Podolor was a big factor as he wrote and produced Let There Be Drums with Nelson and played guitar. That was Nelson's final big hit. But he recorded for Imperial even after it was folded into United Artists. His final album for UA was the 1975 disco album Bang Bang Rhythm. Nelson even continued after his foot was amputated after a a 1963 motorcycle accident. You can get Teen Beat and Let There Be Drums on this budget comp from the British reissue label See For Miles. Other than a couple of of recordings, it looks like Nelson retired after he left UA. He suffered a stroke in 2017 and died on Feb. 14, 2022 at age 83. Here's a video for Let There Be Drums by Sandy Nelson.
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