Sandy Nelson
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Sandy Nelson (born Sander L Nelson, 1 December 1938, in Santa Monica, California) is a famous drummer.
His song "Teen Beat", released on Original Sound Records, rose to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1959. Subsequently he signed with the Imperial record label, and pounded out two more Top 40 hits, "Let There Be Drums", which went to #3 in the UK Singles Chart, and "Drums Are My Beat". All three were instrumentals (a feat rarely repeated). Guitar on these hits was by co-writer Richie Podolor (aka Richie Allen), later a respected songwriter / producer in his own right.
He attended high school with Jan Berry, Dean Torrence (who together became Jan and Dean), and Kim Fowley. After gaining respect as a session drummer, he played on such well-known songs as "To Know Him Is To Love Him" (Phil Spector's Teddy Bears, 1958), "Alley-Oop" (The Hollywood Argyles, 1960), "A Thousand Stars" (Kathy Young and the Innocents, 1960) and many more.
Near the end of 1963, Nelson was involved in a serious motorcycle accident. The resulting injuries necessitated amputation of his right foot and part of that same leg. Nonetheless, he managed to resume his drumming career, and Nelson continued to record into the early 1970s, releasing 2 or 3 albums a year, mainly consisting of cover versions of popular hits at the time plus a few original compositions.
Nelson, now approaching his seventies, lives in quiet seclusion in Boulder City, NV. and continues to experiment with music on keyboards and piano.
[edit] References
- Joel Whitburn. "Top 40 Hits". ISBN 0-8230-8280-6.
- Marc Ribowsky, "He's A Rebel"
- Patrick Harris. "Appearing to exert less effort than all other drummers, Sander, a great friend, has always created the biggest sound."
