- Don Drumm (singer)
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Don Drumm Birth name Edward Donald Drumm Also known as Don Drumm Born Westfield, Massachusetts Genres Jazz, Country, Soft Rock, Classical Occupations Recording Artist Instruments Vocals
Piano
KeyboardYears active 1953-2000 Labels Chart
ChurchillAssociated acts Ray Hillburn Don Drumm (born in Westfield, Massachusetts) is an American Jazz Pianist & country music singer.
Contents
Career
'Don Drumm (born in Westfield, Massachusetts) is an American Jazz Pianist & country music singer.
Drumm began his musical career as a pianist. His very first payed job in 1953 at the age of 15, was performing the cocktail hours from 5pm - 9pm at Geno's Brass Rail Restaurant in the Feeding Hills, Agawam Ma. area for $1 per hour. Then from 9pm - 1am he would wash the glasses behind the bar where the dance bands entertained. He often mention to friends that being behind the bar gave him a better feeling of being grown up than being behind the piano, although he liked the tips he received. For those four hours he also made a $1 per hour.
In 1955-6 while stationed in the Air Force in Denver Colorado, Drumm was asked to perform for a telethon staring Zaza Gabore, Pop Singer, Helen Merrell, and other TV & Movie Stars. From there he played piano in a pickup band that was put together while he was stationed at Wurtsmith Air Force Strategic Air Command in Oscoda, Michigan. That was in 1956. Although Elvis was hot on the charts at the time, Drumm was into Jazz. Big Bands like Count Basie, & Stan Kenton. He was also into Jazz Trios with Errol Garner being his favorite along with Dave Brubeck & George Shearing. The female singers that inspired him were several, especially Peggy Lee, Jerry Southern, & Billy Holiday & so many more. However, Drumm didn't begin singing until 1964, when he could no longer find a job as a piano-single. In the early sixties one had to be a singing-pianist to find work. At the time, Jilly Rizzos' (Jilly's) was the hot spot for singing pianists thanks to Frank Sinatra being one of Jillys' best friends. Drumm had performed there as a substitute, but not as a singer.
Playing With the Greats
From 1957 on into the 1960s Drumm was a regular name in the New York entertainment and society columns written by such folks as Cholly Knickerbocker, Dorothy Killgallen, and Walter Winchell. He was the intermission pianist sharing the stage with such jazz greats as Count Basie, Joe Williams, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Sara Vaughn and Peggy Lee, to name a few; and he appeared with the Smothers Brothers, Trini Lopez, Bill Cosby, Jackie Mason, Ed Sullivan, and so many more stars. It was Ed Sullivan who introduced Don to 3,000 newsmen at the Page One Ball in New York who were honoring Jimmy Durante’s 50th anniversary in show business.
In 1960, in Chicago, Don recorded his first jazz single called “Shortnin’ Bread’ which was a big hit! Ramsey Lewis was hot then, Nancy Wilson had her first jazz waltz hit and was appearing at the original Mr. Kellys, which is now Gibson’s Steak House. Jazz Pianist Ahmad Jamal opened his non-alcholic supper club on south Michigan Avenue, and comedian, Lenny Bruce was appearing at the Trade Winds Supper Club on Rush Street. Daddio Daly, Marty Faye, Jessie Owens, and other top jazz DJ’s of the time played Don’s ‘Shortnin’ Bread’ so much that Don was invited to perform at Diana Washington’s southside jazz club, sharing the stage with jazz great Sunny Sitt and other truly great artists’. What impressed Drumm the most was that he was the only white boy in the whole place.
Because of the popularity of ‘Shortnin’ Bread, Don was invited to sup with a new, young and refreshing recording star to be, named, Ann Margaret, who was being introduced to Chicago radio DJ’s. “She truly was a lovely young girl, at nineteen, “ recalled Drumm wistfully, “... and I got to sit next to her during dinner. I’ll never forget that evening on the third floor of the Italian Village on Monroe Street in Chicago. She was so sweet and lovely.”
During the 1960s on into the 1970s the public’s fickle taste created a new need in lounge and party entertaining. It became the rage to have a singer/pianist rather than just a pianist. So Drumm got his lyrics together and has been singing ever since. At first his style was mostly tailored after the breathy artists of the day like Mel Torme, Chet Baker (his sing-ing style) Peggy Lee, Jerry Southern and the like. However, out of tune pianos got the best of Don and he appeared at work one night with a guitar in his hand. When one owner asked why he had brought the guitar, Don replied, “Several of the piano keys aren’t working and the piano is so out of tune that I’m having trouble singing in tune, so in order to get through this weekend I thought I’d perform on guitar.” Unfortunately, for Don, the owner wasn’t moved to fix the piano, and Don had to continue playing his guitar, knowing only the simple chords of C, D,E, F, G and a few minor chords here and there, which limited his performance to playing simple folk and country songs. Worse yet, the owner preferred the folk and country over ‘My Funny Valentine’ with the treatment of Rachmaninoff thrown in the middle of it. This happened around the first of 1968-9.
A Radical Change
Picking up an acoustic guitar usually leads to a romance with country music, which happened to Don. “I started out learning songs by Bob Dylan, Donovan, Gordon Lightfoot and so on. Then I got into the Beatles and The Moody Blues among other groups. I simply liked it all. However, my drummer at the time kept repeating how much the crowd would react positively whenever I sang country.”
1972 ... After finding a financial backer and making a few Nashville connections, Drumm found himself in Nashville recording his first country record called, ‘Scratch my Back’, which he wrote. That was quite a first recording session considering he was recording at RCA Studios, in Studio A, where Elvis used to record, and that he was backed by Scottie Moore and D.J. Fontana, Elvis’ original lead guitarist and drummer, not to mention backup vocals by The Jordaniers, Elvis’ original backup singers.
November, 1974 Drumm’s first national single to hit the Billboard charts was ‘In at Eight and Out at Ten.’ Five more singles would follow and one album, all hitting the top 100 charts. In 1978 Drumm’s last single, ‘Bedroom Eyes’ rose to 18 notches from number one in the country; but poor management and other personal commitments dampened what could have been a superstar career.
Drumm was now 40 years old and did not look forward to any more traveling, having traveled all over this country from the age of 17. Before Drumm left the Nashville scene, he received two awards for exceptional air play at the ASCAP awards dinner in Nashville. The awards were for ‘Just Another Rhinestone’ and ‘Bedroom Eyes’.
What next? Commercials.
Not only has Don’s singing voice been heard in this country on record and on such commercials as Pillsbury, Kellogg’s, Kraft, Pizza Hut, etc., but he also did voice-overs on United Airlines, Schlitz, Vernors, General Mills, and countless others, and was known worldwide as the singing voice in the Marlboro Man commercials.
Drumm has interesting stories to tell of his New York cabaret days in the 60’s and his climbing the record charts in the 70’s. In 1979, from her Madison Avenue office, Georgette Klinger dropped a little note, “To whom it may concern: Last October, Mr. Don Drumm entertained at my home on the occasion of a book party for Cleveland Amory’s ‘The Cat Who Came to Christmas.’ It was a wonderfully successful evening, in great part due to Mr. Drumm’s music.” “Mr. Drumm’s music” means his piano and singing. It has been background for the poshest of the posh parties, dahling, in Palm Beach, New York and Chicago. He plays a wide variety of styles at soirees whose guest lists read like the “who’s who” of society pages.
“The 80’s wore heavy on my soul," Drumm said. “ People often asked me why I gave up the chance of really hitting it big. I would reply that there were a lot of really good reasons, but quietly I would ask myself: “What the hell am I doing? Especially having a top 20 hit at the very moment I refused to resign my recording contract."
The 80’s and the first half of the 90’s were a necessary transitional stage of personal inner struggle for Don. After being invited to perform at Chicago’s top cabaret club, The Gold Star Sardine Bar, Drumm was inspired by one of it’s owners, Bill Allen, to compose a song, aptly called, “The Gold Star Sardine Bar.” “I give credit to three particular people in this wonderful city of Chicago for inspiring and encouraging me to continue to compose and write lyrics,” Drumm said, “the first two are my friends Disk Boyell (a commercial producer in Chicago) and Bill Allen. Both have inspired and encouraged me not only to continue to write, but to dig up old incomplete ideas hidden away in my files in the attic, to bring them up to date and to get them out there to the public, which I am in the process now of doing. The third person is Ray Fligg, a business man who fell in love with one particular song I composed while performing at the Navy Pier in the summer of 1995. He believed in it so much that he came up with the money (several thousand) and arranged for me to buy all the state of the art recording equipment that I would need to get myself and my musical life together. Of course there was a price to pay for that investment. I gave him half the ownership of the song."
Thanks to the good, and the painful experiences of the past, as well as the encouragement and inspiration of friends, the Don Drumm of today has finally come to realize his ‘mission’ on this earth; and that is, he said, “ to compose music and lyrics.”
Even though Drumm is now 73 in 2011, and retired from performing, he remains creative at this date recording and composing his original music. Go to... dondrumm ... on youtube, typed with no caps and no spaces to view his old and new recordings he is uploading to leave for his children, friends and fans. Especially look for "Don Drumm - "Celebrity DVD" & "Here's To The Heroes Tribute."
He recorded for Chart and Churchill Records, and entered the Hot Country Songs charts four times. Two of his singles, "Bedroom Eyes" and "Just Another Rhinestone", "Bedroom Eyes" making the top 20 & "Just Another Rhinestone making the top 40.[1] The former song, written by Ray Hillburn, was also the first chart entry for the Churchill label.[2] The song was included on an LP record also titled Bedroom Eyes.[3]
Drumm's later career veered towards commercials, including Pillsbury, Kellogg’s, Kraft, and Pizza Hut, becoming known worldwide as the singing voice in the Marlboro Man commercials. He retired in 2000.
Discography
Albums
Year Album information 1978 Bedroom Eyes - Label: Churchill Records 67241
- Released: 1978
- Format: LP
Singles
Year Single Chart Positions Album US Country[1] 1974 "In at Eight and Out at Ten" 86 single only 1978 "Bedroom Eyes" 18 Bedroom Eyes "Just Another Rhinestone" 35 "Something to Believe In" 81 References
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 130. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
- ^ Mandel, Howard (14 January 1978). "Don Drumm Sets Beat at Churchill". Billboard 90 (2): 41. ISSN 0006-2510. http://books.google.com/books?id=piQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT38&dq=%22don+drumm%22+%22bedroom+eyes%22&hl=en&ei=P7W5TdxPhpe3B9e67d4E&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22don%20drumm%22%20%22bedroom%20eyes%22&f=false.
- ^ "Bedroom Eyes". Allmusic. http://allmusic.com/album/bedroom-eyes-r172430. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
Categories:- American country singers
- American male singers
- Musicians from Massachusetts
- People from Westfield, Massachusetts
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