- Sandy Nelson
Sandy Nelson (born Sander L Nelson,
1 December 1938 , in Santa Monica,California ) is adrummer .His
song "Teen Beat", onOriginal Sound Records , rose to #4 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart in 1959. Subsequently he signed with the Imperialrecord label , and pounded out two moreTop 40 hits, "Let There Be Drums", which went to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Drums Are My Beat". All three wereinstrumental s (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.Nelson attended
high school withJan Berry ,Dean Torrence (who becameJan and Dean ), andKim Fowley . After gaining respect as a session drummer, he played on such songs as "To Know Him Is To Love Him" (Phil Spector 'sTeddy Bears , 1958), "Alley-Oop" (The Hollywood Argyles , 1960), and "A Thousand Stars" (Kathy Young and the Innocents, 1960).Near the end of 1963, Nelson was in a
motorcycle accident. The injuries necessitated amputation of his right foot and part of that leg. Nonetheless, Nelson continued to record into the early 1970s, releasing 2 or 3 albums a year, mainly cover versions of popular hits plus a few original compositions.Nelson lives in Boulder City, Nevada and continues to experiment with music on keyboards and piano.
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."External links
* [http://www.tsimon.com/snelson.htm Sandy Nelson page]
* [http://www.spaceagepop.com/nelson.htm Sandy Nelson on Spaceage Pop web-site]
* [http://www.instromania.net/ART/ART_N/NELSON%20Sandy.php Discography at Instromania (in French)]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:amdfyl2jxppb~T1 Sandy Nelson biography] atAllmusic website
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