Earl Palmer
| Earl Palmer | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Earl Cyril Palmer |
| Born |
October 25, 1924 New Orleans, Louisiana United States |
| Died | September 19, 2008 (aged 83) Banning, California United States |
| Genres | R&B, rock, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Session musician |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Associated acts | |
Earl Cyril Palmer (October 25, 1924 – September 19, 2008) was an American rock-and-roll and rhythm-and-blues drummer. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Palmer played on many recordings, including Little Richard's first several albums and many other well-known rock-and-roll records. According to one obituary, "his list of credits read like a Who's Who of American popular music of the last 60 years."
Born into a show-business family in New Orleans and raised in the Tremé district, Palmer started his career at five as a tap dancer, joining his mother and aunt on the black vaudeville circuit in its twilight and touring the country extensively with Ida Cox's Darktown Scandals Review. His father is thought to have been the local pianist and bandleader Walter "Fats" Pichon.
Palmer served in the United States Army during World War II and was posted in the European theatre. His biographer wrote,
Most Negro recruits were assigned to noncombatant service troops: work gangs in uniform. "They didn't want no niggers carrying guns," says Earl; they carried shovels and garbage cans instead. Earl's job, loading and handling ammunition, was relatively technical, but his duty was clear: to serve white infantrymen.
After the war ended Palmer studied piano and percussion at the Gruenwald School of Music in New Orleans, where he also learned to read music. He started drumming with the Dave Bartholomew Band in the late 1940s. Palmer was known for playing on New Orleans recording sessions, including Fats Domino's "The Fat Man" and "I'm Walkin" (and several more of Domino's hits), "Tipitina" by Professor Longhair, "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard (and most of Richard's hits), "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" by Lloyd Price, and "I Hear You Knockin'" by Smiley Lewis.
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