Thursday music corner: California-born drummer Sandy Nelson (1938-2022), who died in Las Vegas on Valentine's Day 2022, had three hit singles from 1959 to 1962, all drum-led instrumentals. Teen Beat, his first and biggest hit, reached number four on the Billboard charts in 1959, and sold over a million copies. He also contributed as a session player to hits for other artists, including The Teddy Bears' 1958 hit To Know Him Is To Love Him, written by Phil Spector. A serious road accident in 1963 resulted in the amputation of Nelson's right foot and part of his right leg, but failed to derail his career. He continued recording until the early 1970s, until a 2008 comeback record, Nelsonized.
Nelson's New York Times obituary included details of Teen Beat's strip club inspiration, from a 2015 Las Vegas Weekly interview:
“While they were looking at these pretty girls in G-strings, guess what I was doing? I was looking at the drummer in the orchestra pit. He was doing kind of a ‘Caravan’ beat,” he added, referring to the jazz standard made famous by Duke Ellington. “‘Bum ta da da dum’ — small toms, big toms. That’s what gave me the idea for ‘Teen Beat.’”
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