Sandy Nelson

Sandy Nelson (born Sander L Nelson, 1 December 1938, in Santa Monica, California) is a drummer.

His song "Teen Beat", 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 #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, 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.

Nelson attended high school with Jan Berry, Dean Torrence (who became Jan and Dean), and Kim Fowley. After gaining respect as a session drummer, he played on such songs as "To Know Him Is To Love Him" (Phil Spector's Teddy 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] at Allmusic website