Jazz Drummer Louie Bellson Dies by Robert Benson - February 18, 2009 Louis Bellson The music world lost a remarkable jazz drummer and bandleader on February 14 when Louie Bellson passed away at age 84. Duke Ellington once described Bellson as “the world’s greatest drummer” and few would disagree with him. His talent and zest were obvious at an early age as Bellson once entered and won the Slingerland National Gene Krupa drumming contest; and it was Krupa who handpicked the 16 year-old Bellson among 40,000 other contestants. Bellson’s career was as diverse and unique as his stalwart drumming style; he was the first to deploy twin bass drums on the bandstand. He would later tour and record with the giants of the Big Band Era including, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman and Stan Getz among others. Let’s hear more about this remarkable man from Felice Catena, who had the pleasure of knowing Louie: “It was about 1969 or 1970. I was fortunate to be working in the A&R Department at Capitol Records, with some of the most amazing and talented producers and artists the world has ever known. When producers David Cavanaugh and Billy May asked if I would like to work late every Thursday night for several months on some Big Band sessions they were planning, I jumped at the chance. What a treat. Some of the greatest musicians from the bands of Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton, Billy May, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, etc. played on those sessions, which took place in Capitol’s legendary Studio A. Louie Bellson was the drummer on many of the sessions, and we became very friendly. He was not only an incredible musician, writer and arranger, but a true gentleman. He was married to Pearl Bailey at that time, and she often visited the control room to just hang out and listen to the amazing music being created. At this time my brother, Bruce Gary (drummer in The Knack), was beginning his career as a studio drummer. He had been playing for many years; he had toured with Albert Collins at 16 and played with his childhood friend, Randy California-Spirit. Whenever I knew a session was about to be scheduled, especially for new Capitol artists, I would always recommend that my brother be hired to play drums. One Thursday night we were taking a break from our Big Band session, and standing in the hallway outside the studio – I don’t remember who else was there, but Louie asked me, “Who is that drumming in Studio C? He’s GREAT!” Of course, I told him it was my brother, who was playing drums with a new artist on Capitol named Alex Harvey who co-wrote the song “Delta Dawn”. Louie wanted to meet my brother, so I asked Alex to take a short break and called Bruce out of his session to meet Louie in the hallway. I introduced them, and Bruce and Louie compared their hands. Bruce was about 6’2”, had rather large hands, bit his nails, and played the drums like a madman, so his hands were always calloused, blistered and bleeding. Louie, on the other hand, was a rather small man, and played with great finesse, so much so that his hands were always soft, manicured and smooth. It was quite a dichotomy, and so great to see two such remarkable drummers comparing their hands. My brother was called back into his session and we had to return to ours in Studio A, and as we were walking back into the studio Louie turned to me and said, “How old is your brother?” I replied, “Eighteen.” Louie said, “Kill him. Just kill him now.” We all had a great laugh over that. This is one of my fondest memories of both Louie and of my brother, who died in August of 2006.”     Robert Benson Author Robert Benson writes about rock/pop music, vinyl record collecting and operates www.collectingvinylrecords.com, where you can pick up a copy of his ebook called "The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting." The ebook details why people collect records, where to find collectible vinyl records, album cover art, buying/selling issues, grading, storage, cleaning and much more.  Subscribe to Latest Articles

1 Response

pepe gomez February 19, 2009 7:57 PM hey bob you are unique in your articles and reviews i hope you review me before i die, it is very refreshing to see this kind of music journalism i n musicstack which i think is great,thanks for yous insight/ronnetes/spector/bellson and all the great past artist that made this possible,thanks again and keep up the good work i read everything you write!!!! pepechango

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