Earl Cyril Palmer

Early Life

Earl Cyril Palmer was born on October 25, 1924 in New Orleans Treme district of Louisiana. When he was a child, he was a tap dancer on the black Vaudeville circuit with his parents [1].

War Record

From 1942 to 1945, Earl served in the segregated United States Army in the European Theatre, eastern Europe [2]. Earl did not like the idea of a segregated military and frequently protested his position in the army. He was an ammunition handler during the war because the military did not want African Americans carrying guns, but according to Earl, his real duty was to serve white infantrymen [3].

Drumming Post-War

After the end of the war, Earl studied piano and drums at the Gruenwald School of Music in New Orleans [4]. Then in 1947, he became the drummer for the Dave Bartholomew Band, which gave him the opportunity to work with Fats Domino, Little Richard, and Smiley Lewis [5]. Earl transformed old jazz, country, and blues music into rock and roll by introducing the backbeat, an integral element of rock and roll music because of the strong beat throughout the song [6]. Additionally, Earl was the first to use the expression, "Funky" [7]. In 1957, Earl left New Orleans and came to Hollywood working with Aladdin Records and independently drumming [8]. From the 50’s to the 80’s Earl was a highly sought-after drummer. He worked with Elvis Costello, Frank Sinatra, Phil Spector, Motown, Randy Nelson, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Eddie Cochran, the Beach Boys, Neil Young, the Pets, and B.B. King [9]. Earl died on September 19th, 2008 and is buried in Riverside National Cemetery [10]. He is a member of the rock and roll hall of fame and number 25 on Rolling Stone’s greatest drummers of all-time list.

Footnotes