In Loving Memory of Earl Palmer: Contact Us

Love Letters To Earl

I'm so sorry about your lost. Earl was the best in the business and one of the nicest guys in the world you could ever meet. You have my families deepest sympathy.

Love Always

Craig Turner

Spent the day going thru all my albums (vinyl) picking out Earl's contributions.

My memorial is day of foot tappin'. Miss ya Earl. See ya soon...

huck

I had the great pleasure of seeing Mr. Palmer perform at the Ponderosa Stomp in 2002 and 2003. He was a tremendous talent

Dave

What a great man and icon. A friend of mine has just recommended The Wrecking Crew because it features Earl. He made a great impact to the world, and that’s a full, rich, well-lived life. Plus, he is Shelly’s daddy, and she’s a gem.

With love,

Patti

We are saddened by the loss of Mr Earl Palmer. Thank you for posting the discography.

Regards

Richard Duvigneaud

I met Earl Palmer in 1997 through Susan Clary, a publicist and my longtime
friend. As a freelance writer I asked to interview him and did so one
afternoon at his house in Arleta. He was warm, generous with his time,
extremely funny, open, very "New Orleans" in his candid opinions about music
and many other topics. He also made me a ham sandwich from a fresh-baked
ham. It tasted great.

This was just before "Backbeat" was published and Earl was hesitant to
give me specifics on his discography, in case my article was published
before the book. I later read the discography in the book. When I realized
Earl played on "Cupid" by Sam Cooke I listened to the track with fresh ears.
The drum groove in the first few seconds of the track makes it a hit.

One of the early records in my musical life was "H.R. is a Dirty Guitar
Player," an album that I literally grew up with. Earl played on that one.
Earl's playing on several Earl Bostic tracks completely impressed me because
as a sax player I admire no one more than Earl Bostic, and Earl Palmer's
memories of Bostic were particularly interesting and candid.

In the '80s before I met Earl I used to see him in his office at Local 47
when I picked up my session checks (I was the keyboard player in the '80s
pop group the Motels). I knew who he was back then but couldn't think of a
way of introducing myself.

In terms of having a presence in popular music Earl is easily the greatest
drummer of all time. No one comes close, including the great Hal Blaine.
They both played countless sessions, but as Earl pointed out to me, (I'm
paraphrasing him here) "I played jazz and he [Hal] didn't..."

Earl Palmer was a remarkable blend of class, soul, taste and technique, an
all-around musician who happened to play drums. Music was well-served by
this wonderful man.

Marty Jourard
Seattle

Your Dad was not only the most uniquely warm human being I believe I've ever known, and a fantastic musical genius talent, the finest trend-setting drummer by far in the studios, helped so many people, cared about everyone's feelings, assisted other musicians in getting work, encouraged them to play well, and LOVED and doted on you kids, but his spirit will live on with so many people who he inspired as well as through all 7 of you wonderful children.
I especially admired how each of you girls individually drove the 180-190 mile round trip out to care for you Dad, to feed him, bathe him and tend to his needs as much as possible. You all gave him the encouragement to feel better after this last tough lung surgery that he had to pull through from. Your courage and hard work out of love and loyalty to your Father made such a difference in his health and vitality...I'll never forget the self-less struggles you all made on his behalf with love and caring for your Dad.

I knew both Susie and Umeko, wonderful women, and God Bless - Earl, a very loving sincere man, was a wonderful father not only to you kids, but also to other kids - such as when my son lost his Dad, he especially took Pete in hand and quickly and literally gave Pete drum sticks along with a good lesson on how to play, giving great purpose to his life then. Pete still enjoys playing drums with a great "Earl Palmer" groove 40 years later and we both will never forget how your Dad took my son and became a great father-mentor to him, treating him with great dignity and respect - but knowing how wonderful all of you are, I'm sure you know that he gave much love to everyone.

I'll never forget your great Dad. He was a brother to me, great to work with, a warm caring super-honest friend, and always with a quick smile and kidding, superior in his professionalism, and seeing the humanity in everyone - he made the world a better place to live in for us all with his talents, personality gifts and brotherhood. Earl Palmer was not only a tall man, a self-made man who brought great joyful music and his unique genius talents from New Orleans, setting the bar for drumming with his inventive recordings, but simply was the FINEST STUDIO DRUMMER EVER! Our lives were very much enriched by your Dad, Earl Palmer. God Rest You my good friend, you're making Heaven a better place I know.

In Loving Memory, Carol Kaye, bass player and friend.

"Thanks, Earl, for all of the rhythmic joy your music brought my way."

Tom Kenny

I just wanted to say “Thanks” for all that Earl gave us. Earl’s contribution to popular culture cannot be overstated!
Please accept my condolences,
Steve Ussery
Palm Desert, Ca.

Dear Palmer Family,

I would like to send condolences to Earl's wife and his wonderful children. Earl was a great guy, a wonderful musician and good people. I wish I could be there for the memorial. Thinking of all of you and know you will miss Earl so much.

Many memories live on as that is what we have here and in the beyond. We take nothing else with us.

Noreen Jackson

I met Earl Palmer through his daughter, Pamela. There is usually some nervousness and "being on your best behavior" going on when you are around parents. But that was never the case with Earl. He was always one of the kids. In the scheme of life, there comes a point when the parent becomes the child, and child becomes the parent. From my perspective, Earl never had to make that transition. He had a youthful enthusiasm that never diminished in all the years I knew him. He was what he was with no pretense. When he was in the room, he made you turn your head to see where all that big-loud-vibrant-full-of-life incredible energy was coming from. Where did it come from?

I've read what others have said about how Earl loved his children, and that I know is true. In the 80's, Pam and I were at the pinnacle of our careers as graphic designers and I will never forget the first job we got from Earl. He had requested some business cards, so Pam and I set out to make an award-winning card that would be the envy of all his contemporaries. This job was our ticket to becoming the hottest business card designers in Hollywood, so we got to work right away. We found some cheesy clip art from the seventies, and made sure all the type was crooked, ugly and hard-to-read. We could hardly contain our excitement as we presented our artistic masterpiece to our client.

He loved it! He didn't care that his cards had renamed him "Earl 'Stix' Palmer." He didn't even notice the type was crooked. I was told he handed out every single one of those cards, proud of the fact that his daughter had made them for him. That was all that mattered to him. Yes, our client couldn't have been happier, however, Pam and I did not turbo-charge our careers as we had anticipated. But that was no fault of Earl's.

Many years later, Earl came down to San Diego to play drums for who I think was Anita O'Day. We had dinner beforehand and looking back it was one of those moments suspended in time. We laughed, we told stories, and it was the last time I ever saw him. It was the best way to possibly remember him.

It is sad to think about him being gone. My thoughts join those of his friends and family.

Karen Chatfield

I KNOW you're going to pop up here any minute now. I can feel you trying to break through from all angles - and succeeding.

You're all around, man.

Goodnight Daaaaaaaarlin'.

Lonnie