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He was born Sander Nelson in 1938 in Santa Monica, California. Inspired at the age of seven when he saw Gene Krupa perform, Nelson asked for a drum set for his next Christmas present. Unlike most kids who get a drum set, he stuck with it, and by the time he was in high school, he was working as a session man with early rock acts. He attended high school with Jan Berry, Dean Torrence, Phil Spector, and others who went on to careers in rock-and-roll. Sandy became a proficient drummer and joined his first group, Kip Tyler and the Flips. Another member of the group was future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston, who played piano. Kip Tyler and the Flips recorded some songs on the Ebb and Challenge labels. His services as a drummer were in demand. He played drums for Spector on the Teddy Bears' number one hit To Know Him, Is To Love Him in 1958, and the following year he sessioned for Gene Vincent on Crazy Times before striking out on his own. He recorded for the Original Sound label, and his fifth release Teen Beat made it all the way to number four in 1959. It was rather unusual in that it was an instrumental song featuring Sandy's pounding drums. Instrumentals did not generally sell very well, but this one certainly did. Sandy Nelson continued his work as a session drummer on many well known rock-and-roll songs in the early 60's, appearing on such top ten hits as Alley-Oop and A Thousand Stars. He signed a recording contract with Imperial and in 1961 released his second [and last] top ten hit, Let There Be Drums. Once again he had scored with an instrumental that featured his driving drum beat. He had other minor hits in 1962, such as Drums Are My Beat. In 1963 Sandy was involved in a vehicular accident and lost part of his leg. He recovered and returned to performing the following year, and eventually released Teen Beat '65 before fading away. If you like this site you may support it with a small donation: |
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