YEAR
2000
INDUCTED BY
Mike Stoller
CATEGORY
Musical Excellence
The cream of the New Orleans crop.
Earl Palmer was a first-call session drummer—no small feat in New Orleans, a city famous for its rhythm. Ritchie Valens, Eddie Cochran, Ray Charles, Bonnie Raitt and more have all marched to the beat of Palmer’s drum over the course of his celebrated career.
Earl Palmer
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By Max Weinberg
Go to New Orleans if you want to hear hot drumming.
Like the gunslingers of the Old West, the Gulfport drummers are legendary. And one of the best is Earl Palmer.
For his drumming on such classic hits as Fats Domino’s “The Fat Man,” “I’m Walkin’ ” and “Blueberry Hill,” Lloyd Price’s “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” and Little Richard’s “Lucille,” “Good Golly, Miss Molly” and “Rip It Up,” Earl Palmer is renowned in the history of New Orleans rock & roll.
