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Sandy Nelson: The Beat Goes On

Bill Bentley, L.A. Weekly, 11 April 1985

QUICK. HOW many rock & roll drummers had two Top-Ten hits? If you guessed none, you wouldn't he far wrong, because only one has ever had the honor. Sandy Nelson, a native Angeleno who now lives half a mile from where he grew up, first brought his ringing tom-toms and popping snare to the airwaves with 1959's 'Teen Beat', then followed it up two years later with the ultimate drum anthem, 'Let There Be Drums'. On the album of the same name, he included one of the longest rock cuts prior to the Velvet Underground's 'Heroin' opus: 'Birth of the Beat', a ten-minute exploration of the percussionist's palette.

Total word count of piece: 1599

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