Mitch Woods on the death of Earl Palmer (born: October 25, 1924 died: September 19th, 2008)

"I am a very lucky man. I got to play with the best- Earl Palmer-the world's best drummer- the man who put the beat in backbeat, who put the rock in rock n' roll. But more than that great pleasure and honor was the honor of being his friend."

"Earl learned his craft early, growing up to the rhythms of New Orleans. He played in early Vaudeville, was a tap dancer and was the core of the band that laid the foundation of Rock n' Roll at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios in New Orleans in the early 50s. He played drums for all the great founding fathers of rock, including Fats Domino, Little Richard,Ray Charles, Lloyd Price, Professor Longhair, Roy Brown. After moving to Los Angeles he went on to become America's most recorded session drummer playing hit after hit with the likes of Richie Valens, The Everly Brothers, Sam Cooke, Ike and Tina Turner, and countless other, as well as recording soundtracks with Quincy Jones for many of the movies, television, and cartoons we grew up with."

"In 2001 I was able to bring together some of the unsung inner circle of Rock n' Roll royalty including the founding members of the Fats Domino band and legendary producer Dave Bartholomew (Earl's first bandleader) and record the Big Easy Boogie CD/DVD. Earl graced me with his performance on that project, and from then on I knew it would be a gem. To me he will always be a mentor, a friend, and a man of incredible talent and fortitude. Just to meet Earl and get to hang with him is a rare treat. To hear his stories, which are as endless as his discography, and eat gumbo or shop with him for those all important oysters and shrimp to bring back home is a blast. To play music with him is heaven....but to be his friend is priceless. Did I say I am a lucky man."

"God bless him."

Mitch Woods