Larrie Londin

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Larrie Londin
Birth nameRalph Gallant
Born(1943-10-15)October 15, 1943
percussion
Years active1957–1992

Ralph Gallant (October 15, 1943 − August 24, 1992), known professionally as Larrie Londin, was an American drummer and session musician. According to journalist James Byron Fox, "If not the best known, Larrie is one of the most listened to drummers in the world. He played on more hit records during his career than any other drummer, with the exception of the legendary session drummer Hal Blaine, and his work covers the complete musical spectrum."[1]

History

Early life

Larrie Londin began playing drums at the age of 15, and was largely self-taught.[2] Londin initially planned to be a singer, and had an early recording contract with Atlantic Records, but decided to stay loyal to the band The Headliners and signed with Motown under the VIP label.[1][3]

Londin's first professional drumming engagement was in Norfolk, Virginia, in a club where he was a cook and dishwasher. One night, the engagement drummer did not show up, and Londin substituted.

The full story is that the Eugene Bunten, aka they hatched a plan for Larry to play drums as the younger brother of Lonnie Londin (Eugene E. Bunten) because Larry was underage. From then they became Lonnie and Larry Londin. Lonnie went back to his roots in North Conway playing in local bars - where he was known as "the last great unknown".[1]

Motown

As young men, Larrie Londin and his brother, Lonnie Londin (that he was a bassist), aka Eugene E. Bunten (Kenya Bunten) (March 28, 1939 − February 16, 2020), were members of The Headliners, the first white act to be signed to a

Motown record label.[2][3][4] In 1965, two singles[5]
were released by the Headliners.

During his time at Motown, Londin commenced his career as a session drummer, following a heart attack suffered by

Jr. Walker & the All Stars.[2] Though credited to Benny Benjamin, it is asserted that it was Londin who played drums on Jr. Walker's hit song "Shotgun".[2][6]

Nashville

After his time at Motown, Londin joined the band of the Tennessee Ernie Ford television show.[3] Fox states, "He went from being one of Nashville's only drummers to being Country Music's top studio drummer."[1]

Encouraged by guitarist

Nashville in 1969, and grew to be regarded as Nashville's top session drummer.[2] In 1991, Atkins publicly introduced him as "the greatest drummer in the world".[7] Londin was considered to be a "master class" drummer, and made appearances on the "drum clinic" circuit.[2]

Londin was known to practice eight to twelve hours a day. He was also one of the first American drummers to record extensively with electronic drums.[2] Commencing as of the 1970s, Londin was a contract session drummer for Columbia Records, playing on both country and rock recordings.[8]

With his wife, Debbie Gallant, Londin established D.O.G. Percussion (named for Debbie's initials), the area's first dedicated drum shop,

FiberSkyn head to his banjo.[9] Always promoting innovation in the session business, Londin mentored younger musicians and proposed the first cartage services for Nashville session players.[4] One notable drummer whom Londin mentored was Eddie Bayers, now a top Nashville session drummer in his own right.[10]

While not being able to formally read music, Londin developed "stick charts", which he used to remind himself of approaches to certain songs for which he was contracted as a session drummer. According to Londin, such "stick charts" were common among Nashville session drummers, but not widely known or understood otherwise.

Little Creek, Virginia, and came to Nashville as a session musician.[1]

With Elvis Presley

Londin worked on a handful of

Riverfront Coliseum
in Cincinnati.

Londin stated: "I've had offers to write a book about Elvis, but you know, they really didn't want to publish the stories I had to tell. They only wanted the dirt – the scandal. I never saw him use drugs and I never saw him being mean to people. He had problems, everybody does, but he was a sweet guy – real religious, and he was patriotic, he really loved America. The publishers said nobody wants to read about that stuff. I just couldn't be a part of another book trashing him, he was a real good guy and he was always nice to me."[1]

Session musician engagements

In the 1980s, Londin was a member of

Everly Brothers.[2]

Death and posthumous honors

On April 24, 1992, Londin suffered a myocardial infarction (heart attack) and collapsed during a drum clinic at the University of North Texas.[1] On August 24, 1992, after spending four months in a coma, Londin died in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 48.

In 1994, Londin was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of Modern Drummer magazine, in response to the magazine's annual readers poll.[12]

In 1999, a benefit concert was held, co-sponsored by the Percussive Arts Society and Sabian, the cymbal manufacturer with which Londin had been associated, to raise money for musician scholarships. Drummers Dom Famularo, Terry Bozzio, Chester Thompson, and Will Calhoun and the percussion group Hip Pickles appeared. An audio and video cassette of the benefit concert were released in 1999.[13] The scholarship program continues to offer scholarships as of 2012.[14]

Discography

With Adrian Belew

With Barbi Benton

  • Barbi Benton (Playboy Records, 1975)

With Glen Campbell

With Johnny Cash

With Rosanne Cash

With Linda Clifford

  • My Heart's on Fire (Red Label, 1985)

With Rosemary Clooney

With Rodney Crowell

With Joe Cocker

With England Dan & John Ford Coley

With Gail Davies

  • Gail Davies (Lifesong, 1978)

With Don Everly

  • Brother Jukebox (Hickory Records, 1977)

With The Everly Brothers

With Glenn Frey

With Vince Gill

With Crystal Gayle

With Amy Grant

With Al Green

With Emmylou Harris

With Dan Hill

  • Hold On (20th Century Records, 1976)
  • Longer Fuse (Interfusion, 1977)
  • Frozen in the Night (GRT, 1978)
  • If Dreams Had Wings (Epic Records, 1980)

With Journey

With

B.B. King

  • Love Me Tender
     (MCA Records, 1982)

With Al Kooper

With Bill LaBounty

  • This Night Won't Last Forever (Warner Bros. Records, 1978)

With Jim Lauderdale

  • Planet of Love (Reprise Records, 1991)

With Lonnie Mack

  • Home at Last (Capitol Records, 1977)

With Kenny Marks

  • Another Friday Night (DaySpring Records, 1989)

With Reba McEntire

With Frankie Miller

  • Easy Money (Chrysalis Records, 1980)

With Ronnie Milsap

With Willie Nelson

With Michael Nesmith

With Olivia Newton-John

With Dolly Parton

With Steve Perry

With Eddie Rabbitt

With Ronna Reeves

  • The More I Learn (Mercury Records, 1992)

With Kenny Rogers

With Dan Seals

With B. W. Stevenson

  • Lost Feeling (Warner Bros. Records, 1977)

With Shania Twain

With Tanya Tucker

With Neil Young

With Rusty Wier

  • Rusty Wier (20th Century Records, 1975)

With Kelly Willis

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Fox, James Byron. "The Greatest Drummer in the World". Techtrek. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Geoff Nicholls, Obituary: Larrie Londin Archived 2017-03-13 at the Wayback Machine. The Independent, September 7, 1992. Retrieved 2012-08-15, 2012-08-18 and 2012-08-19. Londin's date of death is listed in the Independent obituary as August 31, which appears to be in error; Londin's generally accepted date of death is August 24.
  3. ^ a b c d Uncredited, TCB Band - Larrie Londin Archived 2012-09-13 at the Wayback Machine; Elvis Presley Music. Retrieved August 14, 2012 and 2012-08-20.
  4. ^ a b c Drummerworld, Profile of Larrie Londin Archived 2012-10-03 at the Wayback Machine, Top 500 Drummers. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  5. ^ "You're Bad News" and "Tonight's The Night". See Review of Headliners singles Archived 2012-08-08 at the Wayback Machine; Motown Junkies. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  6. DRUM! Magazine
    , December, 2007. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  7. ^ James Byron Fox, Larrie Londin Archived 2012-10-03 at the Wayback Machine; Drummerworld. Retrieved August 26, 2012 and 2012-08-27.
  8. ^ a b Gerry Wand (August 10, 2012), Learning by Example: Larrie Londin Archived 2013-10-05 at the Wayback Machine. Includes photos and discussion of Larrie Londin "stick charts". Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  9. ^ Rolf Sieker, The Hee-Haw Banjo Archived 2013-02-12 at the Wayback Machine. The Banjo Shrink. Retrieved 2012-08-20
  10. ^ Yamaha, Biography of Eddie Bayers Archived 2012-06-25 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2012-09-01
  11. ^ Particulars of A New Kind of Rhythm! Archived 2012-01-23 at the Wayback Machine; Elvis Presley in Concert. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  12. ^ Modern Drummer, List of Hall of Fame members 1979-2011 Archived 2012-08-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  13. Amazon.com, Details of PAS Larrie Londin Benefit Concert Archived 2017-03-13 at the Wayback Machine
    . Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  14. ^ Percussive Arts Society, Details of Larrie Londin Memorial Scholarship Award[permanent dead link]. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
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