SANDY (SANDER) NELSON was a sixties drummer who made a living playing on sessions and making demos in and around Los Angeles. In 1959 he cut his own record ‘Teen Beat’ – a driving drum-led instrumental that went gold. More hits followed including the monumental ‘Let There Be Drums’ which went top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic. His label, Imperial, had him record profusely and between 1962 and 1966 they released no less than 11 albums on him.
Over the last couple of years Ace Records have been cherry picking from those albums to release their own SANDY NELSON compilations and they’ve just released the third set – ‘Big Sixties Frat Party’. This 24 tracker should be of real interest to soul collectors since it includes lots and lots of soul covers including NELSON’S super-charged versions of ‘Work Song’, ‘The Jerk’, ‘The Clapping Song’, ‘Ain’t Too Proud To Beg’, ‘Mustang Sally’, ‘Uptight’ and ‘Nothing’s Too Good For My Baby’ – which at one time enjoyed heavy action on the Northern soul scene.
SANDY NELSON’S BIG SIXTIES FRAT PARTY is out now on ACE RECORDS
