Legendary New Orleans producer and engineer Cosimo Matassa will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Saturday, April 14, 2012 along with producers Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns. In 2004, OffBeat contributor Jeff Hannusch interviewed Matassa and drummer Earl Palmer, who played on many of the sessions at Matassa’s J&M Studios that [...]
Tag Archives: Earl Palmer
Free Ned Sublette
November 10, 2009 – 1:39 pm
Writer/musician Ned Sublette grew up in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and his recent book, The Year Before the Flood, documents his time in New Orleans in 2004 and 2005. In it, he works to understand New Orleans’ second line culture and deal with the racial ghosts from his past while researching and writing his book, The World [...]
This Is Pop?
May 1, 2009 – 12:01 am
Blame Bill Millar. Although the English music critic had used the term throughout the Sixties, “swamp-pop”—a label everyone agrees is his invention—became ingrained in musicological lore forever with his 1971 essay in Britain’s Record Mirror, “Swamp Pop—Music From Cajun Country.” It wasn’t until the term was reintroduced via fellow Englishman John Broven’s 1983 book South [...]
December 2008 Letters
December 1, 2008 – 12:01 am
VIP PROBLEMS My girlfriend and I paid close to $1,000 for Voodoo Fest LOA (VIP) tickets and we feel, along with many other people that we were ripped off. We have purchased LOA tickets for four years in a row, so we are not just someone who feels they wasted their money and want to [...]
Earl Palmer: Hiding in Plain Sight
November 1, 2008 – 12:01 am
In his 1978 book Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans, writer John Broven quotes Earl King attributing the word “funk” to drummer Earl Palmer. “At the recording sessions, he would say, ‘Look, man, let’s play a little funkier,’ and the word would start going around,” King said. But Palmer’s not known for funk. He was [...]
A Musical Guide to the New Orleans Film Fest
October 6, 2008 – 12:25 pm
The New Orleans Film Fest starts Friday. Here’s a look ahead at the music-related movies (with a little leeway) in chronological order with text provided by the film festival. Note that the late, great Earl Palmer was part of The Wrecking Crew, so he’s one of the subjects of the film by the same name [...]
Obituary: Earl Palmer (1924-2008)
October 1, 2008 – 12:01 am
Earl Palmer, the most influential and reportedly the most recorded drummer of the 20th Century, died September 19 at his home in Los Angeles, after a lengthy illness. He was 83. Palmer was an innovator with a daunting resume, and in 2000 he was the first man inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of [...]
Earl Palmer obit round-up
September 23, 2008 – 7:11 am
I expect that we’ll start getting some good, meaty obituaries and appreciations for Earl Palmer coming in shortly–because of how close his passing came to our deadline, we have something more in-depth in mind for our November issue than we were able to get together for October–but here are some of the better Palmer obituaries [...]
J&M Studio: House of Rock
May 1, 2008 – 12:01 am
A young Mac Rebennack, still in short trousers, was tagging along with his father who was visiting his friend, studio owner and engineer Cosimo Matassa in his tiny back room recording studio at the edge of the French Quarter. “I can tell you every musician [that] was there” recalls Rebennack—now Dr. John—over 50 years from [...]
We All Love Earl King: A Personal Remembrance
June 1, 2003 – 12:01 am
When a musician of Earl King’s stature dies, the funeral service is often a homecoming of New Orleans musical artists, a chance for people who haven’t seen each other in years to reunite, an opportunity for folks whose working hours are after dark to meditate on mortality in the broad daylight. At Gallier Hall, on [...]
