Today in the famous and influential drummers’ birthdays series we salute Louis (Louie) Bellson, born on this day in 1924.
In my experience, when it comes to famous jazz drummers, most non-drummers will instantly recognize Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, but likely will not know any other names. If they do know someone else, it’s probably Louie Bellson, but very often don’t know him for his drumming, but rather for his famous first wife, Pearl Bailey.
That fact alone could be the focal point of this diary, in that Louie and Pearl married in 1952, when segregation was still very much an institution in the United States. Yet even when I was a kid, fully aware of them both, the subject of their interracial marriage never seemed to be all that important. I don’t know the reason, but I suspect that it was their combined immense talents that made their races of little importance to all but the most ignorant goobers.
Louie rose to national prominence by winning the Slingerland National Amateur Swing Drummers’ Contest. Note in the ad from November 1941 that it was open to contestants over 18 and at that time, Louie was only 17. The contest, however, operated over several months and featured regional live competitions, so that by the time of the finals, Louie may have been barely eligible. Each contestant was required to play Gene Krupa’s drum part from "Drum Boogie," a song that at the time was as recognizable as "Sing, Sing, Sing." Louie took the first prize, winning over another fine drummer, Joe Raynor (who also was not 18 when the contest began). I guess no one remembers a 2nd place finisher, and although Joe Raynor had a fine career as a drummer and teacher in Houston, he’s no Louie Bellson.
If there’s anything that would distinguish Louie from other drummers, it would have to be the double bass drums. He’s credited as the "creator" of the double bass setup, although there may have been others using them at about the same time. What is for sure is that he was the person who made double bass drums into a legitimate option for modern drumming. There have been a lot of fine double bass players since Louie, such as Ginger Baker, Tommy Aldridge, and Cozy Powell, but none of them did anything Louie hadn’t done already.
Check out this drum solo with Duke Ellington from about 1950:
That solo was pretty much the basis for any Louis Bellson solo. Note how he’s embellished it in 1957 with latin beats, but it’s pretty much the same.
Note also the limits of those flimsy Gretsch cymbal holders (watch the ride cymbal gently sag towards the tom at the end). It’s no small wonder that Louie, like Buddy Rich, and many other famous drummers began to move to Rogers drums and the new "Swivo-Matic" hardware that held stuff in place. Louie eventually went back to Slingerland drums in the late 1970s, and is featured prominently as the top endorser in the 1979 catalog. It was especially important for Slingerland, because the company had lost Gene Krupa in 1973 (to death), and Buddy Rich in about 1978 (to Ludwig).
Even 30 years later, the same signature elements that made a Louie Bellson solo were still there. By this time, Louie had nothing to prove: he was on the Tonight show to promote Remo drum products, such as the Roto-Toms, on which he plays the melodic line from "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" (a song he undoubtedly played many times with Duke Ellington - h/t to Night Train; I don't know why I originally indicated it was Satin Doll - lack of sleep is my only excuse).
Not bad for a Senior Citizen. Playing the drums is good exercise.
Louie was much more than a drummer. He was Pearl Bailey’s musical director throughout her career, a poet, an arranger, and an accomplished composer (he wrote the standard "Skin Deep"). He even wrote a Broadway show, Portofino (which folded, unfortunately, after only three performances).
So here’s my personal take on Louie. I’d seen him a couple of times and had always been impressed. Back about 1981 I was sort of looking for a new drumkit (it wasn’t like I needed one; "need" is a completely irrelevant consideration when you have G.A.S., or "gear acquisition syndrome"), and I happened to stop by the Professional Drum Shop in Hollywood (itself an institution). As I walked in, I noticed there were a number of beautiful white marine pearl finish Slingerland bass drums and toms sitting in the window. They looked brand new. White marine pearl drums were not very popular during that time (they were considered "old fashioned" then), and so I asked Stan, the owner, about them. He said they were Louie’s drums: "He just dumped Slingerland, and he brought in these three kits on consignment. I’ll make you a really great deal with them, including the cases." It was then I noticed the huge pile of black drum cases with "Louis Bellson" stenciled on them.
Stan wasn’t kidding about the deal, either. I thought about it for quite a while, but then I saw a Recycler (the predecessor to craigslist) ad for a plain white (very popular at the time) Ludwig kit with a 26" bass drum. Turned out they belonged to a famous drummer too. Since Louie’s kits all had 22" basses and I love 26" bass drums, I decided to buy the Luddies instead (I will be going into more detail about those drums with the next installment of this series – there’s a connection).
I always wonder what would have happened if I’d bought those Slingerlands instead. Hmmmmm. Oh well, there’s no turning back now. I still see Stan every once in a while and we still reminisce about those drums. I think he regrets not keeping something out of all that stuff.
Louie passed away a few [months - it really was just this year] years ago; he suffered from Parkinson’s disease, and it made things difficult for him, except when he got behind the drums. Then you wouldn’t notice a thing, except for what a monster player he was. Happy Birthday Louie!