Grammy Nominated Bassist Tim Drummond

A master groove player who served the song first and foremost.
The late Timothy Lee Drummond’s studio and stage credits span rock, blues. folk, gospel.
rhythm & blues, country, jazz and countless variants thereof.

For bass player Tim Drummond (4/20/40-1/20/2015) his musical path took him from local bands in central Illinois to Chicago to Cincinnati where he backed James Brown to Nashville to a lengthy career supporting Neil Young. Woven within are some 300 album credits.

It all started in Canton, a small central Illinois community about 299 miles southwest of Chicago. While in high school he was in a band called What For.When it came time to record, they opted to change their name to honor the spot at the soda shop where they used to meet after school, becoming the Third Booth.When they recorded their one and only record, the producer mis-titled the song “Sound Inc.” when it first got released on the local Thunder label.While it didn’t get any local airplay when they took it to Chicago, WLS DJ Art Roberts ended up liking the fuzz-ladenB side “Mysteries” and played it on his “Subterranean Circus”, the single climbing to !20 on the station”s chart. That generated calls from other other labels and it finally got distributed nationally on the Independence label with “Sound Inc.” properly credited as “I need Love”. The recordnever picked up steam and by the end of High School, the Third Booth was empty.

Drummond headed to Chicago to see where his music would take him. In the early “60’s he
joined up with Eddie Cash and company, a steady-working lounge band said to be working 50
weeks a year The line up included Jimmy Vincent (aka Jim Dollenger) and Chuck “Bing” Day on guitars, Billy LOwes on drums and Drummond on bass. “The two years with Cash turned out to be a grueling test of endurance,” recalls Vincent as they traveled the country with one- night stands at various Air Force and Army NCO clubs with the occasional week-long lounge gig. After two years,”The day came when our very solid bass player, Tim Drummond decided that He had finally endured enough, between the grinding tour schedule and our Gestapo wannabe Bandleader”, says Vincent. “He gave his two week notice”

Drummond found his next opportunity in Cincinnati with an eight piece, all white group called the Dapps. They recorded a number of singles for the King label in 1968-69.Slowley but surely they stripped down to a five piece, and eventually four piece where they became the session band backing James Brown on his 1969 album I’m Black and I’m Proud (King 1047). While in
Cincinnati he played rockabilly with Conway Twitty, funk with James Brown and vintage R & В
with Hank Ballard before moving to Nashville where he played on sessions with Joe Simon,
Fenton Robinson,Jimmy Buffett, and Charlie Daniels among others.

When Neil Young had traveled to Nashville to work on Harvest, Drummond visited the studio
and became a member of the Stray Gators with drummer Kenny Buttery, and pedal steel
guitarist Ben Keith. Drummond would continue to record and tour with Young on albums and
concerts that did not involve his primary backing band Crazy Horse. Since the early 70’s he’d
been backing Neil Young even as Young’s support group migrated through various musicians as
the Stray Gators, Shocking Pinks,and International Harvesters. Drummond can be heard on
Young’s albums Harvest, On the Beach, Comes a Time, Hawks and Doves etc.

He was part of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s infamous “doom tour” and continued working
with CSN even after Young left After re-uniting with the “Harvest” crew for the album Harvest
Moon record, Drummond ended his two decade long tenure with the 1999 “MTV Unplugged”
performance.

Drummond became an in demand session player, teaming with Drummer Jim Keltner as Tim
and Jim.Throughout the ’80’s he could be found on Building the Perfect Beast from Don Henley, Lonnie Mack’s Strike like Lightning, Fenton Robinson’s Mellow Fellow and Bette Midler’s Beast of Burden. In the ’90’s he can be heard on Victim of Romance from Michelle Phillips,Paula Abdul’s Spellbound, Jewel’s Pieces of You, and John Hammond’s Got Love if You Want It. The next decade found him ranging from Was (Not Was)’s Boo, to Judy Henske’s Loose in the Woods to Bobby Whitlock’s It’s About Time.

Drummond’s crescendo was in producing the C.D.”Franktown Blues”. For the Cruddup Bros,
Sons of the late, great Aurthor, “Big Boy” Cruddup. Drummond performed on the C.D. and three of his published works were included. A solo song “Going Down In Style” and two co-written songs. “Who’s Talkin’ “with J.J. Cale, and “Fur Slippers” with Bob Dylan. Drummond enlisted Lonnie Mack, and the Memphis Horns among others. Together they collectively created a fine tribute to one of the greatest bluesmen of all time.

Sadly Drummond passed away in 2015. Fortunately the Neil Young catalog pays homage to
Drummond with the 2019 Tuscaloosa Volume 4 of the Neil Young Archives Performance Series
with a recording of the Stray Gators at the University of Alabama from Feb. 5 1973.

Tim Drummond received a Grammy Nomination certificate for the song”Coming to Town” From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of the movie”The Hot Spot” Directed by Dennis Hopper. Drummond performed on multiple albums that went Gold and Platinum.
Beginning with the Neil Young “Harvest” album.- Gold and Platinum 4X “Harvest Moon” featuring fellow “Stray Gator” Spooner Oldham, also Gold and Platinum 2X. Lonnie Mack’s “Strike Like Lightning” Gold Don Henley’s “Building the Perfect Beast” Gold and Platinum 3X
When Bob Dylan was awarded “Best Male Vocal” Drummond performed with him the song “Gotta Serve Somebody” At the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards. From the album “Slow Train Coming”. That rose to Platinum. Dylan and Drummond cowrote the title track to the follow up piece, “Saved” was also Grammy nominated.

T.V and Video
“Live at the Apollo 68″ with James Brown and the famous flames
HBO Special”Influences” with James Brown and M.C. Hammer
No Nukes Concert Film- with Graham Nash
The Grammys with Bob Dylan / “Everybody’s Rockin; Neil Young and the Shocking Pinks
“Further on Down the Road” Live at Carnegie Hall featuring Lonnie Mack. Albert Collins and
Roy Buchanan.
MTV “UNplugged” Neil Young / The Grammys Special Blues Segment. With Willie Dixon, Etta
James,Albert King, B. B. King, KoKo Taylor, Junior Wells, Junior Wells, Robert Cray, Big Jay
McNeeley, Ry Cooder, and Jim Keltner

Movie Scores
Dennis Hopper’s- Hot Spot with John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Barl Palmer, Roy Rogers, Lilly
Zunick. / Rush- with Eric Clapton / The Border- with Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner, Paul Schrader’s.
Blue Collar- with Jack Nitzsche / Sean Penn’s Indian Runner- with Jack Nitzsche, David
Limdlley

Events
“Toronto Peace Festival”- with Neil Young / 75′ “Snack Benefit” with Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana
and Neil Young SF
Bill Graham- “No Nukes” Madison Square Garden / “Peace Sunday:- Rose Bow!
“John Lee Hooker Tribute”-Madison Square Garden with Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder
and Jim Keltner. / “Bridge School Benefit”- with Neil Young / “Farm Aid”- with
Neil Young and Willie Nelson. Irving, Teas / Houston Livestock & Rodeo- with Jimmy Buffett /
Astrodome / “New Orleans Jazz Fest- with Jimmy Buffett /
“Eastern Shore Music Festival” Va.99′ Drummond was named the Honoree- with the
Drummond and Mohawk Killer Grove Band. Greg “Fingers” Taylor, the Cruddup Bros Band,
Ray Matterick and Bo Diddley.

Contributor for this content: Sterlene Drummond