Buddy Harman; very tardy Independent obit
Hyfler/Rosner
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Before the advent of drum machines and Pro Tools, a steady,
reliable and versatile drummer was a prerequisite of any
successful recording session.Buddy Harman was one such,
providing the beat for an estimated 18,000 sessions,
including Elvis Presley's "(Marie's The Name) His Latest
Flame" and "Little Sister", both in 1961.
Harman's distinctive and imaginative drumming also propelled
the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love" and "Cathy's Clown" and
Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" into the charts, though the
consummate musician was equally at ease backing country
stars, playing with Patsy Cline on "Crazy", Johnny Cash on
"Ring Of Fire" and Tammy Wynette on "Stand By Your Man".
Harman helped to develop the role of drums in country music,
switching from snare and brushes to a full kit as he created
the shuffle which became part of "the Nashville Sound" of
the mid- to late Fifties. He was also the first drummer to
play at the Grand Ole Opry, though in the early days he
remained behind the curtain as his instrument wasn't part of
the traditional country music set-up.
Born Murrey Mizell Harman in 1928, he grew up in a musical
household where his mother played the drums in the family
band. Nicknamed Buddy after the jazz drummer Buddy Rich, he
played in marching bands during his time in the US Navy,
then enrolled at the Roy Knapp School of Percussion in
Chicago. In 1951, he played on his first session, for Moon
Mullican, and the following year he joined the country
singer Carl Smith for live appearances.
By the mid-Fifties, Harman had become part of Nashville's
"A-Team" of session players. Working for the producers Chet
Atkins, Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, the musicians would
fit several four-hour sessions into a day on Nashville's
Music Row. They were often so busy they would get their hair
cut in the studio to save time. Harman played on numerous
country and pop classics including Orbison's "Crying" and
"Only The Lonely"' and Roger Miller's "King Of The Road",
Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John", Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's
Daughter", "I'm Sorry" and "Rocking Around The Christmas
Tree" by Brenda Lee and "Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson.
Harman recorded television and film soundtracks as well
radio jingles, and worked with everyone from Ann- Margret to
Dolly Parton. One of Harman's more unusual sessions involved
him and DJ Fontana, Presley's original drummer, in the
recording of Ringo Starr's second solo album, the
country-tinged Beaucoups of Blues (1970) though the
"Nashville Jam", credited to all the participants, only
appeared on the CD reissue of the album in 1995.
Harman was a Nashville resident more or less all his working
life but in the Eighties he joined Jerry Lee Lewis's touring
band for a change of pace and to see the world. Later, he
returned to the Grand Ole Opry and he became a stalwart of
the Nashville Association of Musicians, helping former
colleagues track down royalties for the sessions they had
done. Over the years, Harman performed in front of four US
presidents, John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and
Ronald Reagan - which he described as "one of the highlights
of my career".
Paying tribute, the bassist Bob Moore said that Harman "had
such a great musical mind, but he was also such a kind, nice
person. Buddy was funny in the studio, and he kept everybody
feeling good."
Pierre Perrone
Murrey Mizell Harman (Buddy Harman), drummer: born
Nashville, Tennessee 23 December 1928; married Marsha
Marvell Irby (three sons, two daughters); died Nashville 21
August 2008.