Biography
Timothy Lee Drummond entered the world on 20 April 1940 in Bloomington, Illinois, and departed on 10 January 2015 in St. Louis County, Missouri. Recognized as one of the music industry’s premier session bassists, he first picked up the instrument while his father served a year-long air force posting in Charleston, South Carolina, where the young musician immersed himself in R&B and rock ’n’ roll. Back in Illinois he performed on guitar alongside “Wild Child Gibson,” the noted associate of Little Richard, before shifting his focus permanently to the bass. Drummond next traveled with the regional outfit Eddie Cash & The Cashiers and subsequently joined rockabilly vocalist Conway Twitty on the road. When Twitty pivoted toward mainstream country, the bassist settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, performing nightly alongside Troy Seals, Lonnie Mack and Roger Troy of Electric Flag while contributing studio work for Hank Ballard and James Brown. He later became a full member of Brown’s touring ensemble, sharing stages across North America, Vietnam, Korea and Africa with such accomplished musicians as Jimmy Nolen and Maceo Parker, before eventually resigning. Relocating to Nashville, Drummond supplied bass lines for an array of blues and R&B performers including Joe Simon, Margie Hendricks and Fenton Robinson, as well as country figures such as Ronnie Mislap, Jimmy Buffett, Doug Kershaw and Charlie Daniels. An introduction to Neil Young led to Drummond’s participation on the landmark album Harvest and to his role in Young’s Straygators touring unit. He then established himself in California as a highly sought-after session player, collaborating with Young once more, Bob Dylan on Slow Train Coming, Saved and Shot Of Love, Ry Cooder on Bop Till You Drop, The Slide Area and Borderline, J.J. Cale on Naturally, Travel Log and Anyway The Wind Blows, Crosby, Stills And Nash on CSN, Graham Nash on Wild Tales, the Beach Boys on 16 Big Ones, John Mayall, Rick Danko, Don Henley on Building The Perfect Beast and Jewel on Pieces Of You. Additional projects included sessions with the sons of blues pioneer Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup for the Franktown Blues recording and appearances with Essra Mohawk under the KillerGrooveBand name. Texan guitar manufacturer Jackson Guitars produces the Tim Drummond Signature “BlueCollar” Bass Guitar in his honor.
Albums
