Sandy Nelson

Sandy Nelson's song "Teen Beat" rose to #4 on the charts in 1959. Subsequently he signed with the Imperial label and pounded out two more Top 40 hits, "Let There Be Drums" and "Drums Are My Beat". All thr

Sandy Nelson's song "Teen Beat" rose to #4 on the charts in 1959. Subsequently he signed with the Imperial label and pounded out two more Top 40 hits, "Let There Be Drums" and "Drums Are My Beat". All three were instrumentals (a feat seldom, if ever, repeated).

Sander Nelson was born in 1938 in Santa Monica, CA. He attended high school with Jan Berry, Dean Torrence (who together became Jan and Dean), and Phil Spector. After gaining respect as a session drummer, he played on such well-known songs as "To Know Him Is To Love Him" (Spector's Teddy Bears, 1958), "Alley-Oop" (The Hollywood Argyles, 1960), "A Thousand Stars" (Kathy Young and the Innocents, 1960) and more.