18 Facts About Larrie Londin

Ralph Gallant, known professionally as Larrie Londin, was an American drummer and session musician.

Larrie Londin played on more hit records during his career than any other drummer, with the exception of the legendary session drummer Hal Blaine, and his work covers the complete musical spectrum.

Larrie Londin began playing drums at the age of 15, and was largely self-taught.

Larrie Londin initially planned to be a singer, and had an early recording contract with Atlantic Records, but decided to stay loyal to the band The Headliners and signed with Motown under the VIP label.

Larrie Londin's first professional drumming engagement was in Norfolk, Virginia, in a club where he was a cook and dishwasher.

Larrie Londin played drums on recordings by The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations and Jr.

Larrie Londin was considered to be a "master class" drummer, and made appearances on the "drum clinic" circuit.

Larrie Londin was known to practice eight to twelve hours a day.

Larrie Londin was one of the first American drummers to record extensively with electronic drums.

Always promoting innovation in the session business, Larrie Londin mentored younger musicians and proposed the first cartage services for Nashville session players.

One notable drummer whom Larrie Londin mentored was Eddie Bayers, now a top Nashville session drummer in his own right.

Larrie Londin acknowledged that he had obtained a rudimentary knowledge of music charts from Master Chief Musician Kenny Malone, who had previously been head of the percussion department at the US Navy School of Music at Little Creek, Virginia, and came to Nashville as a session musician.

Larrie Londin worked on a handful of Elvis Presley studio and live sessions, albeit in an overdubbing capacity at the behest of Presley's producer, Felton Jarvis.

One notable recording on which Larrie Londin appears is the 1980 remix version of "Guitar Man", which was the singer's final No 1 single on the country charts.

Larrie Londin substituted for Presley's long-time drummer Ronnie Tutt in the TCB Band briefly in 1976 and 1977, resulting in Londin playing at Presley's last two concerts, prior to Presley's death, in Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

Larrie Londin demonstrated the diversity of his playing ability through playing jazz fusion with ex-King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew.

In 1994, Larrie Londin was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of Modern Drummer magazine, in response to the magazine's annual readers poll.

In 1999, a benefit concert was held, co-sponsored by the Percussive Arts Society and Sabian, the cymbal manufacturer with which Larrie Londin had been associated, to raise money for musician scholarships.