Carrigan, Jerry (13th September 1943-22nd June 2019)

He was a drummer born in Florence, Alabama, who began drumming from a very early age and received his first proper set of drums after he had made his own set by using various items from around the house.

He listened to music by many R&B and country artists during the 1950s and after becoming a member of Little Joe Allen & The Offbeats he recorded his first session with them when he was thirteen years old. Aside from his work with this group he also drummer for a few other bands and while he was at school and college he was in their marching bands.

He took his further education at college and during his time there he got the opportunity to be the backing drummer for Tommy Roe and in February 1964 performed with him as the opening act for The Beatles in their first concert in the United States.

He decided to leave college to pursue a career as a session musician and landed himself a job in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at FAME Studios as one of the original members of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. He played on many hit singles while there including “Steal Away” by Jimmy Hughes and “You Better Move On” by Arthur Alexander, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World by Charley Pride and “What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)” by The Tams.

In 1965 he moved to Nashville with Norbert Putnam and David Briggs from the studio and continued their work as a rhythm section. His name became known and before long he was becoming majorly sought after for recording sessions. It is thought that by 1977 he was working on somewhere around twelve three hour sessions each week and was credited as being the drummer that majorly established the Nashville “big fat drum sound” of the ‘70s.

From 1981 he toured with John Denver and remained playing for him until 1990.

Through the course of his career he worked with countless artists that include Susie Allanson, John Anderson, Paul Anka, Eddy Arnold, Hoyt Axton, Moe Bandy, Debby Boone, the Boston Pops, Jim Ed Brown, Buzz Cason, Marshall Chapman, Roy Clark, Helen Cornelius, Lacy J. Dalton, Mac Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Skeeter Davis, Donna Fargo, Lester Flatt, Janie Fricke, Don Gibson, Bobby Goldsboro, Tom T. Hall, Levon Helm, James Hendricks, Al Hirt, Ferlin Husky, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Brenda Lee, John D. Loudermilk, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Mathis, Reba McEntire, Don McLean, Bill Medley, Roger Miller, Nan Mouskouri, The Neon Philharmonic, Mickey Newbury, Oak Ridge Boys, Tommy Overstreet, Johnny Paycheck, Jerry Reed, Charlie Rich, Johnny Rivers, Marty Robbins, Johnny Rodriguez, Earl Scruggs, Jeannie Seely, Joe Simon, Billie Jo Spears, Joe Stampley, The Statler Brothers, Nat Stuckey, Billy Swan, B.J. Thomas, Tanya Tucker, Bobby Vinton, Porter Wagoner, Dottie West, Hank Williams Jr. and Tammy Wynette among many others.

During an interview, which was published on the elvispresley.dk site, when he was asked about how many recordings he thinks he performed on he was quoted as saying “I will guess around 12.000 sessions, and the songs have to be in the hundreds of thousands.”

As you will appreciate from this his album output his astronomical, but a select few of them include RCA Country Legends by Chet Atkins, The Complete A&M Recordings by Joan Baez, This is Bare Country by Bobby Bare, Rockabilly Blues by Johnny Cash, Friendship by Ray Charles, Gray of the Morning by Gene Cotton, Old No. 1 by Guy Clark, Remembering by Patsy Cline, Some Days Are Diamonds by John Denver, Fiedler & Friends by Arthur Fiedler, Amy Grant by Amy Grant, 5:01 Blues by Merle Haggard, Lonesome, On’ry and Mean by Waylon Jennings, Darlin’ by Tom Jones, Devil’s Elbow by Doug Kershaw, All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology by Jerry Lee Lewis, Apprentice (in a Musical Workshop) by Dave Loggins, Mancini Country by Henry Mancini, Chain Lightning by Don McLean, Instant Reply by The Monkees, Yesterday’s Wine by Willie Nelson, From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing by Michael Nesmith, The Soul of Rock ‘n’ Roll by Roy Orbison, Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton, That’s the Way It Is by Elvis Presley, The Essential Marty Robbins by Marty Robbins, The Gambler by Kenny Rogers, Hank Wilson’s Back! by Leon Russell, The Singing Ranger, Vol. 3 by Hank Snow, Have a Little Talk With Myself by Ray Stevens, Right or Wrong by George Strait and Cross Winds by Conway Twitty and You Lay So Easy On My Mind/Let’s Love While We Can by Andy Williams.

After devoting much of his life to his career as a much admired drummer he was honoured by the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

He passed away in Chattanooga, Tennessee in June 2019 when he was 75 years old after what has been quoted by Norbert Putnam “a seriously long illness”. That same year he was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.

Kenny Rogers recordings
The Gambler (D. Schlitz)
United Artists UA-X1250Y (UAST-20122) (US 45)

Sources:

Carrigan, Jerry (13th September 1943-22nd June 2019)

Navigation