by Chuck Tilley - Chuck is a member of the band Sixwire and was the drummer for the band “Alabama"
from 2011 - 2018. He’s recorded with such acts as : Richard Marx, Dolly Parton , Al Jareau, Kenny Rogers,
Sir Cliff Richard , and many others over the course of his 30 + year career.
Chuck Tilley and Ron Tutt
I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of drumming legend Ron Tutt. He had an over 60 year career as an “in demand” session and touring drummer. I’m sure you’ve seen the numerous comments and tributes made by various musician luminaries such as Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, Michael McDonald and also from Ron’s former band mates in the TCB Band and Neil Diamond’s band. However, on a personal note , I felt compelled to comment from a different perspective.
Ron was one of my drumming icons. Watching him just absolutely nail the Elvis live show was quite the inspiration to my young 7 year old self . I watched Ron on TV or in the concert movies every chance I got. Seeing him play that huge double bass drum kit with 10 toms just blew my mind ! I wanted to BE Ron Tutt when I grew up . We all did .
Flash forward many years, and me and my Sixwire band mates became the House Band for Elvis Week at Graceland every year. We play with various artists during the week but the main show being , the “Elvis in Concert “ show, where our band is augmented by a horn section and numerous back ground singers including Elvis’s backup vocal group The Imperials . The show is footage from various Elvis live concert movies shown on huge video walls above the live band on stage and on side screens all synched up to a Elvis’s lead vocal and a click track. The most important part being , members of the TCB band also joined us for numerous featured songs through out the show. They are live onstage playing along to them selves up on the screen from footage shot in the early 1970’s . It’s a technical challenge to say the least, but they found a way to make it all work. Ron and the TCB band had been doing this in arena’s around the world since the mid 1990’s.
Since I was playing the majority of the 90 minute show , I got the chance to stay onstage and double drum with Ron when he came out for his featured songs. I was ecstatic to say the least!! We drummed together of many of the classic songs and it was pure drumming heaven for me. Keep in mind, Ron was 81 years old at the time and had suffered a few serious health issues in the recent years. However, that “feel “ and command of the instrument were all still there. My role was to support but stay out of the way and cover some of the big tom tom parts when needed. I have to give a huge shout out to his long time drum tech Mike Notermann who made sure I got lots of hang time to chat with Ron when we weren’t in rehearsals or on stage.
Ron was a huge fan favorite and at all times he was humble , kind and patient to all that he encountered that week. He was especially nice to me and for that I am eternally grateful . I have many photos of me with Ron , all of which I will cherish .
What’s amazing about his 60 year career was that he’s probably best known for his work with Elvis, but that was only roughly 8 years of Ron’s work. He was playing in Jerry Garcia’s band in the early 70’s while doing the Elvis gig and always doing sessions at the same time. He toured with Neil Diamond for years. His ability to be a musical “Chameleon “ was a huge inspiration to me and served as a model for what I wanted to become. He effortlessly could float from one musical situation to the next, all the while playing what was right for the song and at the same time inserting some of his own drumming style. ( Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” is a great example of that) . I also must mention the Roy Orbison “Black and White Night “ live concert DVD from the late 80’s . Must be seen to believed. It’s the TCB rhythm section backing up Roy , and they are supplemented by bonus “sidemen “ such as : Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, T Bone Burnett, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and a few other stars. Roy is amazing and Ron is playing a small 4 piece kit and he plays exactly what Roy’s music called for. Outside of his voluminous work with Elvis and Neil Diamond , this Roy Orbison concert album and video is my favorite piece of Ron Tutt’s work.
Ron’s recording credits are too numerous to mention, but I find it remarkable that he could record with such diverse acts as : Buckingham - Nicks , Johnny Cash, Gram Parsons , Duane Allman , the Carpenters , Quincy Jones , Henry Mancini, Emmylou Harris, and T Bone Burnett – just to name a few. His credits listing on the All Music web page is mind blowing to read. And, oh, by the way , he was a good vocalist as well and that’s him singing the bass part on Johnny River’s “Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” . Who knew?!
In closing, I hated to lose one of my longtime drumming heros that I was lucky enough to know, albeit briefly – but I’m eternally thankful for the time I got to spend with him both on and off stage. Ron Tutt inspired an immeasurable number of drummers like myself and for that we should all be grateful . Rest easy Ron Tutt as your drumming will live on forever on countless recordings and videos.
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* Special thanks to Ron’s beautiful wife of 48 years, Donna Tutt and to his long time drum tech Mike Notermann for filling me in on some of the back ground info I used
for this article . They are a wealth of knowledge on Ron’s 60+ year career and my heart goes out to them and to Ron and Donna’s 10 children.
Chuck Tilley
10/ 25/21