Nigel Olsson

Nigel Olsson
Olsson in the Elton John band; May 2007 in Alabama
Background information
Born	(1949-02-10) 10 February 1949 Wallasey, Merseyside England, United Kingdom
Genres	Rock and roll
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Drums, vocals, guitar, tambourine, congas
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Page One, Uni, Rocket, Polydor, Columbia, Bang, 81, Artful Balance
Associated acts	Plastic Penny, Elton John, Uriah Heep, Spencer Davis Group
Website	www.nigelolsson.com

Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English rock drummer, who is best known for his affiliation with Elton John.

Olsson helped establish the Elton John sound as the first member of John's band, on drums, percussion and backing vocals. When not working with John, Olsson has taken up the role of a session musician. Olsson has composed, recorded, and produced albums for his own solo career.

Career

Early years

Olsson was born in Wallasey, Merseyside, England. He began with his musical endeavours playing the guitar in small bands, until the band's drummer left, and Olsson took up the drum kit. His first appearance on a record album was in the band Plastic Penny, which released Two Sides of a Penny on Page One Records in 1968. Olsson was spotlighted on one song on that album, "I Want You," performing both lead vocals and a drum solo. In 1969 he played drums on the "flower power" pop single "Mr. Boyd" b/w "Imagine" by Argosy, a one-off group which also included Reginald Dwight (later known as Elton John), Caleb Quaye, and Roger Hodgson. Olsson also served a brief time with the English hard rock band Uriah Heep, playing drums for some songs on its 1970 debut LP, Very 'eavy... Very 'umble. Subsequently, he played drums on one track on Elton John's debut album, Empty Sky, and the next year, as a member of The Spencer Davis Group with bassist Dee Murray. The pair joined John on the road as his touring band, and played with John during his debut tour in the United States at the Troubadour Club. Only permitted at first to play on one track of John's studio albums, Olsson and Murray were added, along with guitarist Davey Johnstone, who was newest to the band, and all teamed up to play and sing backing vocals on Elton John's early 1970s albums.

Joining the Elton John band

Olsson in 1971.

With Johnstone, Olsson and Murray on board, John enjoyed a string of critically acclaimed albums and hit singles. The albums include Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player, Honky Chateau, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and Caribou. Shortly before the Captain Fantastic studio sessions, percussionist Ray Cooper toured as a sideman in what was billed as The Elton John Band. Olsson played during all of John's original American tours and confesses that he still gets nervous while touring with him.

The Elton John band, while still a trio- Olsson in the center, 1971

In 1971, Olsson produced and released his debut solo album Nigel Olsson's Drum Orchestra and Chorus on Uni Records; featuring Murray and John's initial guitarist, Caleb Quaye. Olsson also teamed up with the Liverpool trio, The Big Three, for their reunion album, Resurrection (1973).

By 1975, Olsson and Murray were released from John's band, following the release of Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, which, upon release, hit the charts at #1. Olsson's second solo album, Nigel Olsson, appeared that year on John's own record label named The Rocket Record Company, and featured a cover of the Bee Gees' penned "Only One Woman", which featured the combination of Johnstone, Murray, and Cooper. The album was produced by Robert Appere.

Olsson continued working as a studio musician, releasing another self-titled album that was produced by Paul Davis on Columbia in 1978. Although that album brought no Top 40 recognition, in 1979, he released the album Nigel and enjoyed some mild success as a solo artist, scoring a pair of Top 40 hits on the U.S. pop chart with "A Little Bit of Soap" and "Dancin' Shoes", the latter of which cracked the Top 20 at #18. "Dancin' Shoes" was originally written by Carl Storie, and first recorded by his Faith Band.

In 1980, he released the album Changing Tides on CBS's Bang Records, but the album failed to achieve chart success. That same year, Olsson returned to Elton John's band to begin a four-year tenure, working with John for session work on albums such as 21 at 33 and The Fox. He rejoined former bandmates Murray and Johnstone for the tour behind John's 1982 album Jump Up!, and stayed with the reformed band through the next two albums and tours for Too Low for Zero (1983) and Breaking Hearts (1984). Following another line-up change, they would rejoin only once more in 1988 for backing vocals on Reg Strikes Back prior to Murray's death in January 1992.

Later, in 1991, Olsson reunited with Johnstone to form 'Warpipes', releasing Holes in the Heavens, although the album was critically successful, it failed commercially when their label, Artful Balance records went bankrupt, and the band mates were unable to tour to support the record. Also that year Olsson sang on Davey Johnstone and Guy Babylon's production of Addison Steel's Stormy Blue. This CD became a successful cult classic following the death of Babylon. Olsson then spent the next few years relaxing in California with his wife Schanda and son Justin, and racing vintage cars for fun. He still lives in Los Angeles.

Olsson returned to John's band in 2000 as part of his touring band, alternating between drums and backing vocals on certain songs. (The songs in which Olsson was not the drummer, typically the newer songs, were handled by Curt Bisquera). In January 2001, Olsson took over the full-time touring drumming chores when Bisquera left to pursue other projects.

In 2001 Nigel released another solo album entitled Move The Universe on 81 Records. Johnstone and Guy Babylon produced the record, and played on many of the tracks, along with Bob Birch on bass, Elton John alumnus Fred Mandel on piano, John Mahon on percussion and Billy Trudel on backing vocals. Kiki Dee sang lead vocals on "Naked Without You". "Building A Bird" was written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin. (The song was written in 1994 during the sessions for Elton's album "Made in England," but it wasn't used.) "When I'm Dead 'An Gone" is sung by Kai Olsson, Nigel's brother. Nigel dedicated the album to the late Dee Murray.

In the studio, he played and sang backing vocals on several tracks on John's Songs from the West Coast (2001). He then played all drums on Peachtree Road (2004) and The Captain & the Kid (2006), as well as continuing in the touring band, along with Johnstone, Bob Birch (bass), Kim Bullard (keyboards) and John Mahon (percussion).

Equipment

DW drums

1. 18x22 Bass Drum
2. 18x22 Bass Drum
3. 8x22 Woofer
4. 8x22 Woofer
5. 5x14 Collector's Maple Snare Drum
6. 7x8 Tom
7. 8x10 Tom
8. 9x12 Tom
9. 12x14 Floor Tom
10. 14x16 Floor Tom

Paiste cymbals

1. 14" Signature Power Hi-Hat
2. 18" Signature Full Crash
3. 21" Signature Silver Mellow Ride
4. 24" 2002 Ride

Vic Firth sticks

1. Rock model

Remo drumheads

DW hardware

1. 5000TD3 Delta3 Single Bass Drum Pedal
2. 5000TD3 Delta3 Single Bass Drum Pedal
3. 5500TD Delta 2-leg Hi-Hat Stand
4. 9300 Snare Drum Stand
5. 9900 Double Tom Stand
6. 9900 Double Tom Stand
7. 9700 Straight/Boom Cymbal Stand
8. 9700 Straight/Boom Cymbal Stand
9. 9700 Straight/Boom Cymbal Stand
10. 9100M Standard Drum Throne

In years past he was an endorser for such companies as Premier, Slingerland, and Yamaha Drums.

Discography

Year	Artist	Album	Label
1971	Nigel Olsson	Nigel Olsson's Drum Orchestra and Chorus	Uni Records
1973	The Big Three	Resurrection	Polydor Records
1975	Nigel Olsson	Nigel Olsson	Rocket
1978	Nigel Olsson	Nigel Olsson (second self-titled)	Columbia
1979	Nigel Olsson	Nigel	Columbia
1980	Nigel Olsson	Changing Tides	Bang Records
2001	Nigel Olsson	Move The Universe	81 Records

External links

• Nigel Olsson
• Drum Tech
• Drummerworld