JM “Jimmy” Van Eaton, a pioneering rock 'n' roll drummer who played behind Jerry Lee Lewis and Billy Lee Riley at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, died Friday (February 9) at age 86. as a member of the family. he said.
Van Eaton, a Memphis native who joined the famed label as a teenager, died at his home in Alabama after health problems over the past year. The commercial appeal of Memphis reported, with his wife, Deborah, confirming his death.
Van Eaton was known for his bluesy playing style that the paper said fueled classic early rock hits on Sun like Lewis' “Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On” and Riley's “Red Hot.” He also played with Bill Justis and Charlie Rich.
James Mack Van Eaton originally started out playing trumpet in a school band, but soon switched to drums, saying in a 2015 interview that “it was an instrument that intrigued me.”
Van Eaton had his own rock 'n' roll band called The Echoes who would record a demo at the recording studio managed by Sam Phillips. His work there led him to connect with Riley and later Lewis.
“The hardest man to play with in the world was Jerry Lee. I told every musician to stay away from this man,” Phillips said The commercial appeal in 2000. “The only exception was JM Van Eaton.”
Van Eaton became part of a core of musicians who played at Sun during the 1950s, the paper said.
Van Eaton dropped out of the music business in the 1960s, but continued to perform in the 1970s, particularly as interest in rockabilly grew after the death of Elvis Presley.
In the early 1980s, Van Eaton began four decades working in the municipal bond business. But he was also part of the team that played the music for the film Big Fireballs, for Lewis, and released a solo album in the late 1990s. He was a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. He moved from Tennessee to Alabama a few years ago.
In addition to his wife, Van Eaton is survived by a son and a daughter.
