Leroy Drumm
Encyclopedia
Leroy Maxey Drumm is an American
and a bluegrass
/country music
songwriter who served in the Navy
during the 1950s. He later worked as a welder in and around Detroit, MI. He is widely known for his collaborations with Pete Goble, and Stacy Richardson of Hurricane Creek
. Leroy wrote the song Colleen Malone, recorded by Hot Rize
on their Take It Home
, that won the IBMA’s Song of the Year award in 1991. Leroy Drumm's and Pete Goble's songs have made them something akin to the Rodgers and Hammerstein
of bluegrass. Their songs have been recorded dozens of times by probably an equal number of bands.
that some in the bluegrass world only knew by name in the shadows of another. Although he never could play any musical instrument
or sing he along with Pete Goble and others was able to turn his poems of heartache, life and memories into songs of today. Leroy and Pete penned such bluegrass favorites as Georgia Girl, Julianne, You Can Keep Your Nine Pound Hammer, Leaving You and Mobile (Too), Blue Virginia Blue, Natural Thing To Do, Bad Day in Akron, Big Spike Hammer, Tennessee 1949, I’m Only a Phone Call Away, Many Hills of Time, Poet With Wings, She’s Walking Through My Memory, Dixie in My Eye, Circuit Rider, Joe’s Last Train, I’m Only A Phone Call Away, Woman Dressed In Scarlet … and many more.
The duo began writing together in 1971 and since then their songs have been recorded by such notable artists as The Osborne Brothers, Bluegrass Cardinals, The Country Gentlemen
, Doyle Lawson
, Jimmy Martin
, Larry Sparks
, Josh Williams
, Don Rigsby, The Eddie Adcock Band, Joe Mullins, Special Consensus, IIIrd Tyme Out, Hot Rize
, Audie Blaylock and Lost & Found
among others.
In 1974 Leroy and Pete had 4 songs recorded on The Country Gentlemen's album Remembrances & Forecasts, Willow Creek Dam, Delta Queen, Billy McGhee The Drummer Boy, and Circuit Rider. In 1976 he was honored to have The Country Gentlemen use his song Joe's Last Train as the title track of their next album and his song This Land Must Die was the #6 track on that same album. In 2006]The Complete Vanguard Recordings was released and the 4 tracks of his were used from Remembrances & Forecasts.
One of his last projects, was a favor to Stacy Richardson for a WWII veteran named Private James W. Bozeman who went to church with Stacy. Leroy was asked to write a song about the Battle of the Bulge
and the account from a combat medics point of view in the 94th Infantry Division. His lyrics composed with Stacy's melody was posted on the 94th Infantry Division's website as a tribute to all of our nations hero's who fought and died for our freedom in WWII.
Bob Mitchell
of Radio Bluegrass International and WKWC-FM Owensboro, Kentucky
did a one hour tribute
to songwriter Leroy Drumm. The international segment features bands from Australia
, the Czech Republic
, Sweden
, and Italy
. It was recorded on January 15, 2011 at WFPK-FM 91.9, Louisville KY.
He had much heartache throughout his life and it carried on even when it came to his musical or poetic talent. He walked away from writing many times due to his disgust with some in the industry and each time he would swear he would never return, but he would. With these heartbreaks and heartaches came some of his best ideas for the words he would write. He wrote an email to his son in 2008 and stated;
“Song writing or poem writing is an art or craft, one is born with it. One can’t teach it or I don’t think one can learn it. No... one has to be born with it their heart and mind. It isn’t always pleasant to live with but it is forever there.
Ideas for songs or poems come from varied sources, but mostly from life itself. Really, anything that inspires a poet’s heart or mind is a source. Life of course is the greatest source. Second to “life” is a broken heart, unlike the gas in a car’s gas tank, a broken heart or life never runs out of gas …… it keeps going and going.
A life-time ago, when I was sixteen, I got my first broken heart from love gone wrong and tried to write about it. In fact I still remember the title "Well dear be careful with your heart". The broken heart I felt at sixteen I have been able to fall back on throughout my life and it is included into every broken hearted song I've ever worked on such as ”I Die A Little More Each Day", "Tennessee 1949", "Seen Through The Eyes Of A Dreamer" etc. .... Same girl and same broken heart. As I said, it keeps going and going and going.”
. His daughter, Terry Drumm was by his side and his son, Roger was on the telephone with him from Fort Riley
, KS at the time of his death. The end was far from pleasant, but everyone, to include himself, knew that he was ready to go. He had wrote a song with his dear friend Stacy years before titled "I'm Ready To Go" and that song fit almost to a tee to how it all ended.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and a bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
/country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
songwriter who served in the Navy
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the 1950s. He later worked as a welder in and around Detroit, MI. He is widely known for his collaborations with Pete Goble, and Stacy Richardson of Hurricane Creek
Hurricane Creek
Hurricane Creek is a tributary of the Black Warrior River located in Southwestern Tuscaloosa County in western Alabama. It is over 30 miles long and its watershed covers approximately 120 square miles. It is used by communities around it, including the city of Tuscaloosa, for recreation and...
. Leroy wrote the song Colleen Malone, recorded by Hot Rize
Hot Rize
Hot Rize is a bluegrass band that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. Established in 1978, the founding members were Mike Scap , Tim O'Brien on mandolin and fiddle, Pete Wernick on banjo and Charles Sawtelle on bass....
on their Take It Home
Take it Home (album)
Take It Home is a fifth and so far final album by the progressive bluegrass band Hot Rize.-Track listing:# Colleen Malone 3:07# Rocky Road Blues 2:13# A Voice on the Wind Take It Home is a fifth and so far final album by the progressive bluegrass band Hot Rize.-Track listing:# Colleen Malone...
, that won the IBMA’s Song of the Year award in 1991. Leroy Drumm's and Pete Goble's songs have made them something akin to the Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
of bluegrass. Their songs have been recorded dozens of times by probably an equal number of bands.
Career
Leroy Drumm was a songwriterSongwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
that some in the bluegrass world only knew by name in the shadows of another. Although he never could play any musical instrument
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
or sing he along with Pete Goble and others was able to turn his poems of heartache, life and memories into songs of today. Leroy and Pete penned such bluegrass favorites as Georgia Girl, Julianne, You Can Keep Your Nine Pound Hammer, Leaving You and Mobile (Too), Blue Virginia Blue, Natural Thing To Do, Bad Day in Akron, Big Spike Hammer, Tennessee 1949, I’m Only a Phone Call Away, Many Hills of Time, Poet With Wings, She’s Walking Through My Memory, Dixie in My Eye, Circuit Rider, Joe’s Last Train, I’m Only A Phone Call Away, Woman Dressed In Scarlet … and many more.
The duo began writing together in 1971 and since then their songs have been recorded by such notable artists as The Osborne Brothers, Bluegrass Cardinals, The Country Gentlemen
The Country Gentlemen
The Country Gentlemen were a bluegrass band that originated during the 1950s in the area of Washington, DC, United States, and recorded and toured with various members until the death in 2004 of Charlie Waller, one of the group's founders who in its later years served as the group's "focal point...
, Doyle Lawson
Doyle Lawson
Doyle Lawson is an American bluegrass and gospel musician. Doyle is best known as an accomplished mandolin player, vocalist, producer, and leader of the 5-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.-Biography:...
, Jimmy Martin
Jimmy Martin
Jimmy Martin was an American bluegrass musician, known as the "King of Bluegrass".-Early years:Born James H. Martin in Sneedville, Tennessee. Jimmy Martin was born into the hard farming life of rural East Tennessee. He grew up near Sneedville, singing in church and with friends from surrounding...
, Larry Sparks
Larry Sparks
Larry Sparks is a Bluegrass singer and guitarist. He was the winner of the 2004 and 2005 International Bluegrass Music Association Male Vocalist of the Year Award. 2005, won IBMA for Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year for his album "40," celebrating his 40th year in bluegrass...
, Josh Williams
Josh Williams
Josh Williams attended Foothill High School in Tustin, California and moved on to the Arizona State University. Williams now fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championships with Team Armedarsenal.com under the instruction of jujitsu practitioner Luciano Banaderas and boxing coach Franklin...
, Don Rigsby, The Eddie Adcock Band, Joe Mullins, Special Consensus, IIIrd Tyme Out, Hot Rize
Hot Rize
Hot Rize is a bluegrass band that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. Established in 1978, the founding members were Mike Scap , Tim O'Brien on mandolin and fiddle, Pete Wernick on banjo and Charles Sawtelle on bass....
, Audie Blaylock and Lost & Found
Lost & Found
Lost and Found is the fourth studio album released by Will Smith. It was released in the spring of 2005 and was certified gold by the RIAA. This album features the single "Switch".-Background:...
among others.
In 1974 Leroy and Pete had 4 songs recorded on The Country Gentlemen's album Remembrances & Forecasts, Willow Creek Dam, Delta Queen, Billy McGhee The Drummer Boy, and Circuit Rider. In 1976 he was honored to have The Country Gentlemen use his song Joe's Last Train as the title track of their next album and his song This Land Must Die was the #6 track on that same album. In 2006]The Complete Vanguard Recordings was released and the 4 tracks of his were used from Remembrances & Forecasts.
One of his last projects, was a favor to Stacy Richardson for a WWII veteran named Private James W. Bozeman who went to church with Stacy. Leroy was asked to write a song about the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
and the account from a combat medics point of view in the 94th Infantry Division. His lyrics composed with Stacy's melody was posted on the 94th Infantry Division's website as a tribute to all of our nations hero's who fought and died for our freedom in WWII.
Bob Mitchell
Bob Mitchell
Richard Charles Mitchell, , known as Bob Mitchell, was a Labour Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. He represented Southampton Test for Labour from 1966 to 1970, and Southampton Itchen for Labour and then the Social Democratic Party from 1981 to 1983.Mitchell was born in Southampton on...
of Radio Bluegrass International and WKWC-FM Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro is the fourth largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the county seat of Daviess County. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about southeast of Evansville, Indiana, and is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's...
did a one hour tribute
Tribute
A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...
to songwriter Leroy Drumm. The international segment features bands from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It was recorded on January 15, 2011 at WFPK-FM 91.9, Louisville KY.
Personal life
Leroy Drumm was married twice in his life, his first wife Carlie Mae Morrison was the mother of his six children, Rodney, Leroy Jr., Dolly, Barbara, Terry and Roger.He had much heartache throughout his life and it carried on even when it came to his musical or poetic talent. He walked away from writing many times due to his disgust with some in the industry and each time he would swear he would never return, but he would. With these heartbreaks and heartaches came some of his best ideas for the words he would write. He wrote an email to his son in 2008 and stated;
“Song writing or poem writing is an art or craft, one is born with it. One can’t teach it or I don’t think one can learn it. No... one has to be born with it their heart and mind. It isn’t always pleasant to live with but it is forever there.
Ideas for songs or poems come from varied sources, but mostly from life itself. Really, anything that inspires a poet’s heart or mind is a source. Life of course is the greatest source. Second to “life” is a broken heart, unlike the gas in a car’s gas tank, a broken heart or life never runs out of gas …… it keeps going and going.
A life-time ago, when I was sixteen, I got my first broken heart from love gone wrong and tried to write about it. In fact I still remember the title "Well dear be careful with your heart". The broken heart I felt at sixteen I have been able to fall back on throughout my life and it is included into every broken hearted song I've ever worked on such as ”I Die A Little More Each Day", "Tennessee 1949", "Seen Through The Eyes Of A Dreamer" etc. .... Same girl and same broken heart. As I said, it keeps going and going and going.”
Death
Leroy died due to complications of respiratory and heart failure at his home in Waynesboro, TN, on 26 November 2010, the day after ThanksgivingThanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
. His daughter, Terry Drumm was by his side and his son, Roger was on the telephone with him from Fort Riley
Fort Riley
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in Northeast Kansas, on the Kansas River, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 100,656 acres in Geary and Riley counties and includes two census-designated places: Fort Riley North and Fort...
, KS at the time of his death. The end was far from pleasant, but everyone, to include himself, knew that he was ready to go. He had wrote a song with his dear friend Stacy years before titled "I'm Ready To Go" and that song fit almost to a tee to how it all ended.