Herbie Lovelle


Herbie Lovelle was an American drummer, who played jazz, R&B, rock, and folk. He was also a studio musician and an actor.
Lovelle's uncle was the drummer Arthur Herbert. Lovelle began his career with the trumpeter, singer and band leader Hot Lips Page in the late 1940s, then played in the 1950s with the saxophonist Hal Singer, Johnny Moore's Three Blazers and the pianist Earl Hines. Through working for both Lucky Thompson and Jimmy Rushing of Count Basie's Orchestra, he became house drummer at the Savoy Ballroom in New York City for much of the 1950s. He toured with the tenor saxophonist Arnett Cobb and the pianist Teddy Wilson in 1954. In 1959 he contributed to the pianist Paul Curry's album Paul Curry Presents the Friends of Fats, released on the Golden Crest label.
In the early years of television, he performed with the King Guion Orchestra on the Jerry Lester Show and the Ed Sullivan Show. In 1966, he was the lead drummer for the Sammy Davis, Jr. TV show.
Lovelle began playing more R&B in the 1950s and worked as a studio musician, often with Sam Taylor. He played on albums by Bob Dylan, Pearls Before Swine, Eric Andersen, David Blue, John Denver, Tom Rush, B. B. King, John Martyn, the Strangeloves, the McCoys, and the Monkees. He continued working as a studio musician well into the 1980s.
In 1976, he produced the first album by Stuff, which went platinum in Japan. He also played drums in the 1976 revival of Guys and Dolls.
From the 1980s on, he acted in film and television, including on Law & Order. His film credits include Bella, Mitchellville , The Rhythm of the Saints, Don't Explain, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Down to Earth, Girlfight, Maximum Risk, Getting Away with Murder, White Lies, Bleeding Hearts, The Paper, Running on Empty, Death Wish III, A Man Called Adam.
His TV credits include Into the Fire, How Do You Spell Belief?, Kingpin Rising, Third Watch, and Law & Order TV.

Discography

With Eric Andersen
With Rufus Thomas
With Cándido Camero
  • Thousand Finger Man
  • Beautiful
With Buck Clayton
  • Jazz Gallery
  • Songs for Swingers
  • Copenhagen Concert
With John Denver
With Art Farmer
  • Art Farmer Plays
  • Early Art
  • Farmer's Market
With Lightning Hopkins
With Solomon Burke
With B.B. King
  • Completely Well
  • Indianola Mississippi Seeds
With Herbie Mann
  • The Herbie Mann String Album
  • Glory of Love
With Sonny Stitt
  • Soul Shack
  • Primitivo Soul
With others