Tim Drummond, Bassist For Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Dead at 74

Bassist Tim Drummond, who ascended to music fame while playing with Bob Dylan and Neil Young, among others, passed away on Jan. 10.

Longtime Young guitarist and Drummond associate Ben Keith also recently passed away -- in 2010 -- and the Los Angeles Times included an anecdote in his obituary that stated Drummond was responsible for bringing Keith and Young together.

From the LA Times: Keith met Young in 1971 in Nashville, where the rocker was working on what would become his commercial breakthrough album, "Harvest." Keith came to the recording studio at the invitation of drummer Tim Drummond, whom Young had asked to find a steel player for the sessions. When Keith arrived, "I didn't know who anyone was, so I asked, 'Who's that guy over there?' and was told, 'That's Neil Young.'"

While Drummond's partnership with Young was very successful, he also became Bob Dylan's go-to bassist in the 1980s, when he cowrote the "Saved" single and performed on Dylan's entire gospel trilogy.

"I can't praise [Dylan] enough," Drummond recently told Rolling Stone. "He's not only a dear friend, but he was just great. At that time I was semi-bandleader, and I kept telling the band, 'Watch [Dylan's] right heel when he's stomping. Don't tap your toe, watch your heel. That's where the beat is.' And that's exactly right. It's the heel that counts. If you tap your toe, you'd be off."

RS also notes that Drummond played with several other important artists, including Crosby, Stills and Nash, the Beach Boys, Don Henley, John Lee Hooker and Miles Davis.

Check out a 1991 performance of "Greensleeves" with Young and other friends below:

Tags

Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Obituaries