Most of you know I spend much less time doing ElvisBlog now that I am the full-time caregiver for my wife. I have been reposting old articles from the archives this year because it takes less time. I also don’t visit a lot of the websites I’ve used for years to get inspirations for new posts.
So, it wasn’t until November 6 that I found out Elvis’ drummer Ronnie Tutt died on October 16. ElvisBlog has remembered a lot of people in Elvis world who passed away during the last 16 years. It’s time to add a belated remembrance of Ronnie Tutt.
I assume you’ve read all the biographical stuff about Ronnie already, so I’ll do something different. At a concert in November 1969, Elvis amused himself with the names Ronnie Tutt and bassist Jerry Scheff during the introductions:
“So that’s Tutt and that’s Scheff. That’s Tutt Scheff, any way you look at it, boy.” (Think about that one for a minute.)
I like this picture of Elvis’ two long-time drummers, Ronnie Tutt and DJ Fontana. I believe it was taken at one of Darwin Lamm’s Good Rockin’ Tonight concerts at Elvis Week. The TCB Band was featured, and DJ was the special guest. I was backstage, but I can’t remember if Ronnie and DJ played together or DJ took over the drum kit on a few songs. Either way, it was a great show.
Before the concert, I sat in a room backstage where the TCB guys were hanging out. They were at a table and I was on a chair against the wall, but I caught every bit of their rambling conversations about all kinds of stuff. Ronnie was the funniest. A real good ol’ boy. Toward the end, Glenn Hardin left, so I asked if I could sit on his seat and have a picture taken with them. I think Darwin snapped it.
How would you like to see Ronnie Tutt do a drum solo? Click here. You can see by Elvis’ Sundial Jumpsuit that the clip comes from a 1977 concert
Good bye Ronnie Tutt. We will miss you. Say hi to Elvis for us.
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