I just received word that Dickie “Be-Bop” Harrell, the original drummer of Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps, passed away this morning. Many of us here on Facebook knew Dickie by his constant presence, commenting and leaving stickers on just about everybody’s page over the years. Dickie’s constant online presence was a real thrill and a marvel—“Wow, that’s GENE VINCENT’S ORIGINAL DRUMMER who just left a comment on my page!”
I was lucky to be friends with Dickie going back several decades. I met him for the first time when the Blue Caps came out to California in the 1990s and played some shows. At that time, quite a few of the original Blue Caps were still alive and performing, and it was an absolute treasure to see the Caps play a show. The first time I ever booked a show in Norfolk, Virginia, where Gene and the Blue Caps were from, I was floored when Dickie and his wife Donna came out to our show, and Dickie sat in on drums with my band! Over the years we became good friends, seeing him at shows in Virginia, talking to him on the phone, and communication on Facebook. I talked to him on the phone recently for over an hour, and he was the same ol’ Dickie, talking about music, asking me when I was coming back to Virginia to play.
Dickie was an amazing drummer (he was so good that he even got his OWN Capitol Records contract in 1957, when he recorded the album Drums, Drums and more Drums! ), and just a real prince of a guy. Always positive, always supportive, always upbeat. He always told me things like “I’m proud of you,” and “You’re doing a great job.” It’s hard to relate how much that helps you when you hear such things from one of your all-time musical heroes (and it’s also very RARE for someone to be so giving with their praise and positivity and support). Of all the old rockabilly guys I have known and played with over the years, Dickie was really in a league of his own.
I will miss hearing that unique Tidewater Virginia accent coming out of the phone: “HOW YOU DOIN’, MAN!” Many of us knew that his health had been poor the last few years, but his longevity made many of us feel like he’d be around forever. Now that Dickie is gone, all I can think is how lucky we were to have had him for so long. Safe travels, old buddy. We are all going to miss you so much.
To properly memorialize Dickie “Be-Bop” Harrell, please spend the rest of the day blasting Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps classics that he played on: “Be-Bop-a-Lula,” “Race with the Devil,” “Jumps, Giggles and Shouts,” “Hold Me, Hug Me, Rock Me,” “Double Talkin’ Baby,” “B-I-Bickey Bi, Bo Bo Go,” “Lotta Lovin’,” “Dance to the Bop” and so many others. They are some of my favorite recordings of all time, and Dickie’s explosive drumming propels those records to heights of excitement and rawness still unmatched by anyone else.
