Panama Francis

David Albert "Panama" Francis (December 21, 1918 – November 13, 2001) was an American swing jazz drummer who also played on numerous hit recordings in the 1950s.

Francis was born in Miami, Florida, on December 21, 1918. His father was Haitian, and "his mother came from an English property-owning background in the Bahamas". His father collected records, and Francis was enthusiastic about music and playing the drums even before attending school. He initially played in marching bands and local drum and bugle corps.

Francis first played professionally in the 1930s. He was part of George Kelly's band from 1934 to 1938, and was then with the Florida Collegians in 1938. After moving to New York that year, he worked with Tab Smith, Billy Hicks, and Roy Eldridge before the 1940s. Francis acquired his nickname from Eldridge: "he was inadvertently given the lasting nickname Panama at a moment when he was wearing a panama hat and Eldridge could not remember his new drummer's name".

Francis joined Lucky Millinder's big band in 1940, so often played at the Savoy Ballroom. After leaving Millinder he was with Willie Bryant's band (1946), and then Cab Calloway (1947–52); he was in three short films alongside the latter.

For much of the 1950s Francis was a studio musician in New York, accompanying rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll groups and singers. The hits he played on included: Bobby Darin ("Splish Splash"); the Four Seasons ("Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like a Man"); Buddy Holly ("Peggy Sue"); the Platters ("The Great Pretender", "My Prayer", "Only You", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"), Neil Sedaka ("Calendar Girl"); and Jackie Wilson ("Reet Petite").

From 1963 Francis toured with singer Dinah Shore for five years. He then set up home in California, but struggled to find work. He toured Japan with Sam "the Man" Taylor in 1970–71, and appeared on film again in 1972, in Lady Sings the Blues. Back in New York, Francis was part of Sy Oliver's nonet from 1973 to 1975, during which time he also appeared at jazz festivals and toured internationally with other bands. His Savoy Sultans jazz and dance band was formed in 1979, and appeared regularly at the Rainbow Room, New York, for eight years from 1980. Francis became drummer in the Benny Goodman Quartet for concerts in 1982. He appeared in the 1994 film The Statesmen of Jazz as a member of the Statesmen of Jazz. He died on November 13, 2001, following a stroke, at the age of 82.

As leader

• Exploding Drums (Epic, 1959)
• The Beat Behind the Million Sellers (ABC-Paramount, 1960)
• Gettin' in the Groove (Black and Blue, 1979)
• Panama Francis and the Savoy Sultans (Classic Jazz, 1980)

As sideman

With Eddie Barefield

• Eddie Barefield (RCA, 1974)
• The Indestructible E. B. (Famous Door, 1977)

With Wilson Pickett

• In the Midnight Hour (Atlantic Records, 1965)

With Milt Buckner

• Green Onions (Black and Blue, 1975)
• Midnight Slows Vol 6 (Black and Blue, 1977)

With Ray Bryant

• Groove House (Sue, 1963)
• Hot Turkey (Black and Blue, 1979)

With Sam Cooke

• My Kind of Blues (RCA Victor, 1961)
• Twistin' the Night Away (RCA Victor, 1962)

With John Lee Hooker

• It Serves You Right to Suffer (Impulse! Records, 1966)

With Cab Calloway

• Hi De Ho Man (Columbia, 1974)
• Jumpin' Jive (CBS, 1984)

With Solomon Burke

• If You Need Me (Atlantic, 1963)

With Arnett Cobb

• Jumpin' at the Woodside (Black and Blue, 1974)
• The Wild Man from Texas (Black and Blue, 1977)
• Keep On Pushin' (Bee Hive, 1984)

With Ray Conniff

• 'S Awful Nice (1958)
• Ray Conniff's Concert in Stereo (CBS/Sony 1970)
• Live in Japan (CBS/Sony 1975)

With Earl Hines

• Hines '74 (Black & Blue, 1974)
• Earl Hines at Sundown (Black & Blue, 1974)
• The Dirty Old Men (Black and Blue, 1978)

With Brownie McGhee/Sonny Terry

• A Long Way from Home (Bluesway, 1969)
• I Couldn't Believe My Eyes (Bluesway, 1969 [1973])

With Big Joe Turner

• Singing the Blues (BluesWay, 1967)
• Joe's Back in Town (Black and Blue, 1974)
• Effervescent (Classic Jazz, 1979)

With others

• Red Allen, Jazz at the Metropole Cafe (Bethlehem, 1955)
• Casey Anderson, The Bag I'm In (ATCO, 1962)
• Cat Anderson, Cat on a Hot Tin Horn (Mercury, 1958)
• Doc Bagby, A Place in the Sun (Current, 1967)
• Mickey Baker, The Blues and Me (Black and Blue, 1974)
• Emmett Berry/Buddy Tate, Beauty and the Blues (Columbia, 1960)
• Big Maybelle, Gabbin' Blues and Other Big Hits (Epic, 1968)
• Eubie Blake, The Marches I Played on the Old Ragtime Piano (20th Fox, 1960)
• Nappy Brown, Don't Be Angry! (Savoy, 1984)
• Oscar Brown Jr., Sin & Soul (Columbia, 1960)
• Gene Conners, Coming Home (Belter 1978)
• Dorothy Donegan, The Many Faces of Dorothy Donegan (Mahogany 1975)
• Roy Eldridge, At the Arcadia Ballroom Broadway New York City 1939 (Musidisc, 1975)
• Roy Gaines, Superman (Black and Blue, 1975)
• Dizzy Gillespie, The Melody Lingers On (Limelight, 1966)
• Lloyd Glenn, Old Time Shuffle (Black and Blue, 1976)
• Tiny Grimes, Some Groovy Fours (Black and Blue, 1974)
• Lionel Hampton, At Newport '78 (Timeless, 1980)
• Woody Herman, Hey! Heard the Herd? (Verve, 1963)
• Eddie Heywood, Eddie Heywood at the Piano (Mercury, 1960)
• Claude Hopkins, Music of the Early Jazz Dances (20th Fox, 1958)
• Dick Hyman, Traditional Jazz Piano (Project 3 1973)
• Johnny Letman, The Many Angles of John Letman (Bethlehem, 1960)
• Little Willie John, Fever (Regency 1956)
• Odetta, Sometimes I Feel Like Cryin' (RCA Victor, 1962)
• Andrew Odom, Farther on Down the Road (Bluesway, 1973)
• Red Prysock, Swing Softly Red (Mercury, 1961)
• Charlie Shavers, Horn o' Plenty (Bethlehem, 1954)
• Carrie Smith, Do Your Duty (Black and Blue, 1976)
• David T. Walker, Going Up! (Revue 1969)
• Dick Wellstood, Fats Waller Revisited (Classic Jazz, 1975)
• Jimmy Witherspoon, Sing the Blues with Panama Francis and the Savoy Sultans (Muse, 1983)