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22-573: From the back of the Early Allman compilation (Allman Joys - Early Allman): One quiet Nashville evening back in '66, songwriter John D. Loudermilk walked into a small club called the Briar Patch. Up on the bandstand was what looked like just another of the thousands of teen age rock bands of the era. When they started to play, Loudermilk could tell they weren't so typical after all. The two front men were both blond and very intense. One played

44-539: A number of hits: It was as a songwriter that Loudermilk made his mark. In 1963 he wrote another all-time hit for George Hamilton IV, " Abilene ". Working out of Nashville , Tennessee, Loudermilk became one of the most productive songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s, penning country and pop music hits for the Everly Brothers , Johnny Tillotson , Chet Atkins , the Nashville Teens , Paul Revere &

66-472: A poem that he set to music, " A Rose and a Baby Ruth ". The owners of local television station WTVD , where he worked as a graphic artist, allowed him to play the song on-air, resulting in country musician George Hamilton IV putting it on record in 1956. It spent 20 weeks on the Billboard magazine pop chart, reaching No. 6. After Eddie Cochran had his first hit record with Loudermilk's " Sittin' in

88-412: A television sports commentator following his career as a Major League Baseball pitcher, and Bill Craddock , who went on to country music fame as Billy “Crash” Craddock. An album of Craddock's early recordings between 1958 and 1961 was released in 1986 as Crash's Greatest Hits . Although it is labeled as a Colonial disc, it is a Canadian pressing and is said to be an unofficial release. Doug Franklin and

110-484: A trebly, stinging slide guitar ; the other sang in an anguished, world-weary voice. John D. wondered how it was that these two looked so young yet played with so much experience. Needless to say, he was very interested in the group, which called themselves the Allman Joys. Allman was the surname of the two blond brothers, Duane and Gregg, who led the band. Although he'd never produced before, Loudermilk decided to take

132-517: Is that, when he was asked by the Viva! NashVegas radio show about the origins of the Raiders' hit song " Indian Reservation ", he fabricated the story that he wrote the song after his car was snowed in by a blizzard and he was taken in by Cherokee Indians. A self-professed prankster , he spun the tale that a Cherokee chieftain, "Bloody Bear Tooth" asked him to make a song about his people's plight and

154-681: The Salvation Army . He was influenced by the singing of the Christian Church . His cousins Ira and Charlie Loudermilk were known professionally as the Louvin Brothers . Loudermilk was a graduate of Campbell College (now Campbell University ), a private North Carolina Baptist Convention-owned college in Buies Creek, North Carolina . As a young boy, Loudermilk learned the guitar, and while still in his teens wrote

176-649: The Trail of Tears , even going so far as to claim that he had later been awarded "the first medal of the Cherokee Nation ", not for writing the song, but for his "blood"; further fabricating that his "great-great grandparents, Homer and Matilda Loudermilk" were listed on the Dawes Rolls . Had this tall tale been true, he would have been a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, which he was not. In spite of

198-583: The Balcony ", Loudermilk's career path was underway. Loudermilk recorded some of his own songs—including "Sittin' in the Balcony", which reached No. 38 on the pop charts in 1957—as "Johnny Dee", for the North Carolina–based Colonial Records label. In 1958, he signed with Columbia Records and recorded five unsuccessful singles to 1959, including the original version of "Tobacco Road". In 1961, he signed with RCA Victor , where he had

220-602: The Bluenotes’ recording of "Lucky Love" placed in the Hot 100 at No. 73 in 1958. "Ski King" by E.C. Beatty sold 140,000 copies within the first two weeks after its release in 1959. It spent six weeks on the Hot 100 peaking at No. 50 on October 12, 1959. Colonial's records were distributed by ABC-Paramount Records from 1956 to 1959. London Records signed a three-year distribution agreement in May of that year. Tollie Records became

242-427: The Raiders , Johnny Cash , Marianne Faithfull , Stonewall Jackson , Kris Jensen , and Sue Thompson . His song "The Pale Faced Indian" (later known as " Indian Reservation ") was a hit in the 1970s; and " Tobacco Road " was a hit in the 1960s and 1970s for, among others, the Nashville Teens, Blues Magoos , Eric Burdon & War , and David Lee Roth . Several singers recorded "Midnight Bus"; Loudermilk commented that

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264-508: The U.S. and the U.K. for the Nashville Teens ; "This Little Bird", a U.K. No. 6 for Marianne Faithfull in 1965; and " Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye ", a U.S. Top Ten hit in 1967 for the Casinos and No. 1 country hit for Eddy Arnold the following year. Loudermilk was born in Durham, North Carolina, to Pauline and John D. Loudermilk Sr., an illiterate carpenter. The family were members of

286-770: The best was by Betty McQuade from Melbourne , Australia . After suffering from prostate cancer and respiratory ailments, Loudermilk died on September 21, 2016, at his home in Christiana, Tennessee. He was 82. The actual cause of death was a heart attack, according to his son Michael. The John D. Loudermilk Collection is in the Southern Folklife Collection of the Wilson Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A well-known story surrounding one of Loudermilk's songs

308-520: The group into the studio and cut some sides on them. One of the Allman Joys' sides, " Spoonful ", was released locally and sold well. But Loudermilk had already decided to concentrate on song writing, so he brought the group to Buddy Killen, head of Dial Records . Killen thought the group was quite good, so he had John Hurley take them into the studio to record more tunes. "They were really way ahead of their times, I realize now", Killen says. "Nobody really understood what Duane and Gregg were all about at

330-495: The masters and the record became a smash hit. On the popular music charts, the disk topped out at number 6, selling close to a million copies. In February 1957, Campbell recorded Loudermilk singing one of his own tunes, “ Sittin' in the Balcony ,” released under the name of “Johnny Dee.” It rose to number 38 on the charts, but became a springboard for Eddie Cochran , whose cover version reached number 18. Colonial Records' artist roster included Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean , who became

352-446: The masters. The record became a huge success in the comedy record market, selling some 800,000 copies, and reaching number 9 on the pop music charts. In 1956, a young aspiring musician named George Hamilton IV approached Colonial Records to pursue a recording career. That August Campbell recorded his rendition of a tune by fellow North Carolina artist John D. Loudermilk , “ A Rose and a Baby Ruth .” ABC-Paramount Records acquired

374-510: The role of a naïve country preacher who describes his experience attending a college football game, which is entirely puzzling to him. He sent the recording to Colonial Records. “ What It Was, Was Football ” became the label's third release in November that year. Colonial sold nearly 50,000 copies regionally. Capitol Records publicity man Richard Linke heard the record on a distant radio station and flew from New York City to North Carolina to buy

396-466: The song for Capitol Records but it was not released. Colonial's second release was another Campbell-Beebe composition, “Way Up In North Carolina,” also performed by the Bell Tones. The record caught the attention of bandleader Fred Waring , who performed it on his musical variety television program in 1951. In the fall of 1953, a young monologist named Andy Griffith recorded a routine in

418-634: The song's title, neither the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians , nor the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians , nor the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma communities (the only federally-recognized Cherokee tribes) are known as "reservations". Colonial Records Colonial Records was a Chapel Hill, North Carolina –based record label that provided the springboard for artists Andy Griffith , George Hamilton IV , John D. Loudermilk , and Billy "Crash" Craddock . Colonial Records

440-561: The time. Eventually I gave them their release and they went to California, leaving these tapes behind." Duane and Gregg Allman went on to form Hour Glass and the Allman Brothers Band. Note: Loudermilk's memory is slightly inaccurate, since Duane did not learn to play slide guitar until his birthday in 1968, a couple of years later. Early Allman (recorded in 1966, released in 1973) John D. Loudermilk John Dee Loudermilk Jr. (March 31, 1934 – September 21, 2016)

462-484: Was a record label founded in 1948 by Orville Campbell, a journalist and newspaper publisher in Chapel Hill, North Carolina . Its first release was "All The Way Choo Choo," by the Bell Tones, which Campbell composed with partner Hank Beebe in 1949, about UNC football star Charlie Justice. A recording of the song by bandleader Johnny Long was released on King Records and sold well regionally. Benny Goodman recorded

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484-418: Was an American singer and songwriter. Although he had his own recording career during the 1950s and 1960s, he was primarily known as a songwriter. His best-known songs include " Indian Reservation ", a 1968 hit for UK singer Don Fardon and a U.S. No. 1 hit in 1971 for The Raiders . He wrote " Ebony Eyes ", a 1961 U.K. No. 1 and U.S. No. 8 for the Everly Brothers ; " Tobacco Road ", a 1964 Top 20 hit in both

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