in the winter of '57 was Benny Kuykendall on lead guitar, his brother Scotty on bass, Larry Joe Patton on rhythm guitar, and Eddie Reeves on drum.
"He had one snare drum and one stick when he first started."
Influences
"My main influences were, in order, Dean Martin before rock'n'roll, then Johnny Cash, Elvis, Carl Perkins, Sonny Burgess, Billy Lee Riley, Jerry Lee, Roy Orbison, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. Oh, and Rick Nelson goes in there somewhere, but he wasn't actually so much of an influence on me. He was just like me, influenced by the Sun artists. However, when I first started playing the guitar and singing...about '56, I think...I borrowed a tape recorder from the school and recorded myself. My cousin said, when she heard it, "oh...Ricky Nelson sounds just like you!" Then, an older musician friend showed me how to "project" my voice...sing louder, basically...and suddenly I sounded like Johnny Cash. I was influenced more by Elvis than any of them, possibly because I "identified" with him more, as he was raised as an "only" child, and I was, too. We were both about the same degree of poor when we were kids. His mother and father even had some minor resemblances to mine. And he was closer to my age than the others, except maybe Jerry Lee. Elvis was my "main man", though Perkins, Burgess, Riley and Cash were running close seconds."
Larry Donn Gillihan was born and raised in Bono, Arkansas, a small town just a few miles north of Jonesboro. In the early 1950's he heard his first Rockabilly from Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Sonny Burgess, and Billy Lee Riley as they performed around the Northeast Arkansas area. Larry Donn decided it was time he got in on the act and so he formed his first band in 1957 at the ripe old age of 16. In 1959 he recorded "Honey Bun" on the Vaden label. "Honey Bun" and the flip side "That's What I Call a Ball" have since become Rockabilly standards performed by musicians all over the world.
In the 1980's Europe discovered Rockabilly and Rockabilly discovered a whole new audience. This audience was wild about that fifties tough guy look and that pounding backbeat rhythm that had come straight out of the Blues. Larry Donn became a European Superstar. Touring in Britain, Germany, and Holland he performed for thousands of screaming fans. Today his CDs are sold world wide and Larry Donn memorabilia is worth big bucks on the market. Some early recordings are worth as much as $250 for a single 45 record.
Larry Donn also wrote a column, "Rockabilly Days" in the leading American Roots Music publication "Now Dig This".
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Catch
That Rockabilly Fever by Sheree Homer is a candid account of life on the
road and in the studio with '50s legends and today's talent. These are personal
stories told by the artists themselves. It's a soft cover biography that will
be published in October 2009 by McFarland Publishers and retail for $39.95. It
will have never before seen photos (strictly 1950's photos of the legends) and
rare stories from the artists themselves. Catch
That Rockabilly Fever will be approximately 350 pages in length. It will be
unlike any other rockabilly book on the market since it will include some of
today's hottest young talent plus insightful stories from 1950's backing
musicians and engineers for the first time, such as James Kirkland (Bob Luman,
Ricky Nelson), Richie Frost (Ricky Nelson), Steve Handford (Bobby Lee
Trammell), Tony Austin (Rock and Roll Trio), Stanley Walker (Ray Smith), Bobby
Poe (Wanda Jackson), Vernon Sandusky (Big Al Downing) and Bob Sullivan
(KWKH/Louisiana Hayride). Foreword by acclaimed writer Ken Burke.
These
forty-six artists will have individual profiles and one glamorous photo
per musician: Glen Glenn, Lew Williams, Art Adams, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson,
Bob Luman, Ed Bruce, Dickey Lee, Jack Earls, Hayden Thompson, Maddox Brothers
and Rose, Sonny Burgess, Carl Mann, Ray Smith, Johnny Powers, Larry Donn, Pat
Cupp, Ronnie Hawkins, Bobby Lee Trammell, Huelyn Duvall, Gene Summers, Sonny
West, Buddy Holly, The Collins Kids, Wanda Jackson, Charlie Gracie, Big Al
Downing, Laura Lee Perkins, The Rock and Roll Trio, Narvel Felts, The Dave and
Deke Combo, Kim Lenz, Go Cat Go, High Noon, Larry Cole, Cari Lee Merritt, Josie
Kreuzer, Eddie Clendening, Suzy and Buddy Dughi, The Casey Sisters, Carl Sonny
Leyland, Dawn Shipley, Sue Moreno, Ruby Ann, and Tex Rubinowitz.
Many thanks for the add Larry .. I'm honored to share a small place on MySpace with you and nice to share some memories of the 1950's .. I can relate re having similar music influences and being an only child in a family scratching a living out of the land for many years .. it wasn't Easy Street but we were happy with what we had and we learned how to appreciate what we did have .. my little Channel Master transistor radio that I bought with money I made working in tobacco fields when I was ten years old and the used guitar that had been given to me by a neighbor were my prized possessions. Yeah .. those were the days!!
Larry Donn Gillihan was born and raised in Bono, Arkansas, a small town just a few miles north of Jonesboro. In the early 1950's he heard his first Rockabilly from Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Sonny Burgess, and Billy Lee Riley as they performed around the Northeast Arkansas area. Larry Donn decided it was time he got in on the act and so he formed his first band in 1957 at the ripe old age of 16. In 1959 he recorded "Honey Bun" on the Vaden label. "Honey Bun" and the flip side "That's What I Call a Ball" have since become Rockabilly standards performed by musicians all over the world.
In the 1980's Europe discovered Rockabilly and Rockabilly discovered a whole new audience. This audience was wild about that fifties tough guy look and that pounding backbeat rhythm that had come straight out of the Blues. Larry Donn became a European Superstar. Touring in Britain, Germany, and Holland he performed for thousands of screaming fans. Today his CDs are sold world wide and Larry Donn memorabilia is worth big bucks on the market. Some early recordings are worth as much as $250 for a single 45 record.
Larry Donn also wrote a column, "Rockabilly Days" in the leading American Roots Music publication "Now Dig This".
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