Richard Louis Holler (born October 16, 1934 in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

Biography
LMHOF website; accessed February 19, 2018.) is an American songwriter, pianist, and performer, best known as the writer of the

folk-pop Folk-pop is a musical style that may be 1) contemporary folk songs with large, sweeping pop arrangements, or 2) pop songs with intimate, acoustic-based folk arrangements. Recording production values created a unblemished style that appealed to ...

standard " Abraham, Martin and John". The song has been recorded by numerous artists including Dion,

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

, and

Moms Mabley Loretta Mary Aiken (March 19, 1894 – May 23, 1975), known by her stage name Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was an American stand-up comedian and actress. Mabley began her career on the theater stage in the 1920s and became a veteran entertainer of the ...

, among others.

Biography

Early life

He moved with his family to

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

in 1951, where he later graduated from University High School and attended

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

for five years. It was while attending LSU that he began to play piano and organize bands and writing songs with his college friends.

Career

Holler performed for two years on the local award-winning record rating TV teen show ''Hit or Miss'' along with movie critic

Rex Reed Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, occasional actor, and television host. He writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for ''The New York Observer''. Early life Reed was born on October 2, 1938, in Fort Wort ...

and future actresses

Donna Douglas Donna Douglas (born Doris Ione Smith; September 26, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American actress and singer, known for her role as Elly May Clampett on ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' (1962–1971). Following her acting career, Douglas became ...

and

Elizabeth Ashley Elizabeth Ann Cole, known professionally as Elizabeth Ashley (born August 30, 1939) is an American actress of theatre, film, and television. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, winning once in 1962 for ''Take Her, She's Mine''. Ashley ...

, During a January 1956 ''Teen Town Rally'' TV show he met musician brothers Ike, Tommy, and Jimmy Clanton. Holler was successful in signing the then under-aged guitar player & vocalist

Jimmy Clanton Jimmy Clanton (born September 2, 1938) is an American singer who became known as the " swamp pop R&B teenage idol". His band recorded a hit song "Just a Dream" which Clanton had written in 1958 for the Ace Records label. It reached number fou ...

to play with his band at that time, as well as Clanton's own neighborhood band, the Dixie Cats. In May 1956, the four-piece band of Holler on piano, Clanton on lead guitar, Mike Bankston on drums, and Ed Winston on tenor sax (with occasional bassist Leonard Root) was formed to play a four-night-a-week gig. A club owner later changed the band's name to Dick Holler and the Carousel Rockets, shortened to the Rockets. The Rockets at times also included Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack, Grady Caldwell, Bobby Loveless (regional hit "Night Owl"), Jack Bunn, Junior Bergeron (Van Broussard band), Lenny Capello ("Cotton Candy", RIC Records), Bill Dunnam, Merlin Jones, Don Smith and

Cyril Vetter Cyril Vetter is an American songwriter with a career has spanned a variety of industries, including music, broadcasting and publishing. He owned TV and radio stations, a television production firm, newspapers as well as music recording and publi ...

(the writers of "

Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love) "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" is a song first recorded by Dick Holler & the Holidays, written by Don Smith and Cyril Vetter. It was later recorded by the Swingin' Medallions who released it as their second single in 1966. Peaking at #17 on ...

", and others. Also sitting in at times was another Baton Rouge guitarist/vocalist/songwriter, Johnny Ramistella, later known as

Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues, and old-time rock 'n' roll. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 1970s but remains best known for a string of hit sing ...

. By 1957, the Rockets were recording at

Cosimo Matassa Cosimo Vincent Matassa (April 13, 1926 – September 11, 2014) was an American recording engineer and studio owner, responsible for many R&B and early rock and roll recordings. Life and career Matassa was born in New Orleans in 1926.Komorowsk ...

’s Studio in New Orleans. Holler and Clanton each got recording deals on

Johnny Vincent John Vincent Imbragulio (October 3, 1927 – February 4, 2000), known as Johnny Vincent, was an American record producer for Art Rupe at Specialty Records. He founded Ace Records in 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi, 165 miles away from New Orlea ...

’s Ace label and the Rockets backed Clanton on his first release, "I Trusted You". Soon Jimmy Clanton embarked on a solo career, and Holler continued to front the Rockets until signed by Herald-Ember Records in 1961. Herald-Ember changed the band name to Dick Holler and the Holidays. From August 1962 until May 1965 the Holidays based and performed in and around

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

. Their 1963 third single release, "

", later become a hit in 1966 by

the Swingin' Medallions The Swingin' Medallions are an American beach music group from Greenwood, South Carolina, United States. History The band was formed as The Medallions in 1962 adding the "Swingin'" in 1965; possibly as a tribute to the Swingin' Travelers, an R& ...

. Holler later disbanded the Holidays, and, at the urging of producer

Phil Gernhard Phillip Arnold Gernhard (February 5, 1940 – February 22, 2008) was an American record producer, record label executive, and songwriter. He is best known for his successful collaborations in the 1960s and 1970s with Maurice Williams and the Zod ...

, rewrote one of his Baton Rouge songs as " Snoopy vs. the Red Baron". Recorded by

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

, band

the Royal Guardsmen The Royal Guardsmen are an American rock band, best known for their 1966 hit singles " Snoopy vs. the Red Baron", "The Return of The Red Baron", "Snoopy For President", and the Christmas follow up " Snoopy's Christmas". History Originally kn ...

in 1966 for

Laurie Records Laurie Records was a record label established in New York City in 1958 by brothers Robert and Gene Schwartz, and Allan I. Sussel. Among the recording artists on Laurie's roster were Dion and the Belmonts (both together and as separate acts), T ...

, the song became an instant hit, peaking at number two in the U.S. and number eight in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In 1968, Dion (DiMucci)’s recording of Holler's composition in tribute to the fallen

Bobby Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...

, "Abraham, Martin and John" reached the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Top Five becoming a folk-pop standard known worldwide. This song was considered of such significance that it was the first of twenty songs discussed in ''Songs Sung Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America’s Best-Loved Patriotic Songs'' (), a book by Ace Collins. "Abraham, Martin and John" also received the BMI Four Million Airplay award.

Later years

In October 2007, at a performance in Baton Rouge, Dick Holler was inducted into The

Louisiana Music Hall of Fame The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (LMHOF) is a non-profit hall of fame based in Baton Rouge, the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana, that seeks to honor and preserve the state's music culture and heritage and to promote education about the state ...

. Holler shares time between

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

Georgia, USA Georgia is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina; to the northeast by South Carolina; to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean; to the south by Florida; and to the west by ...

. He has had several releases enter the European top 5 and top 10. Each year, Holler returns to Baton Rouge for a one night reunion with his old friends and musicians at the Baton Rouge Eagles' Club.

Discography

''Studio Album'' * Someday Soon (1970) ''Singles'' * Living By The Gun / Uh Uh Baby (1957) * King Kong / Girl Next Door (1961) * Mooba-Grooba / Hey Little Fool (1962) *

/ Yea-Boo (1963) * Rock Of Gibraltar / (Sum Sum) Summertime Kisses * Shirley / I Want To Go Home (1964) *

Twist And Shout "Twist and Shout" is a 1961 song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns (later credited as "Bert Russell"). It was originally recorded by the Top Notes, but it did not become a hit in the record charts until it was reworked by the Isley Brothers ...

He's Got The Whole World In His Hands "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional African-American spiritual, first published in 1927. It became an international pop hit in 1957–58 in a recording by English singer Laurie London, and has been recorded by many other si ...

(1965)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holler, Dick Songwriters from Indiana American rock pianists American male pianists Living people Musicians from Indianapolis 1934 births 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Musicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Louisiana State University alumni American male songwriters