Don and Dewey were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and R&B duo, comprising

Don "Sugarcane" Harris Don Francis Bowman "Sugarcane" Harris (June 18, 1938 – November 30, 1999) was an American blues and rock and roll violinist and guitarist. He is considered a pioneer in the amplification of the violin. Career Harris was born and raised in P ...

(Don Francis Bowman Harris; June 18, 1938 – December 1, 1999) and Dewey Terry (Dewey Steven Terry; July 17, 1937 – May 11, 2003).

History

Both Harris and Terry were born in Los Angeles and grew up in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. As children, Terry learned piano and sang in a choir, while Harris learned classical violin. They met in 1949 when Terry heard Harris practicing guitar, and at high school formed a

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

vocal group, the Squires, with their friends. The group performed together and made several recordings in the mid-1950s for small local

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

s, including Dig This Record. Marv Goldberg, "The Squires/Don & Dewey", ''Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks'', 2009
Retrieved 25 September 2022Garth Cartwright, "Obituary: Dewey Terry", ''The Guardian'', 21 May 2003
Retrieved 25 September 2022 The group split up in 1956, but Harris and Terry continued to perform together, and made their first recordings as a duo for the Shade label. By this time, Harris played

electric violin An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...

, and Terry played piano and bass. They were signed by Art Rupe's

Specialty Records Specialty Records was an American record label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by Art Rupe. It was known for rhythm and blues, gospel, and early rock and roll, and recorded artists such as Little Richard, Guitar Slim, Percy Mayfield, and Lloyd P ...

label and for the next two years produced rock and roll. Both Don and Dewey played guitar, with Dewey often doubling on keyboards. When not playing guitar or bass, Don occasionally played the

, a skill for which he subsequently became well known under the name of "Sugarcane" Harris. Drummer

Earl Palmer Earl Cyril Palmer (October 25, 1924 – September 19, 2008) was an American drummer. Considered one of the inventors of rock and roll, he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Palmer was one of the most prolific studio musicians of a ...

played frequently on their sessions. Although Don and Dewey did not have any hits of their own, several of the songs that they wrote and/or recorded would appear on the charts later, performed by other artists. "I'm Leaving It Up to You" became a #1 hit for Dale & Grace in 1963. "

Farmer John Smithfield Foods, Inc., is an American pork producer and food-processing company based in Smithfield, Virginia, in the United States, and an independent subsidiary of WH Group. Founded in 1936 as the Smithfield Packing Company by Joseph W. Luter ...

" was a hit by

The Premiers The Premiers were an American garage band in the 1960s, best known for their 1964 hit, "Farmer John." Career The band was formed in 1962 in San Gabriel, California, by Mexican-American brothers Lawrence Perez (guitar) and John Perez (drums), and ...

, reaching #19 in 1964 after having been covered by

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...

a year earlier. "Koko Joe" (written by the then Specialty Records producer

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and politician who came to fame in partnership with his second wife Cher as the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republica ...

), "Justine" and "Big Boy Pete" were staples for

The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Lo ...

for many years. "Big Boy Pete" became a minor hit in 1960 for The Olympics, reaching #50 and a #4 hit for

The Kingsmen The Kingsmen are a 1960s rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the ''Billboard'' charts for six weeks and ha ...

when recorded with new lyrics as "

The Jolly Green Giant "The Jolly Green Giant" is a song written by Lynn Easton, Don Harris, and Dewey Terry and performed by The Kingsmen. It reached #1 on the Canadian chart, #4 on the U.S. pop chart, and #25 on the U.S. R&B chart in 1965. It was featured on th ...

" in 1965. In 1959 Don and Dewey and producer Bono left Specialty Records for Rush Records, where they recorded a few songs but split up shortly afterward. In 1964 Art Rupe recorded both Don and Dewey and

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

(another Specialty Records act) but there were to be no further hits for either act. The pair played briefly in Little Richard's band and then went their separate ways once again. However, they began performing together again occasionally in the mid-1970s, and continued to do so until Harris's death.

Separate careers

In the late 1960s, Harris featured on recordings with

Johnny Otis Johnny Otis (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes; December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was an American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, and talent scout. He was a seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll. He ...

of The Johnny Otis Show, and

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...

. In 1970, as Sugar Cane Harris, he re-emerged to a wider rock audience, playing violin on the Hot Rats solo album by

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

, with

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

(vocals) on "Willie The Pimp" and on the lengthy instrumental jam, "The Gumbo Variations". and in later years, went on to play on several more solo Zappa, and

The Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an R&B band ...

albums. He died in 1999. Terry continued to perform and record with

musicians until his death in 2003.

Tribute

"Don and Dewey" is also an instrumental by the band

It's a Beautiful Day It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards. David LaFlamme, who as a youth had once p ...

. It features on track 1 of their 1970 album ''Marrying Maiden''. The band featured a violin, so this may have been the inspiration to write this piece. This tune by IABD pays homage to Don & Dewey as the main riff borrows directly from the tune ''Stretchin' Out'', the B side on the single credited to 'Don & Dewy', ''Soul Motion'' (Rush R-1002). Also this riff was used by

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

in their instrumental ''Wring That Neck'' (''Hard Road'' in the U.S.).Jerry Bloom, ''Black Knight'', p.116

Notes

External links

Marv Goldberg's article on Don & DeweyDon & Dewey @ rockabilly.nl
{{Authority control American musical duos Rock music duos Rock and roll music groups Specialty Records artists Musicians from Pasadena, California