Ronny & the Daytonas were an
American surf rock group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
of the early 1960s, whose members included John "Bucky" Wilkin (aka Ronny Dayton) (songwriting, guitar, vocals), Paul Jensen (
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
), Thomas Ramey (
bass, guitar), Lynn Williams (
drums), and Lee Kraft (guitar), with contributions from others such as
Larry Butler (
organ), Ronny Clark (studio guitarist), and
Buzz Cason
James E. "Buzz" Cason (born November 27, 1939 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States) is an American rock singer, songwriter, record producer, and author.
He was a founding member of The Casuals, Nashville's first rock and roll band. Together ...
.
History
The group was formed in
Nashville,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
in 1964 when
Bill Justis
William Everett Justis Jr. (October 14, 1926 – July 16, 1982) was an American pioneer rock and roll musician, composer, and musical arranger, best known for his 1957 Grammy Hall of Fame song, " Raunchy". As a songwriter, he was also often credi ...
(best known for his
hit
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
"Raunchy") became their
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
and formed Buckhorn Music with the help of Wilkin's mother,
Marijohn Wilkin
Marijohn Wilkin ( Melson; July 14, 1920 – October 28, 2006) was an American songwriter, famous in country music for writing a number of hits. Wilkin won numerous awards over the years and was referred to as "The Den Mother of Music Row," a ...
, a country music writer. Signed to
Mala Records, a sublabel of
Bell Records, their primary contribution to
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...
was in injecting
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...
-sounds into the burgeoning surf rock scene. Their 1964 debut single "
G.T.O." reached No. 4 on the
Billboard Pop Singles chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a
gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
.
A subsequent single, "Bucket T" reached No. 54 on the Billboard chart that same year.
After an
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
and tour in 1964, Ronny & The Daytonas had another hit in 1965 with a
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
, "Sandy", and an album that reflected a similar country-inflected surfer sound. In 1966 Ronny and The Daytonas switched to
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
and released a romantic ballad called "Diane, Diane" and the upbeat "All American Girl", both of which had some success on the
charts
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tab ...
. The band toured for a short time after this before disbanding.
In 1965,
Buzz Cason
James E. "Buzz" Cason (born November 27, 1939 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States) is an American rock singer, songwriter, record producer, and author.
He was a founding member of The Casuals, Nashville's first rock and roll band. Together ...
and John "Bucky" Wilkin recorded the single "Bay City" / "Tiger A-Go-Go" as Buzz and Bucky. The single did not enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but peaked at number seven on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
The mid-1980s saw some interest in re-uniting various band members for a few engagements. The last known appearances of The Daytonas were at a concert in upstate
New York (state), New York on July 4, 1995,
at the Woodward Dream Cruise in Michigan in 2000 and 2002, and at The Baby Boomer Legends concert at "The Factory" in Franklin, Tennessee on April 24, 2015.
, Buck Wilkin Music publishing
was licensing Ronny & The Daytonas songs for the United States, U.S. and Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and occasionally published their music on 180 gram vinyl media in limited production runs.
Discography
Singles
1964
* " G.T.O." / "Hot Rod Baby" (Mala 481) (#4)
Albums
1964
*'' G.T.O.'' (Mala 4001) (#122)
1966
*''Sandy'' (Mala 4002)
#"Sandy" (Buzz Cason
James E. "Buzz" Cason (born November 27, 1939 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States) is an American rock singer, songwriter, record producer, and author.
He was a founding member of The Casuals, Nashville's first rock and roll band. Together ...
, Wilkin) - 2:47
#"Hold Me My Baby" (Wilkin) - 2:44
#"Baby Say No" (Wilkin) - 2:34
#"When Stars Shine Bright" (Cason, Wilkin) - 2:44
#"Be Good to Your Baby" (Russell, Wilkin) - 3:06
#"If I Had My Way" (Russell, Bergen White) - 2:55
#"Then the Rains Came" (Wilkin) - 2:41
#"Nanci" (Wilkin) - 3:11
#"Somebody to Love Me" (Cason, Wilkin) - 2:31
#"Come Into My Heart" (Cason, Wilkin) - 3:18
#"I'll Think of Summer" (Cason, Wilkin) - 2:58
#"So in Love" (Cason, Wilkin) - 2:23
References
External links
*
Record labelCurrent web site for lead singer John "Bucky" Wilkin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronny and The Daytonas
Rock music groups from Tennessee
Surf music groups
Bell Records artists
RCA Victor artists
Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee
Musical groups established in 1964
Musical groups disestablished in 1995
Songs about cars