John D. Loudermilk, American singer and songwriter, Died at 82

  Music, Writer

John D. Loudermilk, Jr. was born on March 31, 1934, and died on September 21, 2016.

He was an American singer and songwriter.

Even though John had his own recording career during the 1950s and 1960s, he was primarily known as a songwriter.

Loudermilk best-known songs include “Indian Reservation”, a 1971 #1 hit for Paul Revere & the Raiders; “Tobacco Road”, a 1964 top 20 hit for The Nashville Teens; “This Little Bird” a UK #6 for Marianne Faithfull in 1965, and “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye”, a top ten hit in 1967 for The Casinos and also a #1 country hit for Eddy Arnold the following year.

At a very young age he learned to play the guitar, and while still in his teens, wrote a poem that he set to music, “A Rose and a Baby Ruth”.

The local television station, where he worked as a handyman, allowed him to play the song on-air, resulting in country musician George Hamilton IV putting it on record in 1956.

When Eddie Cochran had his first hit record with Loudermilk’s song “Sittin’ in the Balcony”, Loudermilk’s career path was firmly set.

John Loudermilk recorded some of his songs, including “Sittin’ in the Balcony”, under the stage name “Johnny Dee” (reaching No. 38 on the pop charts in 1957).

Loudermilks’s “Johnny Dee” records were recorded for the North Carolina-based Colonial Records label.

John D. Loudermilk passed away at 82 years old.