JOHN D. LOUDERMILK - ROAD HOG

ROAD HOG

JOHN D. LOUDERMILK

SONGWRITER: JOHN D. LOUDERMILK

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: ROAD HOG

LABEL: RCA VICTOR

GENRE: FOLK

YEAR: 1962

John D. Loudermilk Jr. (March 31, 1934 – September 21, 2016) was an American singer and songwriter. Although he had his own recording career during the 1950s and 1960s, he was primarily known as a songwriter. His best-known songs include "Indian Reservation", a 1968 UK cover by Don Fardon and a 1971 U.S. No. 1 hit for Paul Revere & the Raiders; "Ebony Eyes", a 1961 U.K. No. 1 and U.S. No. 8 for the Everly Brothers; "Tobacco Road", a 1964 Top 20 hit in both the U.S. and the U.K. for the Nashville Teens; "This Little Bird", a U.K. No. 6 for Marianne Faithfull in 1965, and "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye", a U.S. Top Ten hit in 1967 for the Casinos and also a U.S. No. 1 country hit for Eddy Arnold the following year.

John D. Loudermilk was born in Durham, North Carolina, to Pauline and John D. Loudermilk Sr., an illiterate carpenter. John D. Jr. grew up in a family who were members of the Salvation Army, and was influenced by the church singing of the Christian Church. His cousins Ira and Charlie Loudermilk were known professionally as the Louvin Brothers. Loudermilk was a graduate of Campbell College (now Campbell University), a private North Carolina Baptist Convention-owned college in Buies Creek, North Carolina.

As a young boy 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 owners of the local television station, where he worked as a graphic artist, allowed him to play the song on-air, resulting in country musician George Hamilton IV putting it on record in 1956. After Eddie Cochran had his first hit record with Loudermilk's song "Sittin' in the Balcony", Loudermilk's career path was firmly set.

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). His "Johnny Dee" records were recorded for the North Carolina-based Colonial Records label.

Have you ever been driving down the road

And come up on a fella who was just poking along

Straddlin' the white line?

And when you'd try to pass him he'd speed up?

Ha ha well, around here we call this fella a Road Hog

This is a story about him and his eventual end

Well me and my buddy went a ridin' last night

Me and my buddy went a ridin' last night

We topped a hill and we saw his lights