Photo from Ron Hall’s essential “The Memphis Garage Rock Yearbook 1960-1975”
The Coachmen are not well-remembered now, but were a significant band in Memphis in 1965. They played at the premier of Help at the Loews Palace Theatre with the WMPS Good Guys. They had one single on Gold Standard 155, “I’ll Never Leave You” / “Possibility”.
Members were:
Tommy Burnett – vocals
Sam Brough
Glen Cammack
Rick Allen
“I’ll Never Leave You” is good upbeat pop. Copyright registration from August, 1965 shows Larry Hill and Rusty Taylor (as Roland Parker Taylor) as co-writers. Rusty Taylor was vocalist with the Yo-Yo’s (the Swingin’ Yo-Yo’s) and later had two solo singles on the M.O.C. label. The Coachmen single preceded the Yo-Yo’s singles on Goldwax.
“Possibility” is a Stan Vincent composition which had been done by the Crowns on Old Town Records in 1964.
Gold Standard owner Zeke Clements produced, and the labels credit “The Coachmen (from Memphis, Tenn)” and “vocal by Tommy Burnett”.
Rusty Taylor and Larry Hill registered another composition “I Know”, in October, 1965, also with Blazon Music.
Well, all those years ago but still sweet memories. Although we were together a couple of years we had a blast. Sam has gone on to the afterlife, Glenn has lost his wife and I believe Ricky, after the Boxtops, is still out there in Memphis somewhere. My wife (of 56 years) and I are in the Nashville area near our two daughters and two grandsons. back in the mid 60’s Memphis was a great place to be in the music business. I had the privilege of playing music with Roland Janes and J. M. Van Eaton for some years and had a great time with them! As a 12 year old when we moved to Memphis from Missouri I didn’t have a clue that anything like Memphis music was in my future! God is good.