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.
absolutely Love it!!!
Tommy I worked with you for a few years and never knew you were so talented. It sounds like you had a lot of fun.
Dave, we did have fun!! We used a 1956 Pontiac hearse to carry us and our equipment around. We got a lot of stares and a lot of comments. I picked Lynn up at her parent’s house one night and after we left they got calls from all over the neighborhood asking who had died. The hearse was made by a company named Burnette. There was a cursive written “Burnette” in the back so I took it off, cut off the “e” and installed it in my ’72 Fender Precision bass case and it is there to this day. The last band I played with was from 1974 to 1978 and played mostly family oriented events. Both our girls went with us to many of our gigs and got to mee a lot of big time Country artists and the youngest really is attached to that old Fender bass I have hanging on the wall. I don’t play it anymore but I occasionally get it down and realize “if you don’t use it you lose it”. I can attest to that. I’ve given all my guitars and basses to the girls and they have agreed the the youngest gets the Fender. Come to think of it, 1972 is when she was born! As I said, Memphis was a great music town in the 60’s and 70’s for young “wannabe” musicians like me. I wouldn’t trade it for the world! Met lots of famous people and loved them all save one. Even got a kiss on the cheek from Crystal Gayle. She had just started her career and we backed her on a show in Memphis. I have witnesses. Crystal’s husband and Lynn were there. I used to always get people trying to guess something I had done in my life!! They never got close to that one!!