Rockabilly forever : JOHN D. LEVAN CONTINUES TO MAKE HIS PRESENCE KNOWN ON LOCAL ROCK SCENE
Posted on Sunday, July 6, 2008
When John D. LeVan first heard rock ’n’ roll music, he didn’t know what it was. Of course, no one else did either. It didn’t have a name yet, not that he had heard, anyway. What he did know is that he could pick up a 100, 000-watt radio station broadcasting from Mexico. On his crystal radio, LeVan would listen from his bedroom in Preston, Okla., waiting for a hot tune by Hank Snow, Big Joe Turner or Howlin’ Wolf, some of his early favorites.
He remembers being entranced.
“ I was painting a picture in my head of what was going on, ” he said. It made an Okie farm boy reconsider his career path, too.
“‘ Man, that’s what I want to do, ’” he remembers telling himself.
In 1953, LeVan traded a $ 3 tent for a guitar. He taught himself to play, mimicking the acts he heard on the radio. Now, some 55 years later, LeVan has rarely put his guitar to rest. It led him to a career that would include a tour with Charlie Daniels, several hits, a Country Music Association award, friendships with some of American music’s biggest names and later, induction into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
And he’s not ready to quit, either.
About five years ago, LeVan, who now lives near Sonora, built a new band of choice local players he calls the Thunderboltz. He regularly performs in the area, and it isn’t hard to see him at a gig — if one doesn’t mind staying up late to jam with a man who just turned 70 on Tuesday. Tunes in Tulsa While LeVan was still in high school in small town Oklahoma, he started jamming with a few of the local boys. As it happened, the Tulsa, Okla., area was rife with quality players. In 1955, he met Clyde Stacy, now considered one of the pioneers of what came to be known as the Tulsa Sound. Others credited with defining the music of the region were Elvin Bishop, J. J. Cale, Leon Russell and Gene Crose.
It was with Stacy that LeVan had his first taste of success in 1957 when they recorded the hit “ Hoy Hoy” in New York City as Clyde Stacy & The Nitecaps. The song landed The Nitecaps on “ Philadelphia Bandstand” — later to be called “ American Bandstand” — with host Dick Clark.
In the early 1960 s, after moving to New Mexico, he met Sonny West, the songwriter who penned “ Rave On” and “ Oh Boy” for Buddy Holly. Together, they played the bar and club scene in New Mexico.
He moved back to Oklahoma in 1962, where he formed a new band, The Twilights. It was not uncommon for him to share stages with J. J. Cale, who penned the Eric Clapton hits “ After Midnight” and “ Cocaine, ” or Leon Russell, a solo artist and member of Phil Spector’s Wrecking Crew. As one of the more prominent players in the area, LeVan also met touring musicians as they passed through Tulsa. It was on one such occasion in 1963 that he met a thenunknown Charlie Daniels.
A year later, Daniels, the songwriter behind such hits as “ The Devil Went Down To Georgia, ” “ The South’s Gonna Do It Again” and “ Long Haired Country Boy, ” asked LeVan to join his band, a rock ’n’ roll outfit called The Jaguars. When Daniels left the band in 1965 to pursue a career in Nashville, LeVan took over lead vocal duties. This was about the same time LeVan did two tours as a member of Roy Orbison’s band. LeVan has met hundreds of well-known musicians throughout the years, but he remembers being star struck with Orbison. Sitting in the legendary singer’s home, going over songs before the start of a tour, is one of the memories he’ll never forget, LeVan said.
“ He was singing with no microphone and rattlin’ the china, ” he said. “ You almost lost your place. ”
When The Jaguars dissolved, LeVan returned to his native state, where he eventually hooked up with a Northwest Arkansas group known as The Emcees, which toured the country during what might be called the heyday of Northwest Arkansas music. The Rockwood Club, co-owned by Ronnie Hawkins and promoter Dayton Stratton, attracted performers like Conway Twitty, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and more. Gerald Golden, who toured the country with local favorites Earl and Ernie Cate in a band called The Del Rays, remembers seeing The Emcees live at the Rockwood Club and other venues.
“ They were probably the best show band of anyone around, ” Golden said. The Emcees had it all — comedy, show tunes and French cuffs, he recalls.
Dave Clark, who serves as LeVan’s manager and often jams with his friend, agrees.
“ I don’t think you can overstate the importance of The Emcees to live music in the area, ” Clark said.
After The Emcees, LeVan continued to play in various bands, mostly from the Tulsa area, and toured the country. Slowing, surviving After his daughter Ivy, the youngest of his five children, was born in the late 1980 s, he moved to Northwest Arkansas, where Ivy’s mother was from. Soon after he arrived, he recorded an album, “ Gunfighter, ” to accompany a book of the same name by a local historian, the late Phillip W. Steele.
Comparatively, LeVan lived a quieter life in Northwest Arkansas, playing just the occasional gig. He also tried his hand in business, running a club called Blues Alley near where Tim’s Pizza on Fayetteville’s Downtown Square is now located. Blues Alley closed in 1994, LeVan said.
In 1996, he was diagnosed with throat cancer, long after he’d quit smoking and drinking. An operation discovered nine nodules in his throat — four malignant and five noncancerous.
“ I was going to die, ” LeVan conceded at the time.
Except he didn’t. He fought back, but it cost him 40 pounds, his physical strength and his will to play music.
It was a slow process back to the stage. LeVan didn’t have a band, but he would join an occasional benefit jam at the invitation of good friends such as Earl Cate.
He eventually began performing music at the First Baptist Church of Hindsville, where he attends service regularly. Most of the church members there didn’t know anything about him when he first started attending, but he immediately was accepted.
“ It wasn’t on my playing ability, ” he said. “ It was just me. ”
It was through such events that LeVan decided he wasn’t willing to “ put down my rock and roll shoes just yet. ” Always rockin ’ Now a septuagenarian, LeVan could rest on his laurels, picking up a choice gig here and there and spending a lot of time fishing. He could also just sit relax and enjoy the things he is proud of: his five children, several of whom have pursued music careers. And there is Annie, his fifth wife, whom he married last May.
But if he wasn’t rockin’ and rollin’, well, he just wouldn’t be John D. LeVan.
About five years ago, he got together a few players in the area and formed the Thunderboltz. The band can be seen in Northwest Arkansas and elsewhere, playing LeVan originals in addition to covers of old rock, blues and rockabilly numbers from artists such as Bob Wills, The Allman Brothers Band or Johnny Cash. Rockabilly, a style that combines elements of country with rock ’n’ roll, has always been dear to LeVan’s heart. For his contributions to the genre, he was added to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in August 2004.
LeVan is a fixture at The Green Door, a blues and rock venue on North College Avenue in Fayetteville. He regularly plays during the venue’s weekly Tuesday-night jam session, using guest artists that include a who’s who of Northwest Arkansas rock musicians.
He’s also active in the July Jam, sometimes also called the NWA Pioneers of Rock, an informal club with members of some of area’s betterknown rock ’n’ roll bands of the 1950 s and 1960 s. Members of bands such as The Jokers, The Emcees, The Del Rays and more gather once each year in July, when many of the players celebrate birthdays. The event, entering its 20 th year, takes place this year at The Green Door on July 20.
Already, LeVan is working to record a new album, which would be his second with the Thunderboltz. The recording is being made in Earl Cate’s studio.
It’s going to be his next hit, LeVan promises.
“ You just strive for a No. 1 hit record, ” he said. “ If you fall short and hit the Top 10, that’s OK, too. ”
Is this an unrealistic expectation for a 70-yearold ?
Nope, LeVan, insists. Besides, why would he want to make a record that wasn’t striving for the best ?
So it’s back to the clubs, playing those old familiar chords. Up on the stage, with the lights up and the crowd singing along, LeVan goes back. Way back.
And he transports time, and he hears static, an old song. This is very real for him. Something like Joe Turner or Jimmy Reed might have played. Or something he might have played, so many years ago.
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