Jody Reynolds
| Jody Reynolds | |
|---|---|
Jody Reynolds, ca. 1958.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ralph Joseph Reynolds |
| Born |
December 3, 1932 Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
| Died | November 7, 2008 (aged 75) Palm Desert, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, guitarist |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1958–1978 |
| Labels | Demon, London |
| Associated acts | The Storms |
Jody Reynolds (December 3, 1932 – November 7, 2008) was an American rock and roll singer, guitarist, and songwriter whose song "Endless Sleep" was a major U.S. top-ten hit in the summer of 1958. His follow-up single, "Fire of Love", peaked at only #66 on the Billboard chart, but the song went on to become a blues-punk classic after being covered by the MC5 and the Gun Club.
Reynolds was a regular on the "oldies" circuit and a successful businessman in the U.S. Southwest. Beginning in the 1980s several compilations of his music were issued in the U.S. and Europe, and he enjoyed modest acclaim as a pioneer of rockabilly music.
In 1999 Reynolds was honored with both a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Palm Springs Walk of Stars and induction into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Ralph Joseph Reynolds was born in Denver, Colorado, and was raised in the small town of Shady Grove, Oklahoma. Inspired by Western Swing and artists such as Bob Wills, Hank Thompson, and Eddy Arnold, who he heard on the radio, Reynolds took up guitar at age 14. He began playing rockabilly in Texas in the mid-1950s after hearing performers such as Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison.
While performing in San Diego, California, Reynolds met music publisher Herb Montel. Montel rejected several songs offered by Reynolds, but after hearing his composition "Endless Sleep", got him signed to Demon Records and began managing him.
Inspired by the haunting sound of Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", Reynolds wrote "Endless Sleep" while in Yuma, Arizona for a gig, and played it onstage the same night. Though a proficient guitarist himself, the studio recording of the song featured Al Casey and Howard Roberts on guitars. It had been written solely by Reynolds, but Demon Records credited it to Reynolds and the fictitious "Dolores Nance", in order to make it appear to have been written by a 'professional' songwriting team. With spooky, reverb-laden vocals, "Endless Sleep" tells the story of a young man desperately searching for his girlfriend, who, after an argument, has flung herself into the ocean. The label persuaded a reluctant Reynolds to change the lyrics to give the song a happy ending.
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