From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sun Mar 24, 2002  2:19 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Johnny Meeks
 
JOHNNY MEEKS (By Shaun Mather)

Born 24 March 1937, Lauren, South Carolina

When Johnny Meeks joined Gene Vincent's Blue Caps with the unenviable
task of following the recently departed Cliff Gallup, he not only filled the
void, but he helped take the group's sound to new heights. When he joined
the Blue Caps at the end of '56 the band was in turmoil with only Paul Peek
remaining. He went back to one of his old groups, Country Earl and the
Circle E Ranch Gang of Greenville, South Carolina and poached Meeks and bass
player Bill Mack. The new Blue Caps recorded output during the June 57 to
Oct 58 period that Meeks played on, was high quality, commercial rock 'n'
roll featuring such classics as Lotta Lovin', Rocky Road Blues, I Got A
Baby, Brand New Beat, Baby Blue and Say Mama, a great rocker that was
written by Meeks. During his time as a Blue Cap, he got to tour Australia,
appear on Ed Sullivan, feature in the movie, Hot Rod Gang, and play in 45 of
the 50 US states. After leaving the group, he worked nightclubs in the Los
Angeles area with his own band, The Tune Toppers. Next he joined the Champs
for six months, got drafted, then played for Jimmy Clanton. He appeared in
the Elvis film Roustabout, before joining Leroy Van Dyke. Next was Vegas,
and then a stint with the legendary Merle Haggard. At the time of writing
he is playing with a couple of the original Blue Caps on a tour of
California. It seems that the world still wants more Johnny Meeks guitar.

More info: http://www.rockabillyhall.com/gvjohnny.html