Dewey Martin (musician)
Encyclopedia
Dewey Martin was a Canadian rock drummer, best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield is a North American folk rock band renown both for its music and as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Among the first wave of North American bands to become popular in the wake of the British invasion, the group combined...

.

Career

Martin was born Walter Milton Dwayne Midkiff in Chesterville, Ontario in 1940. He was raised there and the surrounding Smiths Falls
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is in the census division for Lanark County, but is considered a separated town and does not participate in county government...

 and Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

. In Ottawa, he attended Glebe Collegiate Institute
Glebe Collegiate Institute
Glebe Collegiate Institute is a high school in the Glebe neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Administered by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, Glebe Collegiate Institute has approximately 1,500 students; students and sports teams are referred to as "Gryphons".The school offers many...

, where he was elected head boy
Head boy
Head Boy and Head Girl are terms commonly used in the British education system, and in private schools throughout the Commonwealth.-United Kingdom:...

.

Martin started playing drums when he was about 13 years old. His first band was high school outfit, The Jive Rockets, which also featured guitarist Vern Craig, later a member of the Staccatos. He soon progressed and played with various dance and rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...

 groups in the Ottawa Valley
Ottawa Valley
The Ottawa Valley is the valley along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec along the Ottawa River. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield...

 area, including Bernie Early & the Early Birds. Through rock and roll singer Andy Wilson, a veteran of the Ottawa-area scene, he was allowed a short guest appearance singing "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" backed by Wilson's group, Larry Lee and the Leesures, during the Leesures' appearance as part of on a package C&W show in Ottawa in 1960. A Nashville producer was sufficiently impressed and agreed to record him in Nashville.

Moves to United States and Nashville

Interrupted by a brief stint in the US army, Martin's next couple of years were based out of Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, where he worked as an itinerant drummer for many of country music's greatest artists, including Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...

, The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...

, Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...

, Charlie Rich
Charlie Rich
Charles Rich was an American country music singer and musician. A Grammy Award winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres.In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver...

, Faron Young
Faron Young
Faron Young was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars...

 and Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...

 among others. In 1963, he travelled to Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 with Faron Young's band and then Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 where he decided to stay.

Sir Raleigh & The Coupons

Through Mel Taylor of The Ventures
The Ventures
The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...

, Martin began working in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

 with a group called Lucky Lee & The Blue Diamonds. In November 1964, he used some local musicians to record his first single, a cover of "White Cliffs of Dover" backed by the band original, "Somethin' or Other" for A&M Records, which was released under the guise, Sir Raleigh & The Cupons.

During 1965, Sir Raleigh & The Cupons released two more singles on A&M – "While I Wait" c/w "Somethin' or Other" and "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" c/w "Whitcomb Street" and a single for Tower – "Tell Her Tonight" c/w "If You Need Me".

During this period, Martin returned to Los Angeles and picked up local group the Sons of Adam
Sons of Adam
The Sons of Adam were a rock band active, primarily in California, in the 1960s. The band is notable for its membership including Randy Holden, later of The Other Half and Blue Cheer, and Michael Stuart, later of Love.-History:...

 to support him as a permanent outfit back in the Northwest. The new line up opened for The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

 and Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...

 during this period.

Martin also recorded a final single for Tower – "I Don't Want to Cry" c/w "Always", which was released in February 1966. In 1980 Picc-A-Dilly/First American label pulled together most of The Sir Raleigh & The Cupons material for the Dewey Martin album, "One Buffalo Heard".

The Standells, MFQ and The Dillards

Back in Los Angeles in late 1965, Martin spent a few months with The Standells
The Standells
The Standells are a garage rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in the 1960s, who have been referred to as the "Godfathers of Punk Rock", and are best known for their 1966 hit "Dirty Water," now the anthem of several Boston sports teams.-The 1960s:...

 when drummer/singer Dick Dodd left. When Dodd returned in February 1966, Martin briefly joined The Modern Folk Quartet before touring and recording a demo with The Dillards
The Dillards
The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of Douglas Flint "Doug" Dillard The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of Douglas Flint "Doug" Dillard The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of...

. During late March/early April, Martin was working with The Dillards at the Ice House in Pasadena when Doug Dillard told him that his services were no longer needed and gave him a telephone number for a new group that needed a drummer. The band was Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield is a North American folk rock band renown both for its music and as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Among the first wave of North American bands to become popular in the wake of the British invasion, the group combined...

.

Buffalo Springfield

Martin became the last member to join the legendary group at its founding. Along with Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...

 and Richie Furay
Richie Furay
Richie Furay is an American singer, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member who is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin, and Poco with Jim Messina, Rusty Young, George Grantham and Randy Meisner...

, he was one of only three musicians to stay with the group from its inception in April 1966 to its disbandment on May 5, 1968. During his time with the group, Martin also did session work for The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...

.

In concert, he sang covers of Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...

's In The Midnight Hour
In the Midnight Hour
"In the Midnight Hour" is a song originally performed by Wilson Pickett in 1965 and released on the 1966 album The Exciting Wilson Pickett. It was composed by Pickett and Steve Cropper at the historic Lorraine Motel in Memphis where Martin Luther King, Jr. would later be murdered in April 1968...

 and Richie Furay's "Nobody's Fool" and "Good Time Boy". The latter appeared on the band's second album, Buffalo Springfield Again. He also sang Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

's "Mr Soul" as the introduction to Young's "Broken Arrow" on the same album and backing vocals on the band's biggest hit, "For What It's Worth".

New Buffalo Springfield

When the original band broke up Martin formed a new version in September 1968. Dubbed "New Buffalo Springfield", the line up comprised guitarists Dave Price (Davy Jones
Davy Jones (actor)
David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...

' stand-in in The Monkees) and Gary Rowles (son of jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles
Jimmy Rowles
Jimmy Rowles was an American jazz pianist who was best known as an accompanist. He also released a number of albums under his own name, and explored various idioms including swing and cool jazz. - Biography :Born in Spokane, Washington, Rowles studied at Gonzaga College in Spokane, Washington...

); bass player Bob Apperson; drummer Don Poncher; and horn player Jim Price
Jim Price
Jim Price may refer to:*Jim Price , former NFL tight end*Jim Price , former Detroit Tigers catcher and current sportscaster*Jim Price , manager of the New York Gothams...

, who later became a top session musician for The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

 and Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...

 among others.

The new band toured extensively and appeared at the highly publicised "Holiday Rock Festival" in San Francisco on December 25–26 but soon ran afoul of Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...

 and Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

 who took legal action to prevent Martin from using the band's name.

In February 1969, Martin and Dave Price formed a second version of New Buffalo Springfield with guitarist Bob "BJ" Jones and bass player Randy Fuller, brother of Bobby Fuller
Bobby Fuller
Robert Gaston "Bobby" Fuller was an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitar player best known for his singles "I Fought the Law" and "Love's Made a Fool of You," recorded with his mid-1960s group, the Bobby Fuller Four....

. The band did some tentative recordings with producer Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...

 overseeing but they were scrapped.

The second line up was expanded with another guitarist Joey Newman in June 1969 but two months later, Martin was fired and the remaining members carried on as Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountain Eagle (band)
Blue Mountain Eagle was a short-lived American rock group that evolved out of New Buffalo Springfield in August 1969 and recorded a lone album for Atlantic/Atco Records, which they were personally signed to by label founder Ahmet Ertegun.-Origins:...

.

Medicine Ball

In September 1969, Martin signed a solo deal with Uni Records and recorded a cover of the country favourite, "Jambalaya" with session ace James Burton
James Burton
James Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 , Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame...

 on guitar. It was released as a single with Martin's own composition "Ala-Bam" on the b-side.

He then briefly worked on some new material with guitarist John Noreen from the folk-rock group, Rose Garden
The Rose Garden (band)
The Rose Garden was an American folk rock musical group from Los Angeles, California which was active in 1967 and 1968.The members were Diana DeRose on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, John Noreen on 12-string guitar and backup vocal, James Groshong on lead vocal and guitar, William Fleming on bass...

 but by December the pair had split.

Martin next put together a new group called Medicine Ball, which featured mainstays, guitarist Billy Darnell and pianist Pete Bradstreet, who later recorded with the band Electric Range. The band also featured at various times, guitarists Bob Stamps and Randy Fuller, and bass players Terry Gregg, Harvey Kagan and Steve Lefever. An album, "Dewey Martin's Medicine Ball", was released in August 1970 and featured steel guitarist Buddy Emmons
Buddy Emmons
Buddy Emmons , is an American guitarist.Emmons has been called "The World's Foremost Steel Guitarist" and his talent is greatly admired by fellow steel guitarists...

 and former Buffalo Springfield bass player Bruce Palmer
Bruce Palmer
Bruce Palmer was a Canadian musician notable for playing bass guitar in the folk rock band Buffalo Springfield.-Early years:Palmer was born and raised in Toronto Ontario, Canada...

.

In late 1970, Martin and Darnell formed a new version of Medicine Ball with pianist Charles Lamont and bass player Tom Leavey and made some tentative recordings which were subsequently scrapped.

Martin then recorded five tracks with Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

's band for RCA. Two of the songs – a cover of Alan O'Day
Alan O'Day
Alan O'Day is an American singer-songwriter, best known for writing and singing "Undercover Angel," a song which was number 1 in 1977. He also wrote songs for several other notable performers, such as 1974's Helen Reddy number 1 hit "Angie Baby" and the Righteous Brothers' number 3 hit "Rock And...

's "Caress Me Pretty Music" and a cover of Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...

 and Chris Stainton
Chris Stainton
Christopher "Chris" Stainton is an English session musician, keyboard player and songwriter, who first gained recognition with Joe Cocker in the late 1960s...

's "There Must Be A Reason" were put out as a single in early 1971. After producing an album for Truk in 1971, Martin retired from the music industry to become a car mechanic.

Eighties revival and beyond

During the mid-1980s Martin briefly worked with Pink Slip and the Meisner-Roberts Band. In the late 80's while touring with Roberts and Meisner, he decided to stay a few extra nights in San Antonio following a gig for the San Antonio Jaycee's to see his buddy, musician Augie Myers. Martin told concert producer/musician Raven Alan St. John he had been robbed by hotel maids at the Sierra Royale Suites and couldn't pay for the extra nights. The hotel comped him for two more nights and fired one maid.
He also played with Buffalo Springfield Revisited, the band formed by original bass player, Bruce Palmer
Bruce Palmer
Bruce Palmer was a Canadian musician notable for playing bass guitar in the folk rock band Buffalo Springfield.-Early years:Palmer was born and raised in Toronto Ontario, Canada...

. During the early 1990s, Martin revived the "Buffalo Springfield" mantle again for further live work but retired soon afterwards. Since then he spent time developing his own drum rim.

In 1997 Martin invented and filed a patent application on a drum with a three-part rim that could be used to make three different rimshot sounds. He received patent 5,834,667 on this drum on Nov 10, 1998; the patent issued to him under his legal name, Walter M. D. Midkiff.

In 2008, Dewey Martin joined the cast of Matt Alan's live Internet radio program, OUTLAW RADIO. His unique personality, fascinating stories and quirky wit soon endeared him to the show's worldwide audience. A special three hour tribute to "The Great Dewey Martin" was broadcast Saturday, February 9, produced by Matt Alan, and featuring tributes by those who knew and loved him, including record producer John Hill, author Burl Barer, Prescott Niles of The Knack, Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees, media legend Shadoe Stevens and many more. The program is available in the archives at Outlawradiousa.com

Martin apparently died on January 31, 2009, and was found dead the next day by a roommate in his Van Nuys apartment, longtime friend Lisa Lenes said. She said Martin had health problems in recent years and she believed he died of natural causes. He was 68.

External links

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