Ralph Joseph "Jody" Reynolds (December 3, 1932 – November 7, 2008) was an American rock and roll singer, guitarist, and songwriter whose song "

Endless Sleep "Endless Sleep" is a "teenage tragedy" pop song written and originally recorded by rockabilly singer Jody Reynolds in 1957. Background Reynolds wrote the song in 1956, after listening to Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", and first performed it ...

" was a major U.S. top-ten hit in the summer of 1958. His follow-up single, "Fire of Love", peaked at only No. 66 on the Billboard chart, but the song went on to become a blues-punk classic after being covered by the

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

and the

Gun Club The Gun Club were an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which existed from 1979 to 1996. It was formed and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce. History Early days (1979–1980) 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 Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

music. In 1999, Reynolds was honored with both a Golden Palm Star on the

Palm Springs Walk of Stars The Palm Springs Walk of Stars is a walk of fame in downtown Palm Springs, California, where "Golden Palm Stars", honoring various people who have lived in the greater Palm Springs area, are embedded in the sidewalk pavement. The walk includes po ...

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

, California, and induction into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

Life and career

Ralph Joseph Reynolds was born in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, United States, and was raised in the small town of Shady Grove, Oklahoma. Inspired by

Western Swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...

and artists such as

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...

, Hank Thompson, and

Eddy Arnold Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' cou ...

, 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 Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison. While performing in San Diego, California, Reynolds met music publisher Herb Montei. Montei 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 "Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being ...

", Reynolds wrote "Endless Sleep" while in

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

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 Howard Mancel Roberts (October 2, 1929 – June 28, 1992) was an American jazz guitarist, educator, and session musician. Early years Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Damon and Vesta Roberts, and began playing guitar at the age of 8 - a ...

on guitars. It had been written solely by Reynolds, but Demon Records credited it to Reynolds and the fictitious "Dolores Nance", 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. The song reached the No. 5 position on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on July 7, 1958, sold over one million copies, and inspired a trend of "teen tragedy" songs. Reynolds performed on '' American Bandstand'' and other TV shows, and was featured on concert tours organized by the disc jockey/promoter

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

. "Endless Sleep" would later be covered by the Judds, John Fogerty, Nick Lowe and

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

;

Marty Wilde Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s hit singles including " Endless Sl ...

had a major hit with it in the UK, and

Hank Williams, Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of ...

's version was a modest country music chart success. Reynolds' self-penned follow up single, "Fire of Love", became a rock and roll classic years later, after being revived by the

and the

, but only reached No. 66 on the Billboard chart when released in August 1958, and was his last song to reach the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

. Unlike "Endless Sleep, "Fire of Love" is credited as being co-written by Reynolds, and his first wife, Sonja Sturdivant. Reynolds recorded several more singles, both with Demon and other labels, including duets with

Bobbie Gentry Bobbie Gentry (born Roberta Lee Streeter; July 27, 1942) is a retired American singer-songwriter, who was one of the first female artists in America to compose and produce her own material. Gentry rose to international fame in 1967 with her Sou ...

, two songs written by Marty Cooper and

Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960 ...

, and two hot instrumentals released under the name "The Storms" (Reynolds' backing band). By the mid-1960s he had settled in Palm Springs, where he focused on raising a family and working as a realtor; however, he retained his lifelong love of music, writing and recording songs in a small home studio, occasionally performing in "oldies" shows, and opening a music store. Col. Tom Parker,

's manager, signed Reynolds to his Boxcar Publishing Co., thinking Presley might be interested in some of his songs, though Presley died in 1977 before recording any of them. Reynolds included one of the songs he had written for Presley, "Yesterday and Today", on a 1978 album. Starting in the late 1970s, "Endless Sleep" and other of Reynolds' songs were re-released in Europe and America; the rockabilly revival beginning in the mid-1970s (Hank Mizell's "Jungle Rock" hit the UK top ten in 1976) saw a further increase of interest in his music. Reynolds died of liver cancer on November 7, 2008, in

Palm Desert Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has been ...

, California, at age 75. He was survived by Judy, his wife of 47 years, daughters Malinda and Marla, son Mark and granddaughter Desiree.

Recordings

* Demon Records ** 1507 "

" / "Tight Capris" – March 1958 ** 1509 "Fire of Love" / "Daisy Mae" – July 1958 ** 1511 "Closin' In" / "Elope With Me" – November 1958 ** 1515 "Golden Idol" / "Beaulah Lee" – March 1959 ** 1519 "The Storm" / "Please Remember Me" – August 1959 ** 1523 "The Whipping Post" / "I Wanna Be With You Tonight" – April 1960 ** 1524 "Stone Cold" / "(The Girl With The) Raven Hair" – June 1960 * Sundown Records ** 114 "Thunder" / "Tarantula" – January 1959 * Indigo Records ** 127 "Thunder" / "Tarantula" – August 1961 * Emmy Records ** 1011 "Dusty Skies" / "Brandy" 1962 * Smash Records ** 1810 "Don't Jump" / "Stormy" – February 1963 * Brent Records ** 7042 "The Girl From King Marie" / "Raggedy Ann" – April 1963 * Titan Records ** 1734 "A Tear For Jesse" / "Devil Girl" – 1965 ** 1736 "Stranger in the Mirror" / "Requiem For Love" (with

) – 1965 * Pulsar Records ** 2419 "Endless Sleep" / "My Baby's Eyes" – 1969 * Gusto Records ** 0026 "Endless Sleep" / nknown1976 * Tru Gems Records ** LP 1002 ''Endless Sleep'' 1978 * Gee Dee Music ** 270106 ''Endless Sleep'' (CD) (Germany, 1994) ** 270142 ''Endless Sleep'' (CD) (Germany, 1998) * Ace Records LTD ** CDCHD 1474 - The Complete Demon & Titan Masters (England, 2016)

References

External links

Jody Reynolds

Jody Reynolds - The Complete Demon & Titan Masters - Ace Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Jody 1932 births 2008 deaths Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from liver cancer Musicians from Denver People from McIntosh County, Oklahoma Apex Records artists Smash Records artists 20th-century American musicians