Daniel Robert Hamilton (June 1, 1946 – December 23, 1994) was an American musician and singer. He was a member of

The T-Bones The T-Bones were an American, Liberty Records recording group, existing from 1963 to 1966. The studio recordings of all of their albums but the last were done by American session musicians, The Wrecking Crew. They should not be confused with G ...

with his brother

Judd Hamilton Judd Douglas Hamilton is an American musician, former band leader, writer, film producer, and actor. He recorded for the Dolton, Liberty, American International, United Artists and RCA Victor labels. He contributed to the music of California, an ...

and later formed the soft-rock group

Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds were a 1970s soft rock trio from Los Angeles. The original members were Dan Hamilton (guitar/lead vocal), Joe Frank Carollo (bass/vocal), and Tommy Reynolds (multi-instrumentalist/vocal), all of whom had previous ...

, performing lead vocals on the band's two biggest hits, "

Don't Pull Your Love "Don't Pull Your Love" is the debut single by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds which became a top ten hit single in 1971. The song was written by Brian Potter and Dennis Lambert. Background Rumored to have been written with Elvis Presley ...

" and " Fallin' in Love". He was also a composer who, in addition to co-writing "Fallin' in Love", was the sole songwriter for the Ventures hit song " Diamond Head".

Background

Hamilton was a martial artist and reached the level of 3rd degree black belt.

Early life

Dan Hamilton was born on June 1, 1946, in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

. He attended Eastmont High School in

East Wenatchee, Washington East Wenatchee is a city in Douglas County, Washington, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 13,190, a 129.1% increase on the 2000 census, having annexed much of the East Wenatchee Bench CDP. As of the 2020 census, the popul ...

. He was the younger brother of

, who had been a road manager for The Ventures.

Career

1960s

As a singer, songwriter, and session musician, Hamilton began his music career at the age of 16 composing instrumentals for The Ventures. In 1963 he joined The Avantis, a recording group produced by Judd Hamilton. The Avantis included Hamilton, Mexican-American brothers Pat and

Lolly Vegas Candido Albelando "Lolly" Vasquez-Vegas (October 2, 1939 – March 4, 2010) was a Native American musician of Yaqui, Shoshone and Mexican heritage. He played in numerous ensembles with his brother Pat, including Pat & Lolly Vegas, The Avantis, ...

from Fresno, California, and drummer

Mike Kowalski Mike Kowalski (born July 28, 1944) is an American drummer, percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as a longtime touring and session drummer for the rock band the Beach Boys. Early career Mike Kowalski was born in Hollywood, California ...

. The group became a support act for the

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

. Later in 1963 the Vegas brothers changed their name back to Pat & Lolly Vegas and worked as the house band of LA's Haunted House Nightclub. Hamilton composed several songs for

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...

. The most notable of these is " Diamond Head", which the band recorded for their '' Walk, Don't Run, Vol. 2'' album. "Diamond Head" became an international hit single for Hamilton and the Ventures. For the week ending March 13, 1965, "Diamond Head" moved up two notches from #4 to #2 in the Hong Kong Top Ten. The following week it reached #1 there. The song became Japan's first million-seller and sold more than 1,850,000 copies there. It was a hit in Iran and got to #70 in the US. The song was later covered by the

Aqua Velvets Aqua Velvets are an American surf rock revival band from San Francisco, California, formed in the 1980s by guitarist Miles Corbin. Rather than simply recreate the vintage 1963 surf sound, Corbin set out to add depth and dimension with original song ...

and Susan & The Surftones. Hamilton wrote several other songs for the Ventures throughout the 1960s, such as "War of the Satellites", "Escape" (which was originally called "Target"), "Wild And Wooly", "Kandy Koncoction", and "The Gallop". Two of his compositions - "Bullseye" and "No Exit" - were recorded by Mel Taylor and the Magics and appear on the ''In Action!'' album which was released in 1966. In November 1965, he once again joined his brother Judd Hamilton to form the touring band The T-Bones. When The T-Bones disbanded in 1968, he along with Joe Frank Carollo and Tommy Reynolds, who had also become members of The T-Bones, rejoined to play clubs around Los Angeles as The Brothers.

1970s

In 1970, Hamilton and Tommy Reynolds co-founded Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds when Joe Frank Carollo agreed to come back onboard. Soon after, they recorded their first million-selling gold record for the ABC Dunhill label with "Don't Pull Your Love", featuring Hamilton on lead vocals. In addition to serving as the group's guitarist and co-lead singer, Hamilton later became the main songwriter for the group. Along with Ann Hamilton, he co-composed the hit " Fallin' in Love" which reached #1 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), ...

in 1975. It was later a hit for

La Bouche La Bouche (French for "The Mouth", ) is a German-American Eurodance duo best known for the hits " Be My Lover", " Sweet Dreams", " You Won't Forget Me" and "S.O.S." La Bouche was founded in 1994 by record producer Frank Farian in Frankfurt am Ma ...

in 1996, with their version reaching #35 on the Hot 100. Between those two hit records, Hamilton had a 1972 solo release entitled "Don't Wait Up for Me Tonight", backed with "On the Other Hand", which was credited to Danny Hamilton & Spoondrift. It was released on Dunhill 4320. It also saw a release in New Zealand on Probe PROBE.44. In Hamilton's final years, he and his brother were recording a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

album as The Hamilton Brothers.

Death

Hamilton died on December 23, 1994, at the age of 48 of complications from

Cushing's syndrome Cushing's syndrome is a collection of signs and symptoms due to prolonged exposure to glucocorticoids such as cortisol. Signs and symptoms may include high blood pressure, abdominal obesity but with thin arms and legs, reddish stretch marks, ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Later years

In 2012, Hamilton's widow Fredricka Hamilton successfully sued Henry Marx and his Music Force publishing co., and was awarded $562,317 in revenue from the song "Fallin' in Love".''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', September 20, 2012
Music Publisher Hit With $500,000 Jury Verdict Over '70s Hit 'Fallin' in Love' by Matthew Belloni
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Discography

External links

Life of a Roadie: The Gypsy in Me
(written by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds roadie, Ronnie Rush)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Dan 1946 births 1994 deaths American male composers 20th-century American composers American male singer-songwriters American rock singers Surf musicians Musicians from Spokane, Washington 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American male singers The Avantis members The Marketts members The T-Bones members Singer-songwriters from Washington (state)