They All Had Their Own Story

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It should’ve happened… multiple hits, a massive career, world recognition and all the rest.

 

Ron Holden

When RON HOLDEN was 18 years old and

en route to a stay in jail, he met the man who

saved him from musical oblivion. Officer

Larry Nelson had just finished fingerprinting

Ron when he heard Holden’s doo-wop

echoing off the jailhouse walls. Nelson told

Ron that he was about to quit the force, but

he was thinking of doing something in the music field, and that Ron should look him up when he gets out

from behind the bars.

Hold and his Thunderbirds have been playing a teen sock hop that night. During a break the guys in the

band had taken a ride with a half pint of I. W. Harper and what Holden described as ”one of them funny

little cigarettes.”

Upon release, Officer Nelson invited Ron over to his home to try and record something. There’re

microphones, a tape recorder and a marching band waiting. For 20 hours Holden and the non-pro band

struggled to nail down what was to become Ron’s big, big moment, GIVE A LISTEN, “Love You So.”

Complicating all matters was the presence of a barking dog stuffed away in the bathroom.

Ron and his Thunderbirds reportedly were among the first bands to play Richard Barry’s “Classic of the

Century,” “Louie Louie.” Ironically, Richard Berry died just hours before his friend Ron Holden, January

20, 1997.