Bucky Wilkin Of Ronny & The Daytonas Passes

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Bucky Wilkin

Nashville pop-music legend John “Bucky” Wilkin has died at age 77.

He is best known as the writer and performer of the rock ’n’ roll classic “G.T.O.,” billed as Ronny & The Daytonas. Songwriter Wilkin is also notable as a session guitarist. He was the son of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Marijohn Wilkin (1920-2006).

Born John William Wilkin, he began his career at age 8 as a child performer on The Ozark Jubilee & Junior Jubilee TV shows alongside fellow juvenile Brenda Lee. Bucky Wilkin was a prodigy who emulated guitarist Chet Atkins and performed instrumentals on the telecasts from Springfield, Missouri.

Relocating to Nashville, he grew up around the music community. While his mother was writing standards such as “The Long Black Veil,” “One Day at a Time,” “Cut Across Shorty” and “Waterloo,” Bucky Wilkin was exploring the teen sounds of the day. He formed a rock band called The Majestics which performed instrumentals at a roller rink on Thompson Lane. While daydreaming during a high-school physics class at Hillsboro High, he wrote “G.T.O.”

His mother had formed Buckhorn Music Publishing with producer Bill Justis. The latter took him into the studio and got him a recording contract. Wilkin became “Ronny Dayton,” and dubbed his group The Daytonas. In reality, there was no band. In the studio, Wilkin sang with Buzz Cason, Bobby Russell and Bergen White. On the road, he assembled various pick-up groups to accompany him. His high-school friends posed for the “band” pictures on the two record albums, issued in 1964 and 1966.

“G.T.O.” became a million-selling smash in 1964. It remains Nashville’s only hot-rod rock classic. Bucky Wilkin also wrote or co-wrote five charting Ronny & The Daytonas follow-up singles “California Bound,” “Sandy,” “Somebody to Love Me,” “Dianne Dianne” and “I’ll Think of Summer” in 1964-67. He also recorded pop songs as the “Buzz & Bucky” duo with Buzz Cason, notably 1965’s “Tiger-A-Go-Go” which they co-wrote.

His hits provided the financial foundation of Buckhorn Music. The company then signed his mother’s discovery Kris Kristofferson as a staff songwriter. Kristofferson and Wilkin roomed together for a time, and co-wrote several songs (“Blame It On the Stones,” “Apocalypse 1969,” “Screaming Metaphysical Blues,” etc.).

This time using his own name, Wilkin recorded solo LPs for Liberty Records (1970’s In Search of Food, Clothing, Shelter and Sex) and United Artists Records (1971’s Buck Wilkin). He also maintained a career as a session guitarist, appearing on discs by Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, Kristofferson, John Stewart, Steve Goodman, Bob Lind, Jessi Colter, Hedge & Donna, Kinky Friedman, Dory Previn and others.

Kristofferson introduced him to Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda. Wilkin accompanied the actors to Peru to make the 1971 film The Last Movie. He provided the production’s soundtrack songs and briefly appeared in it. The film was intended to be the follow-up to Hopper’s successful Easy Rider, but turned out to be an incomprehensible cinematic disaster.

Back in Nashville, Buck Wilkin’s songs caught the ears of a wide variety of artists. “My God and I” was recorded by such diverse stylists as Bobby Goldsboro, Odetta, Frankie Laine, Bobby Vee and Ray Charles. In 1970, Bobbie Gentry made the pop charts with his song “Apartment 21.” His compositions were also recorded by The Chordettes, Southern Pacific, The Beach Boys, Wayne Newton, Alex Chilton, The Hondells, Robert Knight and The Swinging Blue Jeans.

In 1997, New York’s Sundazed Records company issued a “Best Of” compilation of the Ronny & The Daytonas hits. Buck Wilkin’s profile went higher in 2000 when the same label reissued his debut albums G.T.O. and Sandy, both with the original Daytonas billing. He participated in a number of golden-oldie revues under his old “Ronny Dayton” billing.

John “Buck” Wilkin lived in a comfortable RV park in Hickman County, but regularly drove to Nashville to pick up royalty checks at the post office, look after his mother’s legacy and chat with old music industry friends.

He was an only child, and he never married. He passed away on April 6 near Linden, Tennessee. His death was announced by Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home. No services are planned.

A celebration of John Buck Wilkin’s life will be announced at a later time.

Robert K Oermann
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