Shortly after I put together the initial Rocky Burnette - "Burnette House" website at Geocities, I found myself having a good cry as I recalled in emails with a big fan of the Johnny Burnette Rock 'n Roll Trio, whom I had met at the forums of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, what it was like knowing Johnny Burnette in my childhood years and the pleasure of standing still on my bicycle at the corner of Woodman Avenue and Northoff Street as Johnny drove by in his opened 1960 white Cadillac convertible looking so handsome.

Ours was a wholesome middle-class working man's neighborhood. And the secret I was among the few lucky enough to know was really very inspiring. Here, in this part of the Pacoima zipcode which had re-named itself "Arleta" so as to not be confused with the rougher, poorer side of the tracks where Ritchie Valens had grown up, lived modestly among us the young family of another person who was a glamorous example of the classic rags-to-riches American story. A young man who had at last reached heights possible only because of his confidence in doing what he loved the most.

The fact that all the world would lose such a talent, inspiration and compassionate person so prematurely in a sudden holiday accident at the beginning of an exciting new chapter in his life is nothing less than tragic.

That began to change around the time I met Johnny Burnette as I became too impatient to draw out the entire story and soon was illustrating the stories I would pass around to my schoolmates and family members.

My first "publication" was a hand-drawn-and-printed "magazine" called DISK JOCKEY that I began passing around at Mary Immaculate School. Almost all of them featured drawings of Johnny on the cover and another interview he was kind enough to give me inside. One cover was my rendition of the pic to the left, which he encouraged me by signing To "the Disk Jockey," Best Wishes & Good Luck. On the back of another he wrote "To Hank, Best Wishes Good Luck on your magazine."

Yes, I had previously met Ritchie Valens, and had always loved music. But more than anyone or anything else, it was Johnny Burnette, and his lovely wife Thurley, who encouraged me the most to become a rock journalist. Although I enjoyed buying Johnny Burnette records with my newspaper route earnings, I would often be given an "Audition Copy" of a newer release to "review." From grammer school into my "junior high" years at Alemany High School, this relationship was one that gave me pride and confidence.

But this was not unique. The Burnettes, I was to learn later in life, had always been known for their generousity and encouraging help to countless others. They had helped Gene Vincent get his recording contract with Capitol Records, which legend has mainly attributed to a promotional contest. Johnny had also found Glen Campbell when he did a TV show in Alburquerque, New Mexico. Impressed with his talent, Johnny encouraged Glen to move to Los Angeles, using him in concert performances as well as in the studio. Johnny also got Glen into The Champs, the "Tequila" hit record instrumental group which was led by Jim Seals and Dash Crofts. (After Johnny's death, his widow Thurley was hired by Glen Campbell and continued to work for him until she retired recently.) Johnny was also the first to offer The Carpenters a recording contract, signing them to his new Magic Lamp Records shortly before his death. And, like Johnny, Dorsey is also well remembered for having helped countless Musicians. Not only did Dorsey discover Little Stevie Wonder playing his harmonica and singing on a California beach, taking him into his first recording sessions, but he also helped Roger Miller get his recording contract while also producing albums for Gary Crosby and Nick Adams. Young Jimi Hendrix, Leon Russell, Bonnie and Delaney Bramlett were also among the musicians kept busy with work on Burnette sessions prior to achieving fame.

Despite his humble home in the northeastern corner of the San Fernando Valley, Johnny Burnette was at the top of the recording industry when I was lucky enough to meet him. DeeJays would introduce his records on the radio as featuring "the Big Voice of Johnny Burnette." A review of the Johnny Burnette Sings album read, "Wowsville! Everything recent like Theme From One Eyed Jacks and everything in standards like Mona Lisa, The Treasure Of Love and Memories Are Made Of This. Johnny up to his usual greatness in a wide variety of renditions." And we'd be thrilled to see Johnny on TV singing his hits like "Girls" on Southern California's local Lloyd Thaxton Show before screaming teenagers at Pickwick Fairgrounds.

Promo "samplers" released by Liberty Records were headlined by their biggest "teen idol," Johnny Burnette, in an effort to attract as many teens as possible to their other featured recording artists.