Song:Mission Bell
Album:70 Ounces of Gold: Classic Gold
The 1960 top ten hit Mission Bell was the only big hit for Donnie Brooks. A couple of his other singles charted so he is not technically a one hit wonder. But it's his only memorable song. It's a popular wedding song. Brooks has a long history in the music business in Los Angeles. He was born John Dee Abohosh Feb. 6, 1936 in Dallas. When he moved with his family to Ventura, CA, he took his stepfather's surname and was named John Faircloth. After graduating high school, Brooks started performing at local clubs. He was very good friends with rockabilly legend Dorsey Burnette. Burnette gave him the song Bertha Lou which he recorded as Johnny Faire on Surf Records in 1958. Though it was not a hit at the time, it is now considered a lost rockabilly classic and Brooks is in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. After recording as Johnny Jordan for Jolt Records, he recorded a couple of singles for Era Records as Dick Bush. Era owners Herb Newman and Lew Bidell liked him enough to keep him around and change his name to Donnie Brooks. Mission Bell was the fourth single in 1960. It reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was another song that Dorsey Burnette gave to Brooks. It was written by Burnette's friends William Michael and Jesse Hodges. Danny Gould arranged and conducted. You can get Mission Bell on this various artists budget comp. The Brooks album The Happiest was released in 1961. After leaving Era in 1962, Brooks recorded for Reprise and Challenge. Brooks appeared in the 1964 film Get Yourself a College Girl. And he sang the theme of the TV series George of the Jungle. He played the oldies circuit for years until he died on Feb. 23, 2007 at age 71. Here's Donnie Brooks performing Mission Bell on a 1965 episode of Hollywood-A-Go-Go.
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