Holler, Dick (16th October 1934-Present)

Pianist and singer-songwriter born Richard Louis Holler in Indianapolis whose family later moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1951. He studied at University High School followed by Louisiana State University where he started playing the piano and writing songs for his fellow students.

He is best known for having written “Abraham, Martin and John”, Dion’s comeback hit, and an anthem for an entire generation. It was written the day after Bobby Kennedy was assassinated and he is mentioned in the fourth verse. The title refers to Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and John F. Kennedy, all of whom were assassinated. The song has been covered by a wide array of performers, including Tori Amos, Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Whitney Houston, Leonard Nimoy, and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.

Before he settled into his eventual pigeonhole of songwriter, Dick Holler was, like many young hopefuls in the ’60s, trying to make it as a front man for a couple of bands, the Holidays and the Rockets. The Holidays consisted of Dick Holler, Merlin Jones, and Don Smith. Smith and a fellow named Cyril Vetter wrote a song called “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love)”. They released it in 1963 on Comet Records, which was going out of business at the time, so it only managed to receive limited airplay.

In 1966, The Swingin’ Medallions would record a version of it that would enter the top twenty, and it became a frat party standard. The original version is available on an album called Grand Strand Gold. The Rockets were a whole other kettle of fish: At one time, they consisted of Jimmy Clanton, Dick Holler, and a very young Johnny Rivers. The collaboration led to recording careers for all three.

Holler was invited to record with Ace Records via Jimmy Clanton and subsequently helped launch Rivers’ career by introducing him to a bunch of rhythm and blues artists. Rivers started his own band in 1956: He was only fourteen at the time. Holler’s recording career didn’t exactly take off like the others’, but he continued to write.

He was working on an historical song about The Red Baron when Phil Gernhard suggested it might make a good novelty song if it incorporated Snoopy from the Peanuts cartoons. The result was “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron”, a #2 hit for The Royal Guardsmen and a #4 hit for The Hotshots in 1973. Over the course of the last four decades, Dick Holler has been involved on records that have topped thirty-two million in sales. Although he could probably live off the royalties of “Abraham, Martin and John”, Dick continued to tour, and writes songs with his two sons, David and Reno.

The Royal Guardsmen recordings
Snoopy vs. the Red Baron (Phil Gernhard/Dick Holler)

Sources:

Holler, Dick (16th October 1934-Present)

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