Columbus (Bexley), 1959-62
The Debonairs were one of the first self-contained 'teen rock-n-roll' bands from Columbus. They recorded a sole 45 in 1961 that got some local sales.
Bob Hill recalls - "Danny and I played guitar on the songs. The "Chet Atkins-y" part is Danny on "I Guess I'm Through With Love". I guess it was recorded at Magnetic. It was financed by Danny Beggs' father. (they owned the Beggs Building. I'm from Bexley), Some girl pals sang on it. There were about 600 pressed. The songs are original. I don't remember any type of distribution short of personal; leave a stack at the music store?"
"The Debonairs performed at school dances, mostly. I doubt if we played more than 20 times, total. I do remember that we usually played on prom night rather than attending our own proms. I remember singing Ricky Nelson songs like "Young World" (?), "I'm Walkin" and "Travelin' Man". We probably could play some Elvis, too. Maybe "Heartbreak Hotel", "Hound Dog" or "Don't Be Cruel". We didn't ever play very long; probably 30 minutes, or so. We would make a few bucks each."
"We sometimes performed with the girl singers and sometimes not. It all depended on their willingness and availability; we could do either. BTW, those girls were the cream of the popularity/cheerleading/homecoming queen crop. You should see how many times their pictures are in the yearbook!"
The second recording mentioned in the article below was never released. After the Debonairs broke up, Bob Hill joined the Shades, and then formed the Bishops. Joe Reight joined the Nu-Trons.
L-R: Danny Beggs, Bob Hill
The last version of the Debonairs - L-R Rick Culbertson, Dick Stevens, Ira Sutton, Eddie Durham, Bob Hill