Biography

Hardrock Gunter And His Thunderbirds
Real name: Sidney Louie Gunter
Members: Hardrock Gunter
Born in Birmingham, Alabama on 27th February 1925. Died March 15, 2013) was a singer, guitarist and songwriter who helped pioneer rockabilly and rock and roll music in the early 1950s. Around 1938, at the age of thirteen, Sidney organized his first band "The Hoot Owl Ramblers". Member of Happy Wilson’s Radio Show. In the 1950's hired as an emcee and producer of the Jamboree, and as a DJ on WWVA. He was to stay with WWVA and the Jamboree on this occasion for ten years, during which time he established himself as one of the leading radio personalities in the country, became a featured artist on the Jamboree, and took over the role as the talent director of the show. Once he had settled in again at WWVA, Hardrock resumed his recording career. This time it was King records who signed Hardrock to a recording deal. The band employed to back Hardrock on this session was The Golden River Boys, made up of Hardrock on guitar, Billy Tucker on fiddle, Ted Crabtree on steel, Huel Murphy on piano, Jim O'Day on bass and Bob Sanders on drums,