- Larry Donn Trivia: Larry Donn Gillihan was born two miles north of Bono, Arkansas on June 7th 1941 on his parents' farm.
- Larry Donn Trivia: In July of 1957, a lawn mower accident cut two toes off his right foot. What to do while recuperating? Well, he learned to play the guitar!
- Larry Donn Trivia: Back on his feet he entered a talent show at his high school, in which he won second place. It was there that Larry met 14-year old Benny Kuykendall, who came third in the contest...
- ...Together with Benny’s brother Scotty Kuykendall and drummer Eddie Reeves, they started their own rock n roll quartet, playing all over Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri.
- Larry Donn Trivia: His cousin was Billy Lee Riley's neighbor and introduced the two, who became good friends.
- Larry Donn Trivia: He was equally capable on guitar and piano and was an energetic live performer.
- Larry Donn Trivia: On August 13, 1958, Billy Riley gave Larry the chance to record for Sun. That’s when Donn recorded the first version of “That’s What I Call A Ball” and one other song, called “Molly-O”.
- Larry Donn Trivia: Later in 1958 the band broke up and Donn joined Bobby Brown as his bass player. Brown recorded for the Vaden label.
- Larry Donn Trivia: For Vaden in February 1959, he recorded the Benny Kuykendall composition “Honey Bun”, coupled with a remake of “That’s What I Call A Ball”...
- ... According to Arlen Vaden, only 1,000 copies were pressed (to sell at shows), but the record quickly became popular in parts of Arkansas and Missouri and is now considered a true rock & roll classic.
- Larry Donn Trivia: In 1960 Donn received an offer from Sonny Burgess to link up and form the “Sonny Burgess - Larry Donn Show”. With Sammy Creason on drums, they hit the road,...
- ... soon establishing themselves as a crowd puller. 1960 also saw the release of Donn’s second record, “The Girl Next Door” (also recorded by Elvis around the same time), with “Today” by Sonny Burgess on the other side.
- Larry Donn Trivia: In 1962 Larry became a disc jockey at radio station KNEA in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and also formed another band which he called the Cotillions...
- ...They secured a contract with Joe Lee’s Alley Records and had two singles released on the label, one instrumental (as by the Cotillions), one vocal (credited to Larry Donn)...
- ... After splitting up with Sonny Burgess in 1965, Larry rejoined Bobby Brown’s band, this time as a piano player. In 1966 he quit his job at KNEA, formed another band (The Good Guys) which toured around the USA,...
- ... until Donn accepted a job at KAIT-TV in Jonesboro in 1968. Next, he worked as an insurance investigator for two years.
- Larry Donn Trivia: Donn recorded many demos during the 1960s (usually covers of well-known RnR songs), but remained unreleased until Cees Klop of the Netherlands issued some of them on a White Label LP in 1980...
- ...(one side devoted to Larry Donn, the other to Sonny Burgess). A far more comprehensive CD release (which also included “Honey Bun” and “That’s What I Call A Ball”) followed in the 1990s...
- ... In the 1970s Donn had three albums released on the Shelby label, a mix of country and 50s rock & roll. He kept on performing through the 1980s, still striving for stardom.
- Larry Donn Trivia: In 1989 Donn undertook his first trip to the UK, where he was virtually unknown until that time. The tour went well and would turn out to be the first of many he would play in both the UK and Europe.
- Larry Donn Trivia: In December 1990 he a column, "Rockabilly Days" in the leading American Roots Music publication "Now Dig This", which was an instant hit with the readers and lasted until December 2007...
- ... By that time Donn was tired of all the travelling and had become disillusioned with the music business in general. Following poor sales of a 2007 CD with new recordings, he decided that enough was enough.
- ... Larry Donn passed away on May 1, 2012, from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, in a hospice facility in Jonesboro, Arkansas. He was 70 years old.
