Daniel Turner’s Dark Musical Journey

The hunt for Daniel Turner (like so many other artists on this site) spanned many, many years. You would not believe how many Danny / Daniel Turners I called during those years all to no avail. This Lemco 45 was love at first sound for me and I have been on the hunt for his story since the first day I played it. As always the information is from the best available sources and any errors will be corrected as needed. Long, long overdue…enjoy!  [2022 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes – revised 2025]

Like so much of his life, the early years of Daniel Turner remain in the mists of time with only the haziest of outlines. He was born to Rosaie Lee (Moore) and Willis “Wick” Turner on August 10, 1949. Beyond Daniel’s parents, the Turner family also included at least one brother and at least two sisters but the branches of the family tree are still largely a mystery.

Young Turner’s trail picks up starting in the mid-60s where he was attending the now defunct Evarts High School. Unlike Harlan High School, which serviced the townies in Harlan proper, Evarts would sweep in the kids from the hills, hollers and coal camps further outside the county seat.

Despite its location in one of the poorest counties in the United States, the halls of Evarts High were rich in talent and spirit and it was here that Daniel blossomed into a front rate showman as the lead singer of The Sound Effects. In addition to Turner, the band originally featured Harold “Weirdo” Campbell on drums, Lloyd Skidmore on rhythm guitar, the Mulkey brothers – younger Harold (guitar) and older Bill on bass.

 

The influences of The Sound Effects were both American and English rockers of the day and their catalog included cuts like “Time Won’t Let Me” from the Outsiders, Tommy James’ “Hanky Panky” as well as covers of several Rolling Stones tracks. With dark jackets and mop tops, the boys could pass for a ‘big city’ band with ease and they had no trouble booking shows.

This is not to say that they were without competition even in such a rural county as Harlan. Jerry and the Dekades were popular in the region and operated out of the nearby London/Corbin area. Action United was another area band that competed for slots. Bigger touring acts often pulled into Appalachia looking for easy money. Long before they dropped the ‘s’ and started to “Kiss You All Over”, the Exiles were a real headache for the small, local bands trying to land a prime weekend slot. Sometimes the answer to winning was simple. Lloyd Skidmore recalls:

“Well, we were a good band, but those bands had records out and better equipment… we learned the best way to beat ‘em was on price! We would just go lower and that is how we beat out the Exiles for the Hazard Prom one year. I think we offered to do it for only about a hundred dollars (laughs).”

The crowds got their money’s worth no matter the fee. According to Skidmore, Daniel had an extra long mic cord that would stretch far into the dance floor and he loved to drift out and sing among the couples while executing his own Jagger-esque moves. The boys played school assemblies and at restaurants in Evarts and Kenvir. They were popular at the Benham Youth Center and had a standing gig at the VFW every other weekend where they negotiated a take of sixty percent of the door. Not bad pocket money for a bunch of high schoolers! On alternating weekends, they were free to roam and would even occasionally drift over to Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and deliver a hot set at the local teen club.

Skidmore left the band around 1968 to get married and was replaced by Ross Bailey, but many of the boys (including Daniel) graduated in ’68 and were also moving in different ways. The ultimate demise of the band is not documented, but The Sound Effects proved to have life changing effect on Turner and he was ready for more music.

Like most things about Turner, the road that led him to Lexington is unclear. Harlan was certainly tumultuous in the early ’70s culminating in the infamous Brookside Mining Strike in 1973 – the story of which would become the Academy Award winning documentary Harlan County, USA. Then as now, it is a hardscrabble life there and clearly Turner felt his future was elsewhere.

It is known that Daniel was in Lexington by early 1971 and (at least on paper) it would seem he was settling comfortably into stable married life. His wife Brenda (another Harlan County native) gave birth to their daughter in April of that year, but the joy of her arrival did little to smooth over the already rocky marriage. By early 1974 the couple had split, and Daniel was focused solely on his music.

A chance invitation from a saxophonist friend Chuck Picklesimer led Turner to the edge of town where a farmhouse rented by Bryan Station HS teacher Jack Raker was brimming with talent. Here Turner was introduced to guitar player Harold Adams and his drummer pal Charles Gutterridge – both from Danville, Illinois. The musical kinship was immediate and with the addition of Bobby Pennington on bass, Turner was back in a band: Cookbook.

A keen music fan, Raker would run sound and offer minor band management. He was able to secure them a gig at a school fundraiser Unity Dance where Cookbook offered up some tasty 1950s rock n’ roll cuts to the high school crowd. The band was also booked for some private parties, but ultimately it was a short-lived affair.

Turner was undeterred and dropped a solo release in 1974 for Lemco. The 45 boasts two sides that feel autobiographical with “Exit Door 1” being a particularly haunting dive that drifts down dark undercurrents and ascends to mountain mysticism. From the opening lines, it is apparent this is going to be a wild ride.

I talked to the dead man
He was standing by my door
With chains in hand ready
He said what are you waiting for?

So I felt I was able
So I followed him in
And I listened to his message
And I drank his medicine

The lyrics descend deeper and deeper into a hallucinogenic state of being with the music pulsing nicely along – at just about a minute in it feels as if the trip gets deeper and then a beautiful cascading steel guitar drops at the halfway mark. The singer is on a journey from which it is doubtful he will return. Or would he?

Now in all this darkness
I could feel no great pain
In this journey I was making
Where blackness would reign

And I could hear Mother Nature
As she called my name again
But I know I need not worry
‘Cause Jesus he rose again

To the uninitiated the song may seem overwhelming. It is powerful and Daniel was obviously a creative writer but the descriptions are so precise and personal it feels as if it was guided by something else. There is no confirmation, but at least one source states Daniel said the lyrics came directly to him following a near fatal drug overdose. With phrases like “and I saw a million details unfold before my mind” it is not a far stretch to see that he may have used such an experience to exorcise some personal demon through music.

The B-side “Harlan County Blues” is a much more straightforward track and seems to be the more popular of the two back in Daniel’s old stomping grounds. After “nine long days” in jail he growls “Harlan County is a living hell.” Once more, Daniel delivers the lyrics with a grit and close-to-the-heart feel that lends authenticity to the story presented. This side again features great steel guitar from a still unknown musician (possibly John Heinrich). Also unknown are the rest of the backing players. They were possibly brought together by label owner Cecil Jones as he literally had dozens of qualified musicians in and out of the studio daily; however, it isn’t much of a stretch to believe it could be some of the old Cookbook members appearing here.

The single was known to have been consigned to Esco Hankin’s Record Store in Lexington as a small quantity of old stock surfaced a couple years ago traceable to that source. Prior to that, only a handful were seen and it remains scarce with the pressing likely only numbering in the hundreds. In addition to Esco’s shop, the best guess is Daniel hawked them between his weekly sets at the Ground Round on Southland Drive.

With a record out and a guaranteed crowd at a popular eatery, Turner seems to have been in a good place…but darkness lingered on the fringes. Already separated, his divorce was finalized in late 1975. In early 1976 his stint at the Ground Round came to an end for unknown reasons. Later that year, his brother Emanuel drowned during a beach vacation. His ex-wife Brenda relocated to California with his daughter. It was also at this time that he left his girlfriend Annette for Carlene, who would become his second wife in another marriage that would ultimately fail. This is a lot of life being thrown at a guy still in his twenties. Anyone can play armchair psychiatrist but clearly all of this personal turmoil would have weighed heavily on Daniel.

Turner returned home for good. Some people remember him playing porch sessions with other locals, but he did not pursue any serious effort to organize a band or continue with his music.

The Evarts community is close-knit with families raised side by side for generations and they are understandably tight-lipped about telling tales on one of their own – especially to an outsider. With this in mind, the hills still whisper about what did or did not happen that April night in 1981 up at Red’s Creek, but the official account is Daniel Turner died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was only 31.

Tantalizingly, there is rumored to be at least one cassette tape with several more songs from Daniel that exists (possibly from the same 1974 Lemco session). Perhaps this article will draw a copy out and this material can be digitized and shared so that the talent of Daniel Turner will rise again…and again…and again.

Discography:
Lemco     Exit Door 1 / Harlan County Blues        1974