David Yorko obit

David Yorko, 1943-2017: Rocker wasn’t ‘typical musician’

Guitarist for 1950s and ’60s rock group Johnny & the Hurricanes 

He was not on the list.

David Yorko, 73, a Rossford resident and guitarist for the internationally popular 1950s and ’60s rock group Johnny & the Hurricanes, died Friday at Heartland of Waterville.

He’d been in declining health and had emphysema, friend Mark Mazur said.

Known for instrumental hits such as “Red River Rock” and “Beatnik Fly,” the Rossford-based Johnny & the Hurricanes — fronted by saxophone player Johnny Paris — gained international fans.

“It was a big deal, the local group out of a small town to make it nationally and internationally, especially in the early days of rock and roll,” said Mr. Mazur, who grew up a half-block from Mr. Yorko.

Mr. Yorko left school to join the Hurricanes at age 17. They toured the Midwest, around the United States and internationally, and appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand several times.

“Rossford stopped the first time they appeared on Dick Clark’s show,” Mr. Mazur said. “Everything stopped, and everyone was glued to their TV.”

“Red River Rock” sold more than a million copies and reached No. 5 on charts in the United States and No. 3 in Britain.

Mr. Yorko first learned the guitar from Elmer Sanders at Durdel’s Music in Toledo. Over the years he had some 300 guitars, Mr. Mazur said.

Early in the group’s touring days, they discovered a very segregated United States, Mr. Mazur said. Mr. Yorko and bandmates Paul Tesluk and Lionel “Butch” Mattice would sneak onto black artists’ tour buses “because they had more fun,” Mr. Tesluk said.