Story Behind the Song

The Story Behind The Song The song is based on an actual event where three teens were killed. Sixteen-year-old Jeanette Clark was out on a date in Barnesville, Ga. She was with a group of friends in a '54 Chevy driven by J.L. Hancock. J.L. was also 16. They were traveling on Highway 341 in heavy traffic when the Chevy collided with a trailer truck. Jeanette, J.L., and another teen were killed. Two others in the car were seriously injured. The accident was terribly gory and provoked an intense reaction in Barnesville. Wayne Cochran, a white R&B singer and composer was living in an old shack about 15 miles away. Wayne saw accident after accident on the busy stretch of highway where he lived. He had written a song about all the accidents and left it unfinished, until he heard about the tragedy in Barnesville. He completed the song and dedicated it to the memory of Jeanette Clark. He called his song Last Kiss. Wayne sang the song locally. When the song enjoyed some popularity the recorded it for a small record label. It caught on in Georgia, and Wayne tried to promote it. He loaded a bunch of 45's in his care and went from record store to record store selling them. This was not very effective. He later recorded the song for another record label, but the owner would not promote it. In San Angelo, Texas, a local record producer named Sonly Rouse heard Last Kiss. He had in mind for a popular local band to record the song. After the recording session, he took the master tape to Major Bill Smith, a producer with contacts at the Josie Record label in New York. With all the contracts signed, Last Kiss enter the charts in September of 1964 and was a huge success. J Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers version of Last Kiss went to number two on the Billboard charts and number one on the Cashbox charts. J Frank was awarded a gold record for selling on million records. What about J Frank Wilson? What about his story and what happened to him after the release of Last Kiss is another story.