Rockin’ original: Writer of Iowa’s first Rock ’n’ Roll record performs, speaks at SWCC

CNA photo by ANDY GOODELL Rock talk: Layton Zbornick, better known as Jerry Martin, discusses his life as IowaÕs first musician to record a Rock ÕnÕ Roll record. He spoke and played early Rock ÕnÕ Roll classics at Southwestern Community CollegeÕs performing arts center Tuesday evening.

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Iowa’s Rock ’n’ Roll roots can be traced back to one man. More than 50 years ago, he recorded what would become Iowa’s first Rock ’n’ Roll record. Recording under the name Jerry Martin, Layton Zbornick has had quite the storied past as a musician, disc jockey and 15-year stint as an English teacher. The audience at Southwestern Community College’s performing arts center quickly learned nearly every event for most of the rocker’s life has been influenced by music. Martin interspersed reminiscing about his life Tuesday night with performances of classic Rock ’n’ Roll tunes from the ’50s and ‘60s. “Music is good for the soul,” professed Martin. Rockin’ life story Martin took a lighthearted approach when recalling his unorthodox upbringing, joking with the crowd about his young life. “The pool hall became my life,” he said while discussing his childhood experiences cleaning out spittoons at his grandfather’s bar in Albia. “By 9-years-old, I became a hustler for the house. My job was to take money away from the kids.” One night while shooting pool, Martin learned his AM radio could pick up stations broadcasting rockabilly and other new music from states far south of his rural Iowa home. The music he heard, including early rockabilly recordings, changed Martin’s life from that point on. Immediately hooked on the new sound, Martin decided he could wright a hit Rock ’n’ Roll record just as easily as the artists he was hearing on the airwaves. Before he knew it, Martin was playing shows with people like Frankie Avalon and recording at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tenn., with legendary producer Sam Phillips, the man who discovered Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. “I’m playing shows that have as many people there as I have in the whole county where I grew up,” he said while talking about going on the road to promote his first record. After playing music for a few years, Martin decided he’d had enough. However, that didn’t stop him from trying to make a living behind a microphone. He spent the next years of his life as a disc jockey at stations throughout the US. “We were the black station,” said Martin of the South Carolina radio station he worked for. “I mean, we played the funky stuff.” Something to sing about In the 1950s, singers sang songs about what was important to them at the time. According to Martin, this included clothes, cars and love, the last of which he said he knew little about at the time. “I had three pairs,” said Martin while discussing the must-have footwear of his day — blue suede shoes. While discussing the joys of singing about fast cars, Martin pointed out the care-free attitude he and others had at the time. “We got out there, and we spun our tires,” he said. “We ruined our tires. We ruined the streets. We ruined the atmosphere. We had fun.” As any fan of classic rock knows, there was a stark change between the song subject matter in rock music from the 1950s compared with what emerged in the 1960s. Martin took note of this contrast by saying all of the racial strife and national divide over the Vietnam war can be understood in the first verse of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.” “We had a lot of things going on and this song really touches on the backbone of what was going on in our country at that time,” said Martin before breaking into the legendary protest anthem. Martin concluded his spoken word and acoustic performance by fielding questions about his life and those who he performed with amid calls for an encore. —————— Andy Goodell can be reached at (641) 782-2141 ext. 242 or agoodell@crestonnews.com