If you’re a Texan of a certain age, this week you’ve probably spent some time mourning the death of Jerry Haynes, the children’s TV host better known as Mr. Peppermint. Haynes’ show on WFAA-TV in Dallas, Peppermint Place, ran from the ’60s to the ’90s and was widely syndicated across the state, including in Houston. (Rocks Off is surprised it lasted that long… we never saw it.)
The worlds of puppet-strewn children’s television and depraved psychedelic shock-rock don’t often meet, but they did here. Mr. Peppermint’s eldest son is none other than Gibson Haynes, better known as Gibby Haynes, lead singer, shrieker and Gibbytronix manipulator of the Butthole Surfers. This pair of oddball father-son professions naturally got Rocks Off wondering some other famous musicians’ dads did for a living.
Several hours later, after combing Wikipedia, Google Books and many other Web sites, here are 100, grouped into a few reasonable categories. You’ll find doctors, lawyers, engineers, laborers, farmers, teachers and plenty of musicians, some of whom were quite famous in their own right. There’s even a few journalists and what we politely refer to as “deadbeats.”
To paraphrase British author and composer Anthony Burgess – whose own dad was a bookkeeper and tobacconist – all of human life is here… all male human life, anyway.
Note: Sibling musicians are counted as one here. Since they had the same dad.
THE ARTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
Beyonce & Solange Knowles: Mathew Knowles, Xerox employee/music executive
Julian Casablancas, The Strokes: John Casablancas, Elite Modeling Agency founder
Elvis Costello: Ross McManus, musician (trumpet, Joe Loss & His Orchestra)
Rodney Crowell: James W. Crowell, musician/bandleader
Flea: Walter Urban Jr. (stepfather), jazz musician
Billy F. Gibbons, ZZ Top: Frederick Royal “Freddie” Gibbons, musician/bandleader (piano)
Dave Grohl: James Grohl, journalist/speechwriter/campaign manager
Albert Hammond Jr., The Strokes: Albert Hammond Sr., singer-songwriter (“To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before”)
Whitney Houston: John R. Houston, entertainment manager (Sweet Inspirations, Whitney’s mom Cissy, Whitney)
John Paul Jones, Led Zeppelin: Joe Baldwin, musician/arranger (Ambrose Orchestra)
Anthony Kiedis, Red Hot Chili Peppers: John Kiedis, actor/drug dealer
Lenny Kravitz: Sy Kravitz, NBC News producer
Courtney Love: Hank Harrison, publisher/Grateful Dead road manager
Paul McCartney: James “Jim” McCartney, musician/bandleader (Jim Mac’s Jazz Orchestra)
Tim McGraw: Frank E. “Tug” McGraw, professional baseball player (relief pitcher, Mets/Phillies)
Elvis Perkins: Anthony Perkins, actor (Psycho)
Paul Simon: Louis Simon, musician (bass)
Pete Townshend: Clifford Townshend, musician (saxophonist, The Squadronaires)
Prince: John L. Nelson, jazz musician
Slash: Anthony Hudson, visual artist
Steven Tyler: Victor Tallarico, classical pianist
Eddie Vedder: Edward Louis Severson Jr., lounge musician
Amy Winehouse: Mitch Winehouse, cab driver/jazz singer
PROFESSIONALS & EXECUTIVES
David Bowie: Haywood S. “John” Jones, PR Officer, Barnardo’s (British charity)
Garth Brooks: Troyal R. Brooks, draftsman
Chris Cornell: Ed Boyle,. pharmacist
Sheryl Crow: Wendell Crow, attorney/musician (trumpet)
Bob Dylan: Abraham Zimmerman, manager with Standard Oil (later Amoco/BP)
Steve Earle: Jack Earle, air traffic controller
The Edge: Garvin Evans, engineer
Aretha Franklin: Rev. C.L. Franklin, Baptist minister/civil rights activist
Dave Gahan, Depeche Mode: Jack Gahan (stepfather), Shell Oil executive
David Gilmour, Pink Floyd: Douglas Gilmour, zoology professor, University of Cambridge
Mick Jagger: Basil “Joe” Jagger, PE teacher/basketball coach (designed some of his son’s workout routines)
Janis Joplin: Seth Joplin, Texaco engineer
Simon LeBon, Duran Duran: John LeBon, London Water Board executive
Lady Gaga: Joseph Germanotta, Internet enterpreneur (Owner, Guest WiFi)
Lemmy: Sidney Kilminster, vicar/hospital superintendent
George Michael: Kyriacos Panayiotou (“Jack Michael”), restaurateur
Stevie Nicks: Jess Nicks, corporate executive
Jimmy Page: James Page Sr., industrial personnel engineer
Katy Perry: Keith Hudson, minister/evangelist
Robert Plant: Robert C. Plant, civil engineer
Iggy Pop: James N. Osterberg Sr., high-school English teacher/baseball coach
Linda Ronstadt: Gilbert Ronstadt, merchant/businessman (ran F. Ronstadt Co. livery/transportation outfitters, founded by her grandfather Fred Ronstadt)
David Lee Roth: Nathan Roth, opthamalogist
David Ruffin, The Temptations: Eli Ruffin, Baptist minister
Britney Spears: James “Jamie” Spears, building contractor
Scott Stapp, Creed: Steven Stapp (stepfather), dentist
Gwen Stefani: Dennis Stefani, marketing executive (Yamaha Corporation)
George Strait: John B. Strait, junior-high math teacher/rancher
Tina Turner: Floyd R. Bullock, Baptist deacon/farm overseer/factory worker
Tom Waits: Jesse F. Waits, Spanish teacher
Roger Waters, Pink Floyd: Eric F. Waters, schoolteacher
Florence Welch, Florence & the Machine: Nick Welch, advertising executive
Kanye West: Ray West, photojournalist/Christian counselor/former Black Panther
Dwight Yoakam: David Yoakam, gas-station owner
Neil Young: Scott Young, journalist/sportswriter
GOVERNMENT & MILITARY
Emmylou Harris: Walter R. “Bucky” Harris, U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot/officer
Jimi Hendrix: Al Hendrix, soldier (U.S. Army, enlisted)/laborer/landscaper
Tommy Lee: David Lee Thomas Bass, Welsh army sergeant
Freddie Mercury: Bomi Bulsara, civil servant (Cashier/accountant, British government)
Jim Morrison: George S. Morrison, U.S. Naval Officer (Rear Admiral, retired 1975)
Diana Ross: Fred Ross Sr., soldier (U.S. Army, WWII)
Joe Strummer: Ronald Mellor, diplomat (British Foreign Service)
TRADESMEN & LABORERS
John Bonham: Jack Bonham, construction foreman
Bono: Brendan R. “Bobby” Hewson, postal worker
Johnny Cash: Ray Cash, sharecropper
Kurt Cobain: Donald L. Cobain, mechanic
Merle Haggard: James F. Haggard, migrant worker/laborer (oil fields)
George Harrison: Harold Harrison, bus conductor
Buddy Holly: Lawrence O. Holley Sr., tailor/clothing-store clerk
Ice Cube: Hosea Jackson, UCLA groundskeeper
Elton John: Stanley Dwight, milkman
John Lennon: Alfred Lennon, merchant seaman
John Lydon (Johnny Rotten): John Lydon Sr., laborer (construction)
Morrissey: Peter Morrissey, hospital porter (orderly)
Vince Neil: Clois “Odie” Wharton, machinist
Ozzy Osbourne: John “Jack” Osbourne Sr., toolmaker
Dolly Parton: Robert Lee Parton, tobacco farmer
Keith Richards: Bert Richards, factory worker
Rihanna: Roger Fenty, salesman/freelance clothing designer
Smokey Robinson: William Robinson Sr., bowling-alley pinsetter
Kenny Rogers: Edward F. Rogers, carpenter
Ringo Starr: Richard Starkey Sr., confectioner
Rod Stewart: Robert Stewart, carpenter
Jeff Tweedy, Wilco: Robert “Bob” Tweedy, Alton & Southern Railroad worker
Stevie Ray & Jimmie Vaughan: Jimmie Lee “Big Jim” Vaughan Sr., construction worker
Jack White: John Gillis Sr., maintenance worker (Archdiocese of Detroit)
JOURNEYMEN & NE’ER-DO-WELLS
Adele: Mark Evans, plumbing contractor (left family when singer was 3, they’re somewhat reconciled)
Mary J. Blige: Thomas Blige, jazz musician (left family when Mary was 4)
Ray & Dave Davies, The Kinks: Fred Davies, butcher/gardner/bon vivant
Jay-Z: Adnes Reeves, left family when then-Shawn Carter was 12
Michael & Janet Jackson, etc.: Joseph “Joe” Jackson, boxer/guitarist/U.S. Steel crane operator/talent manager
George Jones: George Washington Jones, truck driver/pipefitter/musician
Lil Wayne: Dwayne M. Carter Sr., abandoned family when Wayne was 2
Willie Nelson: Ira Doyle Nelson, musician/sharecropper/mechanic/blacksmith
Elvis Presley: Vernon Presley, farmer/laborer/delivery-truck driver
Axl Rose: William A. Rose Sr., unknown (murdered in Illinois in 1984)
Stevie Wonder: Calvin Judkins, “pure street hustler”
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This article appears in Best of Houston® 2011.
