THE Dwight STUFF

Tulsa, Oklahoma native Dwight Twilley, who died in October 2023, was one of the prime movers of power pop, up there with Badfinger, The Raspberries, Stories, Todd Rundgren, Shoes and Big Star. Combining Sun Studio sonics with Beatles melodics, Jim Morrison-ish good looks and a kinship with Tom Petty, he had everything going for him. He only had two big hits 1975's I'm On Fire and 1984's Girls - and yet this prolific and gifted singer, songwriter and instrumentalist, operating under his own name and the Dwight Twilley Band, released many superb albums. Here, his widow, Jan Rose Twilley, speaks with Bill Kopp about his life and music.

- Bill Kopp

Dwight Twilley and his musical partner, Phil Seymour, began working together in 1967 when Twilley was only 16, Seymour a year his junior. The duo made a pilgrimage to Memphis’s Sun Studio, where they met Jerry Phillips, son of legendary studio founder Sam Philips. That encounter helped steer Twilley and Seymour toward a more rockabilly-flavored sound on their return to Tulsa.. They moved to Los Angeles not long after Twilley left Northwestern Oklahoma A&M College in 1973.

As a duo, Twilley and Seymour had been playing live billed as Oister; after they landed in LA, they came to the attention of a small label, Shelter. Founded in 1969 by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell, Shelter Records was based both in Los Angeles and 1400 miles to the east, back in Twilley’s hometown: Tulsa. Shelter signed Oister to the label and renamed the group the Dwight Twilley Band.

“I met Dwight through Susie when The Cowsills [late 60s/early 70s US teen-pop family band] were working at Clover Recorders,” says Jan Twilley, Dwight’s widow. “It was just a few blocks from Shelter Records on Hollywood Boulevard.” Jan Rose and Susan Cowsill had been best friends from the time they met as fourth graders at Hollywood Professional School. That learning institution was filled with young stars. “All of The Cowsills went to Hollywood Professional,” Jan recalls. Jan excelled in her studies, graduating a year early. “I’d always hang out at The Cowsills’ place on Rockingham, and Susan would often come hang out at my pad,” she says.

Released on Shelter in 1975, I’m On Fire was Twilley’s debut release. The song soared to the No 16 spot on the US Billboard singles charts and reached No 57 in Canada. It was around that time that Susan Cowsill and Dwight Twilley started dating.