John D. Loudermilk

A successful American country artist best known for his songwriting skills, John D. Loudermilk scored his first big hit in 1956, George Hamilton IV's "A Rose and a Baby Ruth." Shortly afterwards he hit the U.S. Top 20 with "Sittin' in the Balcony," sung by Eddie Cochran. Loudermilk relocated to Nashville, penning a stream of hits including "Waterloo" (Stonewall Jackson, 1959), "Tobacco Road" (Nashville Teens, 1964), "This Little Bird" (Marianne Faithfull, 1965), and "Indian Reservation" (Don Fardon, 1970). Loudermilk also nabbed a few hits of his own, including 1962's "The Language of Love," and recorded several albums of his own material throughout the '60s.