 Ronnie
Mills hailed from Haines City, Florida and was
one of North Polk County's early rock & roll
star wannabe's. A talented guitarist and vocalist,
by 1959 Mills had already acquired a fan base
of teen-age girls who would follow him around
from gig to gig and he, along with Jack Pilkington
on saxophone, Chuck Brown on guitar and Allen
Keefer on drums, combined their talents and formed
the group the Blazers. Pilkington, Brown and
Keefer were all students at Auburndale High School
and had been learning their chops playing together
as the Hi-Hats prior to joining Mills in the
Blazers. The Blazers played teen rec halls, municipal
youth centers, truck stops and radio shows around
the Central Florida area from roughly 1959 into
1962.
In 1960, after Keefer and Pilkington had graduated
from high school, they left the Blazers. Chuck
brown stayed with the band until he graduated
the following year. The three ex-Blazers then
teamed with another Auburndale graduate, Ronald
Whitney, and formed the Starfires. Ronnie Mills
continued to work the area with the Blazers
for another year or so, playing mostly lounges
using many of the other early Polk rockers,
including Wayne Denmark, Wayne Renardson, Jimmy
Britt, and Grant LaCerte. For a more in-depth
look at the latter days of the band -- read
Wayne Renardson's excellent essay on the early
days of rock & roll in North Central Polk
County [click
here].
The Blazers made a big impact on the evolving
rock scene of the early '60s in North Polk
County and affected much of the music that
would be made here for many years to come.
THE
BLAZERS - GALLERY
--Some pages have audio included--
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