A paper ticket announcing in ornate print a 1964 Christmas is more than just a yellowed relic of the past for Mike Johnson. Rather, the stub, advertising an appearance by the Continental V at a local high school, serves as a reminder of what could have been.

But 32 years after the band broke up, the ticket is also an indicator of what will soon be again. Johnson, the drummer for Ritchie Weems and the Continental V, which had widespread success both locally and on the Billboard charts in the mid and late 1960s, will once again serve as the backbeat of the band when five of the original six members reunite on July 28 and 29 for the Pikeville High School Celebration 2000, 85th Reunion.

The school reunion and the Continental V's performance, Johnson, of Pikeville, says will likely bring back memories for many local area residents who as teenagers came out every weekend to watch the band play. The thought of picking up the drumsticks again also brings back a whirlwind of memories for Johnson.

A Simple Beginning

It was the summer of 1962 when Johnson, a Pikeville High School Student, and his schoolmate Skip Franklin decided they wanted to start a rock 'n' roll band.

Johnson says it was the advice of Skip's father, Gene, who at the time owned Gene and Mike's Record Shop in Pikeville, that gave the two seventeen year olds the push they needed to get the band off the ground. "Gene said if we really wanted to do this we should do it right.

By that he meant practice hard and get a group together that wanted the same thing we all did and would spend the time to become better and better at what we were doing," Johnson, now 55, remembers. "So we took his advice and put together a group of pretty good musicians."

While the band, which now consisted of Johnson, lead guitarist Franklin, pianist Dennis Walters, bass guitarist James Osborne and saxophonist Richard Goff, the teenagers soon learned that while they could all harmonize together no one had the distinctive sound or charisma needed to be the band's frontman.

"We really didn't know what to do," Johnson says. Oddly enough, the Continental V finally found its frontman not in the musical circles but on the PHS basketball court. PHS Basketball Coach John Bill Trivette told the band about one of his basketball players, Ritchie "The Cat" Weems, who "sounded great" singing in the shower after a ballgame.

"We soon discovered that he was a terrific singer and he agreed to join us," Johnson says with a smile as he looks at a publicity photo of the band featuring Weems, decked out in dark sunglasses, wailing at the microphone. "Our group was now complete."

Road to stardom

The members of the band, now called Ritchie Weems & the Continental V, knew that the only way they would ever be able to fulfill their dreams of rock 'n' roll success would be to play before an audience.

In 1960s Pikeville the area's teens would spend their Saturday nights at the old T.W. Oliver Gym for the Teen Town program ran by a local woman, Nancy Forsythe. Johnson says the members of the band knew playing in front of the cluster of teens that gathered for the weekly program would guarantee the band the exposure it needed to make a name for itself.

While the teens that participated in the Teen Town program would often listen to music at the weekly event, a live band had never performed there, Johnson says. "We begged Nancy Forsythe to let us play at the next Teen Town," a smiling Johnson remembers. "I guess she either had a little faith in us or didn't want to hurt our feelings, so she agreed."

That first performance is one Johnson remembers vividly. After practicing about a dozen songs nonstop the week before the performance, Ritchie Weems and the Contintenal V was primed for their big debut. "We played our 10 or 12 songs and we were amazed that everyone liked them and were dancing to our music," Johnson says of that first Teen Town appearance.

While the performance seemed to be going perfectly, the band discovered it had a big problem once the last note of the final song was played. " They wanted us to stay and play longer. We didn't know any other songs at the time so we just played them over and over that night," Johnson says with a boyish laugh.

"We soon learned two things — No. 1, if we were going to play dances we'd better learn a few more songs, and No 2, the kids really liked us and I guess that gave us a lot of confidence."

The admiration from their fans and confidence in their musical abilities launched the band on a whirlwind of appearances throughout the state, performing at everything from school dances to a concert on the roof of a local restaurant in the middle of a thunderstorm.

In the fall of 1962, the band got a prelude to its first major break when Pikeville radio station owner Walter May began taping the group and would allow them to play live on his radio station, WPKE. The listener response was so positive that the band soon became a part of the station's regular programming with its own Saturday morning radio show.

Riding on the success of the radio show and still performing at area sock hops and school functions, Ritchie Weems and the Continental V were just getting a glimpse of things to come.

The Big Break

Johnson says the group got its first big break just a month before most of the members were set to graduate from PHS. After Franklin's dad, Gene, shopped one of the tapes May had recorded around to record labels, the band was signed to a two-year deal, calling for three singles and an album, with Spot Records, a subsidiary of RCA records, in the spring of 1963. The band's first single, a cover of the ballad "Making Believe," was released just as the Continental V was set to play at their high school prom.

"It was a slow ballad and they loved it," Johnson says. " Everyone would dance when we played it, even the guys that just sat around at the dances would get up on the floor when it began. We always closed every dance with it."

While the release of "Making Believe" gave the members of the Continental V their first taste of radio airplay, it was an original tune written by Weems and Franklin on a car trip to a performance one night, that would put the band on the charts.

"Natural Born Man" was released in the fall of 1963 and hit No. 52 on Billboard's Top 100 chart. In the summer of 1964 the band released its third single, "Wild In The Night."

The success of "Natural Born Man" earned the band television appearances on Let's Dance and Club 13 and also secured the Continental V a slot on the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour. On the tour the band shared the same stage as such musical icons as Bo Didley, the Birds, the Shirells, Bobby Vee and Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Johnson says one of his fondest memories, however, came that fall when the band backed Bryan Hyland, best known for his hit "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini," during his appearance at the Pikeville College Gym.

Johnson says the Continental V were scheduled to play a show at the Huntington Civic Center the next night but soon learned they mistakenly had also been booked to play the Wheelwright High School prom the same night. "What does Bryan Hyland — who has the No. 1 song in America — do? He agrees to go with us that night and after his show play the prom," a still amazed Johnson says. "He said it would be a real break for him and, after all, that's how he got started too."

Opportunity Knocks

In just the few years they had been together the members of Ritchie Weems and the Continental V had recorded an album, saw a single hit the charts and appeared on television.

In 1964, the band caught the attention of a newly established record label on the West Coast. Dunhill Records was scouting for new talent to sign and set its sights on Ritchie Weems & the Continental V. Johnson remembers that at the time the label had only signed one act, a musician they found singing at a club out west—if the Continental V chose to do so, they would be the second act to sign with the label and would be promoted heavily.

"I don't think at the time we really took it that seriously and for one reason or another, we didn't take the chance and it wasn't long before the first act they signed had a string of No. 1 hits," Johnson says. That act, Johnson says, turned out to be Johnny Rivers, who hit the charts with the singles "Secret Agent Man," and "Brown-eyed Handsome Man."

The label also went on to release recordings by the Mamas and the Papas, Jim Croce, Steppenwolf and Steely Dan. "You know they always say, 'Opportunity knocks but once,' I really believe we missed our chance back in 1964," Johnson says.

"But I can truly say — not only for myself, but for the whole group — those were five wonderful years we spent together as a band and we made everlasting friendships and memories that no amount of money or success could ever buy and I wouldn't trade them for anything."

Together Again

Ken "Keno" Trivette says when he first starting organizing the Pikeville High School reunion, he knew Ritchie Weems and the Continental V had to be a part of the festivities.

"They were such a dynamic group. They represent a time in not only our school's history that was unique, but also a very unique time in the country's history when rock 'n' roll was just beginning to take off," Trivette says.

Trivette says the band will take the stage at "an old-fashioned" sock hop at the Pikeville High School gym on Saturday, July 28. The band will appear behind Jerry's Restaurant the next night for a "curb jam," similar to those held in the 1960's.

While original lead guitarist Skip Franklin, who died 13 years ago, will be replaced by Pike District Judge Darrell Mullins, the remaining five members of the band, all of which except Johnson live in other states, will travel back to Pikeville for the reunion.

Mullins, frontman of the local band Riverbend, who was friends with Franklin, dedicated a cover of "Natural Born Man" on the band's recently released album, Rough and Ragged, to the memory of the guitarist and his father, Gene, as well as to the Continental V for "paving the way for all of us and setting the standard so high."