#31: Wishing by Barry Boyd

City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: March 1963
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #6
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Wishing”
Lyrics: N/A

Boyd was born in 1930, and raised in Vancouver. He got his start in radio in Prince George in 1956. That was the year Elvis Presley had hit first number-one hit “Heartbreak Hotel”, Carl Perkins was singing about “Blue Suede Shoes”, and Frankie Lemon and the Teenagers had a hit with “Why Do Fools Fall In Love”. In 1959 Boyd moved to CJCA in Edmonton. Along with CHED, CJCA was one of the Edmonton top two rock radio stations. Barry Boyd played Top-40 pop hits on his weekday afternoon show as well as at “record hops” or “platter parties” on Friday and Saturday nights. He hosted these events in various towns and villages around central Alberta, cruising in his big white 1955 Cadillac. On the radio he gave himself the nickname “the Bouncing B.”

In addition to being a DJ, Barry Boyd fronted a band called The Frantiks. In 1961, they released a rockabilly single titled “Going Home to Memphis”. The group released “You’re For Me” in 1962. In the winter of 1962, Barry Boyd released a solo recording of “Wishing”.

“Wishing” was written by Dorsey Burnette and Joe Osborn.

Dorsey Burnette was born in 1932 in Memphis, Tennessee. When he was six his dad bought him a Gene Autry guitar, along with one for his younger brother, Johnny. Dorsey had a temper and was on a path to becoming what was then called a juvenile delinquent. He put his temper to better use competing as a Golden Gloves boxer. While Dorsey worked at Crown Electric in Memphis, there was a guy who was a few years younger who worked odd jobs called Elvis Presley. Dorsey Burnette and Elvis Presley had been raised in the same housing project. But Presley gave up his work at Crown Electric, recorded some records and got a contract with Sun Records. Since 1953, Burnette and his brother Johnny, had been in a group called the Rhythm Rangers. In 1956, they renamed themselves the Rock and Roll Trio, and decided to take a shot at making music their profession.

The Burnette brothers moved to California and audaciously stepped up the street where Ozzie and Harriet Nelson lived in Beverley Hills. They asked to speak to their son, teen idol Ricky Nelson. At that moment Ricky Nelson came up the driveway in his motorcycle. Nelson asked Dorsey and Johnny to perform in front of him on the spot. Of the ones Ricky Nelson recorded the most successful were written by Dorsey Burnette. These include “Waiting’ In School”, “It’s Late”,  “Believe What You Say” and “Gypsy Woman”. This songwriting success led to a record deal with the Surf label in 1957, Imperial Records in 1958, and Merri Records in 1959. But he got on the radio with his first releases on ERA Records.

Dorsey Burnette on album cover of Dorsey Burnette’s Tall Oak Tree (1960)

In 1960, Dorsey Burnette’s ERA debut single was released titled “(There Was a) Tall Oak Tree”. The single reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. A followup, “Hey Little One”, stalled at #48 later that year. Veteran session drummer, Earl Palmer, was in the studio for that recording. His fifth single, “Hard Rock Mine“, was a minor hit in Vancouver in March 1961. After his fifth single on the ERA label, Dorsey Burnette moved on to Dot Records. The three singles he released were commercial flops.

Next, Dorsey Burnette signed with Reprise Records. Seven singles were released, but none of these cracked the Billboard Hot 100. Dorsey Burnette moved on to a subsidiary of Motown called Mel-O-Dy. In 1964, his brother Johnny Burnette died in a boating accident, when his fishing boat was hit by an unaware  captain of a cabin cruiser. Dorsey Burnette moved from record label to record label – Liberty, Lama, Happy Tiger, Music Factory, Smash, Mercury, Hickory and Condor – with no commercial success.

Over the course of his career Dorsey Burnette wrote over 350 songs. Various artists have recorded some of these including Roger Miller, Juice Newton, Brenda Lee, Stevie Wonder, the Beatles, Cher, Rod Stewart, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Grateful Dead  and Donny Hathaway. Given to excess in much of his life, in grief Dorsey turned to alcohol, drugs, overuse of  prescriptions and then to religion. He had some country music hits in the seventies. In 1972, his recording of “In The Spring The Roses Always Turn Red” reached #21 on the Hot Country Singles chart. Dorsey would chart 14 more singles on the Billboard Country singles survey. From time to time he got into fist fights at small venues where he played. At the age of 46 he died in his California home of a heart attack in 1979.

Cowriter of “Wishing”, Joe Osborn, was born in 1937 in the smallest village in Louisiana named Mound. By the age of twelve, Osborn was playing guitar in a band in church weekly. After graduation in 1955, he played in a band fronted by Dale Hawkins. He was in the recording studio for Hawkins hit record in 1957 titled “Susie Q”. He subsequently joined the backing band for singer Bob Luman. In 1960, he joined the backing band for Ricky Nelson.

He played bass guitar in the recording studio for a string of hits by Ricky Nelson. Osborn was in the recording studio for “Young Emotions”, “Traveling’ Man”, “Hello Mary Lou”, “A Wonder Like You”, “Young World”, Teenage Idol”, “It’s Up To You”, “String Along”, and “For You”. As Ricky Nelson was a star on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Joe Osborn had to appear alongside Nelson and the other bandmates for the TV show. He appeared on 44 episodes of the TV show. With Rick Nelson, Osborn went on his one and only major tour, through the US, Australia and the Philippines.

Joe Osborn was a session musician for recordings by Johnny Rivers, including “Memphis”, “Mountain Of Love”, “Seventh Son”, “Secret Agent Man”, and “Poor Side Of Town”. Other recordings he played guitar for include on Simon & Garfunkel’s “Sounds Of Silence”, “I Am A Rock”, “Fakin’ It”, “Mrs. Robinson”, “At the Zoo”, “A Hazy Shade of Winter”, “Homeward Bound”, “The Boxer”, “Cecelia”, “El Cóndor Pasa”and “Bridge Over Troubled Water”; the Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin'”, “Dedicated To The One I Love”, “Creeque Alley”, “Words Of Love”, “I Saw Her Again”, “Dancing In The Street”, “Twelve Thirty”, “Dream A Little Dream Of Me”, and “Monday Monday”; For the Fifth Dimension on “Up, Up and Away”, “Go Where You Wanna Go”, “Sweet Blindness”, “Stoned Soul Picnic”, “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In”, “Wedding Bell Blues”, “Puppet Man”, “Last Night I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All”, and “One Less Bell To Answer”. Osborn was in the studio for The Turtles on “You Baby”; With Gary Lewis and The Playboys on “This Diamond Ring”; For Paul Revere and the Raiders on “Him Or Me – What’s It Gonna Be” and “I Had A Dream”; Both “Windy” and “Never My Love” for the Association; Richard Harris’ “MacArthur Park”; “I Could Be So Good to You” for Don and the Goodtimes; For The Grassroots on “Let’s Live for Today”; With Harper’s Bizarre on “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)”; And The Stone Poneys (featuring Linda Ronstadt) on “Different Drum”. Joe Osborn was also on numbers of recordings by Glen Campbell. These include for “Wichita Lineman”, “Dreams Of The Everyday Housewife”, “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, “Gentle On My Mind”,  “Galveston”, and “Where’s The Playground Susie”. Other notable hits in the 1960s Osborn was on include The Cowsills’ “The Rain, The Park, and Other Things”, and for The Monkees on “Valleri”.

Into the seventies, Joe Osborn was in the recording studio for Paul Simon’s “Me and Julio Down by the School Yard” and Mother and Child Reunion”; For Barbra Streisand on “Stoney End”; For America on “Ventura Highway” and “Tin Man”; For The Carpenters on “(They Long To Be) Close To You”, “We’ve Only Just Begun”, “Rainy Days and Mondays”, “For All We Know”, “Top Of The World”; “Hurting Each Other”, “I Won’t Last A Day Without You”, and “Superstar”; For Neil Diamond on “Holly Holy”, “Cracklin’ Rosie” and “He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother”; For the Partridge Family on “I Think I Love You”; For Climax on “Precious And Few”; “Summer Breeze” by Seals and Crofts; Helen Reddy on “I Am Woman”; And for Neil Young on “Four Strong Winds”. Joe Osborn was in high demand, and he turned down many offers to be in the recording studio with some of the A-list of performers. These include Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan.

Joe Osborn in the recording studio

Osborn went on to record with many country music stars in the 70s and 80s. The Academy of Country Music nominated him Best Player of the Year on six occasions. He won the award in 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1985. He was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2010. Joe Osborn died in 2018 at the age of 81.

In “Wishing”, there is a boy who is variously “wishing,” “hoping,” and “dreaming” about a girl. His mind is focused on how “for every boy there’s a girl, and for every girl there’s a boy.” And he needs is a shove to move things forward and find love.

“Wishing” reached #6 in Saskatoon (SK). It also charted in the Top 50 in Toronto.

As a DJ in Edmonton, Barry Boyd was instrumental in bringing many top rock artists to Edmonton, including Roy Orbison, Gene Pitney, The Champs, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones.

In 1964, Barry Boyd moved to California to DJ in larger radio markets, including with KFXM in San Bernardino. He returned to Edmonton in 1976.

Barry Boyd died in January 2001. He had kept his age a secret for many years. Find a grave.com states Boyd was “age 70-71.”

June 19, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Chris Zdeb, “‘Edmonton’s Dick Clark’ loved mouldy oldies,” Edmonton Journal, January 28, 2014.
Barry Boyd with the Frantiks, “Going Home to Memphis“, Barry Records, 1961.
Gil Kaufman, “Joe Osborn, Wrecking Crew Bassist, Dies At 81,” Billboard, December 17, 2018.
Frank Hoffman, “Dorsey Burnette,” Survey of American Popular Music.
The Burnette Brothers, Rockabilly Legends.com.
“Barry Boyd,” Findagrave.com.

CKOM 1250-AM Saskatoon (SK) | March 16, 1963