Born in Big Springs, TX on November 24th, 1939
In December 1958, Tommy Allsup had been asked to contact a drummer Buddy had met in Clovis while Carl was recording with Ronnie Smith & The Poorboys. Carl Bunch became the drummer with Buddy on the Winter Dance Party until he was sidelined with frosbitten feet brought on by the rickety tour bus after the January 31, 1959 show in Duluth, MN. He later rejoined the tour two days after the crash, as did Ronnie Smith to help on vocals.
Returning home to Odessa, TX, he continued working with Ronnie Smith & The Jitters before joining the army in 1959. After his discharge, he tried a number of jobs as a salesman before becoming a guard at a Georgia state prison. After a divorce, he returned to Odessa to manage the family record shop & play drums with the Bob Osburn band.
Bunch later moved to Nashville, where he played drums for Roy Orbison & Hank Williams Jr., and met his third wife, Dorthy. He attended the Alabama police academy, but has wound up settling in Southern California, where he operated Dove's Nest Ministries & works as a substance abuse counselor with a PhD in Clinical Psychotheology.
After one uninformed Buddy biography listed him as "deceased" Carl was basically forgotten about for years. Glad to say he is alive & well and fans are glad to see he has been taking part in the Buddy related festivities in Lubbock & Clear Lake, IA as of late.
Carl in 2002
He would love to hear from you via his e-mail:
