Don Deal born 21 March 1938

Don Deal (March 21, 1938 - June 12, 2009), was West Coast singer and songwriter who played a role in the growth of country music during the late '50s and early '60s. 

Don Deal was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa and by his account, his parents were farmers who moved to Bell, California in 1952. 

After school, he worked in a record store owned by Bert Keefer. In the back, Keefer operated a little studio, and many of the local country artists demo'd their songs there. And those local country artists included Wynn Stewart, Freddie Hart, Carl Belew, and the Cochran Brothers (Eddie and Hank). In Deal's self-written biography he said that a songwriter named Tom Reeves hooked him up with an R&B label, Cash Records, although some sources say that Eddie Cochran's pal, Jerry Capehart, made the connection. 

                             

Don made his first recordings for Cash in 1956 with Eddie and Hank on the session, and made several more records for Herb Newman's Era Records (Eddie Cochran played lead guitar on My Blind Date and Don't Push). Don’s first single on Era "Unfaithful Diane," was a huge success when released in July 1957. Meanwhile Smokey Rogers, who'd written Ferlin Husky's hit, Gone, heard Deal singing in Keefer's Music Store, and took him to San Diego to work at the Bostonia Ball Room three nights a week and on a live television show from Tijuana, Mexico five days a week. 

As Eddie and Don were living in the same area, they would often meet at each other’s homes and play music, sing each other new songs they had written. Don Deal: "I really liked Eddie, he was a very clean-cut boy. When I first met him he was like the rest of us, playing country music. I never got into rockabilly like he did, until I started writing songs and got my recording contract. He had what you call 'star-itus', I guess just like the rest of us - maybe more so, because he was very ambitious. He wanted to be a star and I'm thankful he got to enjoy at least a little of that." 

Later record releases didn't prove that successful but Don continued to play a role in the growth of country music during the late '50s and early '60s. Show dates were plentiful (Johnny Cash took Deal on the road as his opening act on west coast dates for a couple of years) but the hits remained elusive. Record producer Nik Venet brought Don to Capitol Records, where he recorded the original version of Hank Cochran's A-11 (later a hit for Johnny Paycheck and Buck Owens). 

When Venet moved to MGM, Deal moved with him. His Sage singles probably followed the MGM record, and came as Fleener was winding down the label. Deal became a songwriter with 4-Star Music and began working the Nevada lounges. He then worked a few years in Nashville as a songwriter (his songs were recorded by Eddy Arnold, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Hank Snow, Sonny James, among others) before moving to a farm near Branson, Missouri, where, he died on June 12, 2009. 

(I've edited what little information there is from Bear Family notes and AllMusic)