Floyd C. Martin was born in 1937 in Elmira, ON, the son of Peter B. & Minerva G. (Clemmer) Martin. In his youth Floyd walked to school located in New Jerusalem with his siblings, attending classes until he graduated Grade 8. At this point he joined the workforce to help his family bring in an income. He worked on the family farm, and then later learned the trade of welding, working for Arnold Myers at Clemmer Welding. Later on Floyd owned a variety store in Waterloo, ON, and like Jim Allison, also drove a gravel truck.
Floyd married to his wife Betty in 1959, and they had had three children, Tammy, Dawn and Blake.
Floyd always enjoyed country music, and was a good songwriter as well, and decided to pursue a side career in that field. His influences were Hank Williams, Hank Snow, and Johnny Cash. He was a fan of the Gary Buck TV show, and in 1968 decided to write to Gary and ask about recording with him. The two met, and Gary, a musical jack-of-all-trades from Kitchener, ON, signed Floyd.
Floyd’s debut single was ‘Two Little Girls/Mason Dixon Line’ in 1968 for Sparton Records, published by Gary Buck, BMI. Both Floyd and Gary were very pleased when in June of 1969 the single peaked at #35 on the Canadian Country chart, it was an auspicious beginning. Floyd says he even received some humble royalty cheques.
Floyd’s 2nd single, issued
in 1971 was ‘Trouble Drinking Doubles/Somebody Else’s Name,’ published by
Beechwood Music, of which Gary Buck was the general manager. Unfortunately this
song missed the country charts.
In 1974 Floyd's two singles and b-sides
were featured on ‘Country and all that – Vol 6,’ issued by GRT Records, based
in Toronto. The album was produced by Gary Buck at RCA Studios.
When Floyd Martin came to Mercey Brothers
Sound in the summer of 1975 with new songs to record, much like Whisky Hollow
had before him, they suggested Thunderbird Records for production and
distribution. Very talented and respected session musicians from Toronto had
played on the two songs at the Mercey Brothers studio. Floyd recorded about six
songs, but only released two on record.
Floyd became the 13th act signed to the
Thunderbird label. Although he may have recorded his single after Whisky
Hollow, it was probably issued the same month as theirs, in November of
1975. The single ‘Save a Little Corner of Your Heart for Me/The Good
Times Outweigh the Bad,’ was issued as TBR-1008 and was published by the Mercey
Brothers Publishing Co. The single garnered substantial airplay at
the Waterloo Campus Radio Station.
When his Thunderbird single didn’t connect
in a big way, Floyd gave up the dream of having a hit record, and instead
played with two local bands, playing country music in the hotels of Baden, St,
Jacobs and Elmira on the weekends.
When Ray
Mercey left the Mercey Brothers musical group in 1980, they split the
publishing 2/3, (Larry& Lloyd) and 1/3 (Ray). Ray picked “Save A Little
Corner…." as one of his choices, so at that point the A-Side was published exclusively by Ray Mercey
Publishing.
Floyd also sang with his
church's choir, and about 1989 got the idea of recording a gospel CD. He found
a home studio in Kitchener and recorded thirteen original gospel songs. He ran
off some copies and sold them to family and friends. This author was lucky enough to receive a copy on Dec 23rd 2019.
In 1991 Floyd Martin retired, and he and
Betty sold their home in Kitchener, buying a cottage in Southampton, up on Lake
Huron. They lived up there for many years, but after a time decided to return
to Kitchener, renting an apartment. This is where he and Betty live
today.
His Thunderbird single debut was, ‘Save a little corner of your heart for me/The good times outweigh the bad,’ and was issued as TBR-1008. (Pub by Mercey Brothers BMIC.)
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