John Winton Pickering, Rock 'n' Roll Legend, singer with the trio The Picks with Buddy Holly and the Crickets, went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on February 28, 2011, 9 days before his 78th birthday. He died in Houston, TX from a stroke.
John was born in Murchison, TX on March 8, 1933 to John M. Pickering and Ida Elizabeth Nixon Pickering. He was preceded in death by his parents and only sibling, Bill Pickering.
John graduated from Houston's Reagan High School, Class of '51, where he performed on musical shows as a soloist.
John married Vicky Billington of Lubbock, TX and they were married over 53 years.
John served in the U.S. Army as a 2nd Lieutenant, serving at Fort Belvoir, VA and Fort Hood, TX.
John and Vicky have 3 children and 6 grandchildren - daughter Lisa (and husband Craig) Rees, children Garrett, Landon, Rylie and Jansen; daughter Paula (and husband Terry Robinson, Jr.), children Zachary and Jacob; and son John Victor (and wife Kathy) Pickering.
John was born in Murchison, TX to professional singing parents. John became a professional radio singer at the age of five. His parents devised a means for John and Bill to reach the microphone by standing on apple crates. They started on radio at Tyler, TX and from there to various radio and T.V. stations throughout the great Southwest. The Pickering Family Quartet performed gospel, country, western, comic and popular songs together for fifteen years, until the death of Pop Pickering in 1953. The family appeared on a daily-30 minute radio show on KTRH in Houston for 2 years. In that time, they made stage appearances with the Statesmen Quartet, Blackwood Brothers, Hank Locklin, Hank Thompson, Curly Fox, TX Ruby, and many more.
After Pop's death in Lubbock, TX, John and Bill continued singing with various vocal groups, including the late recording star Buddy Holly. They were the "voices of the Crickets" on 9 of the first 12 Cricket songs on "The Chirping Crickets" LP - the only group-sound album released while Buddy Holly was alive. These songs were recently nominated for a Grammy for Best Historical Album at the 53rd Grammy awards.
John graduated from Texas Tech University in 1957 with a degree in petroleum geology and joined the Humble Oil and Refining Company in Corpus Christi, TX. He was transferred to Houston with Exxon in 1968. He later became a consultant geologist for various oil companies. He created a Paleontological Database of information from almost 4,000 oil and gas wells in the counties along the Texas Gulf Coast, Nearby State Waters, Offshore TX and W. Cameron Parish, LA.
In 1969 the Pickering Brothers recorded in Nashville on Stop Records with the first country version of "Proud Mary" and other releases including ones with Daffan Records and Stoneway Records of Houston. They had 8 national releases.
In 1984, The Picks, (John and Bill Pickering and Bob Lapham) overdubbed additional recorded Buddy Holly solos that have been released worldwide and are found on their website, www.buddyhollyandthepicks.com.
John recorded 4 gospel albums, most of them his original songs. John served as a Deacon, Bible Teacher, Soloist and Sunday School Music Director at Houston's First Baptist Church and at several churches in Corpus Christi, TX. John and accompanist Vicky performed at many churches and secular programs.
Friends are invited to visitation at Forest Park Westheimer Funeral home on Friday, March 5th from 4 to 8 p.m. Private burial services will be held Saturday. A memorial service and celebration of John's life will be Sunday, March 6th at 2 p.m. at Forest Park Westheimer.