Val Stöecklein

Val Stöecklein was an singer, songwriter and guitarist from the USA.
Born Valerian Richard Stecklein in Hutchinson, Kansas in 1941, whilst in High School he played in the rock & roll band the Dukes.
After school whilst at Ft. Hays State College gravitated towards folk music. There he made his recorded debut performing original songs "Desert Wind" and "Nancy Whiskey" on a demo credited to the.
Stecklein next joined a 14-piece collegiate folk troupe known as and was the featured vocalist on a self-titled LP the group cut in late 1963.
In 1964 he joined roommate Mike Chapman and fellow Dukes bandmate Richard Scott in The Blueboys. The band cut a series of acetates at Damon Studios in Kansas City that resulted in a recording contract with producer Ray Ruff at his Amarillo, Texas based Ruff label. In 1965 to avoid confusion with the late Jim Reeves' backing unit, the Blueboys changed their name to The Blue Things and released their debut single, "Mary Lou" and a follow up "Pretty Thing--Oh".
The Blue Things signed to RCA and made their label debut with "La Do Da Da". The folk-rock ballad "Doll House" followed in the spring of 1966, as did an album. In 1967 Stecklein suffered a nervous breakdown while on tour and was forced to quit the band. Variously attributed to the breakup of his first marriage, alcoholism and LSD, his collapse resulted in admission to Topeka's Menninger Clinic, where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The Blue Things continued for about a year without Stecklein and they relocated to California before they split in late 1968.
By that time, Stecklein was in Los Angeles. He exited the Menninger Clinic, renewed a contact with Ruff, who had become the A&R director of Dot Records, and signed a solo deal with the label, changing the spelling of his surname to Stoecklein in the process (Stöecklein being the old German spelling of the family name).
In 1968 Stoecklein recorded an introspective folk rock album with Ruff as producer and big band arranger Dick Hieronymous but he album failed to sell. He released a final solo single in 1969 "All the Way Home". At the same time Stoecklein was honing his songwriting skills and had songs (both new or from his LP) recorded by fellow Dot artists, Leonard Nimoy, Brian Hyland, Bugsy and Ray Frushay.
After Stoecklein left Dot records Ruff kept him around as a songwriter and occasional singer and musician and he contributed to Ruff's 1970 concept album "Environment/Evolution" released under the band name Ecology and Ruff's Biblical rock opera "Truth of Truths". He continued working behind the scenes in the 1970s and in 1976 wrote a, unreleased at the time, musical rock opera, "Billy the Kid", again with Ruff.
Following the 1984 death of his father, Stoecklein returned to Kansas. He continued songwriting and cutting demos without success.
In May of 1993, Stoecklein passed away. He was 52 years old.