The name Legendary Hitchhikers comes from a song by Elvis Costello called “Waiting For The End Of The World” from his album My Aim Is True:
Things got back to normal as the train began to roll again.
We got to the station about twenty minutes later.
The legendary hitchhiker says that he knows where it’s at.
Now he’d like to go to Spain or somewhere like that,
With his two-tone Bible and his funny cigarettes,
His suntan lotion and his castanets.
He was waiting for the end of the world,
Waiting for the end of the world,
Waiting for the end of the world.
Dear Lord I sincerely hope you’re coming
‘Cause you really started something.
Here’s what we didn’t know until after we had chosen the name, which is pretty cool considering that we perform an entire set of songs by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers:
- Back in the 70’s, Phil Seymour was a drummer and co leader of The Dwight Twilley Band, which you may or may not have heard of…they had a bit of success. Seymour left the band in 1978 to pursue a solo career, while Twilley has continued as a solo artist. Seymour, who passed away in 1993 of cancer, did a lot of things musically between 1974 and his death. Of interest in Seymour’s career outside of the Dwight Twilley Band:
- He recorded 2 solo albums. Neither sold particularly well.
- Seymour also recorded an album with an unknown band 2 years before his death that was released on cassette only and sold about 10 copies. That band was called The Legendary Hitchhikers.
- And going back to the late 70’s, Seymour was hired to sing backup vocals on the debut album by a good friend of Dwight Twilley’s named Tom Petty.
- So, the background vocals you hear on the debut album by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, particularly those on “Breakdown” and “American Girl” (both of which we play), are sung by Phil Seymour, who ended up recording an album years later with an unknown band called The Legendary Hitchhikers.
Just thought you all might dig a little history about our name!
The Legendary Hitchhikers 