Saturday, September 18, 2004

Two cats from the Netherlands, Hans Van Ryswyk and Ingemar Pynenburg have developed an incredible Allman Brothers discography website with a superb chronology of Duane's career. Some uv ya'll might've known about it but it hit me like a ton uv bricks.
Ya'll be good.
best,
reg

http://www.abbdiscography.com/chronology.htm
MAY OF '69
May 2-4: The first Allman Brothers Band concerts in Macon, GA.
May 5-10: Boz Scaggs recording sessions at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios.
May 10: Wilson Pickett's 'Born To Be Wild' enters the Cash Box Top 100.
May 27: Aretha Franklin recording session at Atlantic Recording Studios in New York City.
May 27: Percy Sledge recording session at Atlantic Recording Studios in New York City.

Subject:
[MFV] Happy Birthday, Hank and Kesey!


capn:
Didn't see anything posted on your site about Ken Kesey's and Hank Williams' birthdays on September 17. How 'bout typing "Ken Kesey statue" into google and then type "Hank Williams statue" into google. Ain't it great that the people of Alabama and Oregon had enough sense to build statues to those cats who were both born on the same day?!!!!
best,
reg

Friday, September 17, 2004

Robert,
Beautiful!
Rodney Justo

ROBERT,
AS ALWAYS, GREAT STUFF!!! I'M GOING TO MEMPHIS FOR A FEW DAYS TO REHEARSE ALISON'S BAND 'BLOODSUGAR'(DON'T YOU LOVE THAT NAME!!! SEE YA SOON!! SOUTHERN ROCK RENEGADES AND ALISON RULE!!!
RENEGADE ROBERT[NIX}!!!

Love all your posts about the "REAL" beginnings of southern soul. I check your Cuba site daily and have yet to be disappointed. Keep up the good work man. Like you said, as long as we all remember it will never die. Would love to hear some stories about Boz Scaggs here in "Muss Showls" from the late 60's. Oh yeah, Pete[Carr-ed.] is even better now than he was way back then. Ages like a fine wine.
Love you guys,
Greg Lovett


MONDAY, APRIL 18, 1977: THE GREATFUL DEAD'S FIRST ALABAMA APPEARANCE: $6.50 A HEAD!


"The semi-pyramid of guys is -- bottom left: Van
Harrison (Escorts);
on his back is Tommy Ruger
(Nightcrawlers);
in the middle in sunglasses is Gregg
Allman (Escorts);
to his right is Duane Allman
(Escorts, later to be major guitar god)
; Duane is on
the shoulders of Maynard Portwood (Escorts) ."

Randy


"The bottom right-hand photo of the three guys you can
see on stage are (l-r): Gregg Allman, Van Harrison,
Duane Allman. Out of the picture and behind the drums
is Maynard Portwood, who would go on to be in the
Allman Joys with Gregg and Duane."
Randy Poe

Thursday, September 16, 2004

1) Jack Kerouac visiting our house in Los Gatos. Sleeping "under the stars" in his sleeping bag in the back yard, etc.2) Jack cleaning pot in a shoebox lid in the living room when the police knock at the door. Freaked him out.3) Jack reading "Dr. Sax" to us kids, and drawing cartoons.4) The trip to Big Sur in 1960 to meet Jack at Ferlinghetti's cabin. He tells "little Timmy" about how to pack a proper ruck sack. The beach scenes, old car, mule, etc.5) The tape recorder Jack bought to record himself and Neal rapping, with me crying as an infant in the back bedroom. Jack scat-singing while Neal changes diapers!6) Neal's (one of several) railroad accidents. The bloody boot. The dark-wood hospital--creepy.7) "Alternative Sunday School." Neal and Carolyn teach the kids about life.8) Neal's arrest for pot in 1957, the year "On The Road" was finally published, and his resulting stay, as a guest of the State, in San Quentin.9) Neal's paroled in 1960, but can no longer work for the SP (Southern Pacific Rail Road). A kindly tire shop owner hires him in Los Gatos, and he's a family man again, for about 2 years. Many stories there, Johnny at about 10.10) Auto races, car shows at the Santa Clara County Fair. Demolition derby on Friday nights. I invite my 2 or 3 buddies every week (their straight parents had no idea who was at the wheel!). Chuck Berry blasting on the car radio. 1/4-mile tracks. Tire dust and ethanol. Whoop and holler. What a dad!11) Sneaking out with Dad to go to John Gorley's house in Campbell, a hip jazz trumpeter, while Carolyn would say, "Now, Neal!" Me not knowing about pot, so what's with the bad vibes? Wonderful smell in the car. I figured it out years later. Funny story.12) Allen Ginsberg sitting on the couch at Bancroft (our home in Los Gatos, CA). He's telling me the Beatles smoke pot! Parents were pissed enough at them for smoking TOBACCO on camera, not to mention the collarless suits and mod boots! What a scoop!13) Neal's love/hate relationship with all things "wheel." Cars, rail roads, chariots, whatever. An analysis about that subject by me is vitally important to understanding the man.14) Neal's "infamy" begins to develop and become apparent to me. High school. The (often-told) story of when he and Kesey kidnap me from high school to attend a Grateful Dead concert. A must see. "No dope for the kid!”15) The "Be-In" in SF, when my sister Jami and I hitch-hiked up and found the Bus.16) Neal's visits, loving but tragic. He would eat, sleep for 2 days, and be good as new, and funny. Very entertaining. Then back to the party.17) I'm surfing in Santa Cruz, and run into Dad holding court at Ron Bivert's (?) "Hip Pocket Bookstore" on Pacific Ave.18) Neal's death on February 4th, 1968. The phone call. The reactions within the family.19) Trip to Eugene to visit Kesey with Carolyn and my (then) girlfriend. 1971 (?)20) Still in contact with Kesey. He invites Carolyn to a "Summit" in La Honda. I drive. Around 1974. Movie prospects--never realized.21) Forward to 1997, when Kesey asks me to come along on a road trip in the "new" bus to Cleveland for its induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.22) 1999, a four-week tour of the Uk, England, Ireland and Scotland. Kesey, Mountain Girl, Babbs, and all the usual suspects.23) Other stories include, but not limited to, the "Legend vs. Myth." Neal's compassion and humor. His need to be the "husband/father." His providing for the family, albeit mostly posthumously. His being everywhere at once (he was home more than people think!). How he met Carolyn (Bill Thompson introduced them, Denver, 1946, and the letter from Neal to Bill years later, which was discovered by Bill's daughter in the '90s, currently unpublished, which I will read). More to come!

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

The out door shots were at the Daytona Beach
Ball park
during Easter Weekend, l965. I was hired by
the Chamber of Commerce to supply the sound for the
Beach Boys concert - so I just brought my home stereo
and set it up ! I added two EV 8" musicaster outdoor
speakers which you see on the ground towards the
middle of the stage. I guess they worked as
stage monitors as well as those 4 speakers systems
were IT for the concert. The bottom two photos show
the NightCrawlers on the left and the Escorts Combo on
the right (Allmans).

Lee Hazen


Follow up : The outdoor concert pics.

Those two blondes in the group pic

with the guys standing on each others shoulders at the very top

do have blonde hair and “could” be Gregg and Duane

but I can’t see enough detail to really verify that.

Some else would have too like who ever took the pic or someone

who was there at the outdoor event.

Do you know who that group of guys are?????

It’s not the Beach Boys or is it????



Best Wishes

Pete Carr

www.PlayThatGuitar.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Pete Carr
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 12:37 PM
To: MIGHTYFIELDofVISION@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [MFV] CUBA , ALABAMA: Exposing the TRUTH About Rock [one mo' time agin!!!!]



Hi Robert,

That’s a great pic of the Allman Joys that I remember seeing a long time ago! Thanks!



I took another look at that pic page and the very bottom pic is the one I thought you were

talking about being the Escorts. It must be a VERY VERY early incarnation of the Night Crawlers

with only Sylvan Wells and Pete Thomason that I recognize from the band that I seen play

at the Daytona Beach City Island Recreation Center.

The one underlined the Escorts I can’t really make out the people but I’m sure

I don’t see Gregg and Duane’s blonde heads in there………….



The pic with the guys on each others shoulders right below the heading “The Cottage”

I do see a couple of blonde hairs but I have know idea who the group is as again

I can’t make out the pic well enough to tell.



The Night Crawler pics at the Daytona Beach Martinique Club (which I played at often also)

is more like the Night Crawlers I remember and knew…….



I have never seen many of these pics before so it was quite a treat to see such early ones!

Thanks again…..



Best Wishes

Pete Carr

http://www.PlayThatGuitar.com


This came off the Boyden Amplifiers site and was posted by their webmaster Gary Lockwood
http://www.boydenamp.com/
To: MIGHTYFIELDofVISION@yahoogroups.com
From: "Greg Lovett"
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004
Subject: Re: [MFV] CUBA , ALABAMA: Exposing the TRUTH About Rock [one mo' time agin!!!!]


Randy, It's an old music master. Very perceptive man. Notice the slanted pickups and the rounded top pick guard with the switches on top. What would you give for one of those today.

Robert,

That's a great photo! It's pretty obvious which
ones Duane & Gregg are. That's Bob Keller holding the
bass & Maynard Portwood with the sticks & snare drum.
I've seen another promo shot from the same photo
session in which the two guitars are leaning on
Maynard's shoulders. Matt Ferguson at Gibson tells me
that the Bigsby tailpiece on Duane's guitar was an
option Gibson made available for ES-335s in the
mid-60s. Do you (or anyone else) know what kind of
guitar that is Gregg's holding? It looks like a
Fender Music Master to me. Can anybody confirm that?
Also of note, the Allman Joys' Bob Keller was the
same guy who briefly became bass player for the Hour
Glass
between albums one and two. Hornsby said Mabron
McKinney
had left, so they hired Bob Keller to take
his place, and that Keller disappeared one night right
before a gig. He told me Pete [Carr-ed.] was in town visiting
and that Hornsby recruited him to play bass for the
gig, which led to him becoming a member of the Hour
Glass.
Does that sound right to you Pete?


Randy

HEY GANG:

Just like my Young Junior Baby Tiger buddy Frank Tanton did last week with his memories of the Club Capri in Dothan, the great Pete Carr took a little time out of his busy day to type out some of his precious memories.

Let me hear from ya when ya get a chance.
best,
reg http://robertoreg.blogspot.com
http://snakedoctor.blogspot.com
http://cottonkingdom.blogspot.com


To: MIGHTYFIELDofVISION@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pete Carr" Add to Address Book
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 12:35:47 -0500
Subject: RE: [MFV] HEY! PETE CARR! Ready Fo' Anudder Piece Uv Dat LITTLE BLACK EGG?!!!!


That photo that is underlined Escorts actually looks like it has some of the Night Crawlers and other friends in it and a couple I don’t know but I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure.
I think I remember Gregg and Duane having a band called the Escorts very early for a summer before I had ever started to play in bands etc. I seen them at Daytona
City Island recreation center.
I loved to go watch bands. I never went to dance etc.
Just watched the band all night. I seen the Night Crawlers there also a few times.
None of those pics show Gregg or Duane in it that I can make out at all.

Some of that Rolling Stone Cameron Crow interview is just wrong.

We recorded the B.B. King medley in Muscle Shoals

before the Hour Glass had left L.A. while we were doing a tour.

When we returned the producer at Liberty didn’t like the tapes though.

No hit singles but they sounded great to me.

The second album (I was in the group by then) “we” picked our own material.

We even did some of our southern friends Eddie Hinton and Dan Penn songs

along with some of Gregg’s on the album etc. The whole situation just never

really became successful for us so people left it all with a bitter taste.

No it wasn’t a jam band it was a white southern soul song band.

Till this day I still think Gregg has done some of his best singing on those albums to be as young as he and we were.



The Allman’s didn’t go to Nashville when they got Johnny Sandlin

and Paul[Hornsby-ed.] and Wolf[is that Bill "Wolfman" Acton?-ed] to play with them. It was at Johnny Sandlin’s Mother and Fathers house in Decatur Alabama and the band was the Five Minutes. Anyway I was told by Gregg and Duane
that a band in Alabama needed a guitar player when I was still a kid living at home in Daytona (about 16 etc).

They told the Minutes about me and I agreed (along with a local singer) to go to Decatur and join the Five Minutes as they needed a guitar player as theirs, Eddie Hinton had left to pursue recording studio work in Muscle Shoals.

(What is so ironic (as so much of all of this whole thing is) is that I ended up in the same studio, M.S.S, playing guitar that Eddie left about 5 or 6 years later.)

The Minutes loved me and my guitar playing but not the singer so we sadly let him go back home.

We got another singer who was good but only did maybe one gig with us and left.
So we kept practicing in Sandlin’s folks garage looking for a lead singer.

After a while Gregg and Duane’s band broke up and they needed a drummer, bass etc. and it was a natural thing for all these guys to come together at the time anyway. I was humbly told by Johnny Sandlin about the situation and I gladly stepped aside so all these great friends that I admired could get a band together. They all hated that I wasn’t
in the band but Duane and Paul Hornsby both played guitar and I wasn’t
really needed. When you were going to play night clubs making small amounts
of money another guy would take precious few dollars away from some
of the guys who were married etc. I was completely happy about it all.
At my age I was happy to just be playing my guitar and let life lead me wherever.
It sure wasn’t all about money and never was until I got married also later on in life.
Of course even then it wasn’t all about money but after a taste of some I liked what it could do.

Like being able to by a refrigerator instead of a cooler with ice to keep food in.

Anyway they all loved me and I loved all of them. Later I flew back to L.A. with Gregg and soon became their bass player.

I know this email is a little convoluted and hard to understand but.

Much more to tell but I can’t write a book here………

See my web site for a little more info.

Best Wishes

Pete Carr

www.PlayThatGuitar.com
http://www.PlayThatGuitar.com
http://www.PlayThatGuitar.com

To: MIGHTYFIELDofVISION@yahoogroups.com
From: "Randy Poe"
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 11:38:15 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: [MFV] Duane Cat Tale


--- JDWyker wrote:

> John Hammond showed up at Jackson Highway in the
> late 60's or very early 70's in a converted Milk
> Truck and he was wearin' a snake skin suit.....

Well, that explains another little mystery. I've
got several interviews with John Hammond where he
keeps talking about how the MSS guys were all being
kind of standoff-ish around him until Duane showed up
and said he was cool. Must admit, even in LA we'd be
a little leary of a guy wearing a snake-skin suit.

RP

Monday, September 13, 2004

Robert,
As you know, in 1967 I was playing football at Young Jr. High School { he meant Dothan High- robert}.
What you may not know is, at the same time, I played regularly at the infamous Doc Greenfield’s Club Capri, in the Baptist Bottom. I played bass with “The Impacts” which featured Davie Coolie on keys, Wayne “Sugar” Johnson on Drums, David McNeal on guitar, and Lamar Spence on Lead Vocals. We were the only white band playing there. Local DJ, “Preston T” was our booking agent. I guess we were quite a novelty back then, being so young and light skinned, but we could really play well, and we covered all the popular “Soul” tunes… The folks treated us very well there, and really seemed to enjoy our show… This always surprised me since, at least once a month, the Club Capri would feature the real thing such as Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett. I also saw Ike & Tina Turner, and Joe Tex there. That place was happenin… Later on David Adkins and I played there with Billy King and the Rhythm Kings featuring Little Lois. Unfortunately we didn’t last long… David and I played a lot of BB King , Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, etc., and some number of people there, didn’t like the straight blues… Billy King once told me, “the black folk didn’t like straight ahead blues, because it reminded them of the bad old days”… In truth, I think it may have been just a little too weird for some of them to witness a couple of young smartass white kids burnin up the blues… They loved it at the Little Wheels Club, at Ft. Rucker though…
You might have wondered why I would cat-nap on the bench during DHS Football games, when the other team had the ball. After the game, I would have to haul ass, and play in some joint until 2 or 3 am… But I loved it…
I played in a lot of bands in those days, including “The Chimes”, “Toe Jam”, “Arnold Bean”, “Beaverteeth”, “Clique”, StrawDog”… It was a wild ride…
Let me know if you’d like any info on any of those groups…
Your friend,Frank Tanton

Sunday, September 12, 2004

HEY PETE CARR AND MFV TRIBE:
JEFF IN MIAMI IS RESPONSIBLE FOR GIVING PETE CARR HIS FLASHBACK SO CHECK OUT http://limestonerecords.com
best,
reg http://robertoreg.blogspot.com



THE NIGHTCRAWLERS FROM DAYTONA BEACH LIVE AT THE MARTINIQUE CLUB '66


BOBBY DUKOFF'S STUDIO


THE COTTAGE


THE ESCORTS


THE NIGHTCRAWLERS

http://p220.ezboard.com/flimestoneloungefrm7.showMessage?topicID=185.topic
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff, Thanks for posting those pictures that I sent you.
I thought that their old fans would enjoy seeing them
as I did through the lense of my old Polaroid Land
Camera.

The cottage shots were where we recorded the Egg
and I think that we were actually working on the Egg
when the shot showing charlie singing into the coffin
shipping crate was taken. I paid $30 a month to rent
that wonderful place. My stereo setup was the recording
setup for those early recordings - the first I had made
in a controlled? environment (studio like) of local groups
including The Escorts Combo.

The out door shots were at the Daytona Beach
Ball park during Easter Weekend, l965. I was hired by
the Chamber of Commerce to supply the sound for the
Beach Boys concert - so I just brought my home stereo
and set it up ! I added two EV 8" musicaster outdoor
speakers which you see on the ground towards the
middle of the stage. I guess they worked as
stage monitors as well as those 4 speakers systems
were IT for the concert. The bottom two photos show
the NightCrawlers on the left and the Escorts Combo on
the right (Allmans).

The studio shots at Dukoff were taken during their
first attempt to record with Bradley Shapiro and
Bobby DuKoff. I was invited to the sessions but I
sensed a lot of tension due to my presence. I wasn't
allowed in the control room - secret new board built by
Jeep Harned, so I handed my camera to Mike Stone and
he took the photo of Bobby and his new board.

The story of the NightCrawlers is very nicely told in the
booklett that accompanies the Big Beat CD that was
released in Europe. I may scan it and let you decide
if it is OK to post it on here. I learned a lot today from
reading it. Many of my photos were used in that
booklet.

Here's a group that had planned on splitting up before
their record got on the Billboard Charts. Something about the draft and College. I don't think anyone
wanted to get drafted and sent to Viet Nam. Fortunately
for me, I'd already spent my 6 years in the Navy by
the time I was recording groups in my kitchen.

We called it "Mother Hazen's Kitchen" - Gee - I was
like a "Mom" to them - or SOME kind of Mother - - ---.

Lee Hazen


Subject:
[MFV] yo Robert

thanx lew,
While celebrating Bama spanking Ole Miss's ass last night, I played the juke box at XS. Pretty sure my first picks were "Sex Machine", "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide", "Roadhouse Blues(LIVE)", "Honky Tonk Blues", "Spoonful", "Oh, Pretty Woman", and "The Wind Cries Mary". I really enjoyed Hendrix after the research I did yesterday. When the box finally quit, the bartender looked over at me and said,"You really milked the cream out of that jukebox!"
"Yeah, you right," I replied.
Then,today, I walk into the office at noon, check my email and suddenly I'm listening to Jimi back up Little Richard.
Thanks, buddy, you made my day.
Oh yeah and work on that Sheffield dive. The more you think about this stuff, the more you remember. I remember us cats in Dothan started hanging out around the Club Capri when I was in the 10th grade (fall of ' 65). The best bootlegger in town was in business at the top of the hill and we were made welcome whereever we went. Artis Gilmore was playing ball for Carver about that time and folks over in colored quarters welcomed us with open arms. It was standing room only for every game when Artis played in the Carver gym and many of the people there were white.
Anyway, thanks for the song.
best,
reg