Hey y'all:
Really had a satisfying day today.

Got a call from my son, Christopher, and he said, "Hey Dad, I need you to come out to the cabin and look at some things for me."

No problem! Not only is Christopher now out of high school but he's out of the house TOO! He is now the caretaker for Y's Acres, a six acre camp on the banks of Little Hurricane Creek just outside Tuscaloosa on Keene's Mill Road. He's living in this old dog trot cabin that is a real treasure. It's made out of squared and notched logs over a foot thick and has a hearth so large that is almost fills up the dog trot.

When you look out Christopher's back windows, you see a beautiful swinging bridge suspended by steel cables over Little Hurricane Creek. There are two perfect tubing creeks on the property. The smaller creek drops over ten feet in less than 500 feet so there's always the sound of white water going over boulders.

What a delightful place for my son to have as his first home on his own!

While I was delivering my housewarming gift of stove, refrigerator, table and chairs today, I heard Harry Chapin's song "Cat's In The Cradle" on the radio. I am so glad that song doesn't apply to me and my boy!

Da Queen from Dothan really came through on her story about going to the November '67 Big BAM Winter Spectacular. You old heads gonna love it.

Thanks Queenie from all the CUBA, ALABAMA NINJAS!

Best,
RR http://myspace.com/paulbearbryant
http://atlasofalabama.blogspot.com




Subject : WBAM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAPE-AM
http://www.birminghamrewound.com/radio-tv2.htm
Click here to hear Dan Brennan do a rock 'n roll show promotion!: http://www.birminghamrewound.com/listening_room.htm
This is an unbelievably GREAT Lou Christie in Alabama page:
http://www.geocities.com/antlion7/LouChristieAlabama.htm
Tons of WVOK SHOWER OF STARS Photos on Harold Brown's WVOK Memories:
http://wvok-memories.tripod.com/

The following BIG BAM posters courtesy of http://www.geocities.com/antlion7/LouChristieAlabama.htm







Robert,
You MUST remember that I was a mere babe in arms during the Big Bam era...heh...heh...heh!

My aunt & uncle used to take me & one of my girlfriends to almost every show. I think we just bought general admission tickets at the door. We always spent the night at the Holiday Inn on the corner of the Eastern bypass & what is now 85N. Once, Paul Revere & the Raiders http://www.paulrevereraiders.com/ stayed at that same Holiday Inn...we weren't very impressed with them at the time since they thought everyone at that hotel should be bowing down to them (and there WERE those that did...but not us!).

At the Winter Spectacular, our main reason for going was to see Roy Orbison.http://royorbison.musiccitynetworks.com/
We shared one pair of binoculars & argued over whose turn it was to use them. Of course, Roy WAS the king in our eyes!! And naturally, he & The Candymen stole the show as far as we were concerned. We weren't too impressed with Sonny & Cher http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_&_Cher
though, just curious as to why they had on thos e fuzzy boots & vests! They looked rather weird to us.

? & the Mysterions http://www.pharaohweb.com/96tears.html
were fun to see since we had never even seen a photo of them & wondered what was so mysterious!

I do remember The Rockin Gibraltars http://www.heybabydays.com/photos_73.htm
& their "Bavarian" outfits...but we forgave them for that cause we loved them, too.

The McCoys http://www.rickderringer.com/index.html
were another favorite.

My uncle LOVED "Bread & Butter" by the Newbeats,http://www.larryhenley.com/
so he had to sing along with them. We were sooo embarrassed! I remember the parking lot was filled to capacity & someone had broken off my uncle's the antenna on his VW. Or maybe it was his Cutlass...can't remember.
Well, I guess that's all I have to report for now. Wish I could remember more, but you must realize that there were a LOT of brain cells that were deleted during the late 60s & 70s...so it comes back to me in bits & pieces!!
Oh, I do remember seeing The Who tear up their instruments at the end of a show, remember Lightin' Lou Christie (my uncle said that my aunt never got the binoculars above his waistband while looking at him!), Billy Joe Royal, Tommy Roe, Pat Paulsen (running for President!) & many more. If you'll supply the names, I'll tell you whether I was there! I just need a little "prompting"!! We ALWAYS had to stop by the WBAM station & go in to fill out a request & put it through one of those "bank teller" looking drawers & rode back to Dothan with baited breath until our request was played & our names were announced on the radio. Boy...we wuz Big Time then!!!
Later Tater,
da Queen

Hey y'all:

Dothan's Jimmy Dean has taken some of his valuable time to share some superb Wilbur Walton Jr. & The James Gang material with us.

Feel free to contribute during the next 24 hours as I prepare for THE BIG SUNDAY POST!
Let me hear from ya, my ninjas!!!!

Best,
RR http://myspace.com/paulbearbryant



THE MAIN REASON WILBUR KEPT FORGETTING HIS LYRICS


This photo shows music entrepeneur Paul Cochran http://www.paulcochran.com/pages/1/index.htm
after he was viciously attacked by the music group The James Gang in Clearwater, Florida, in 1965.
Cochran is shown sprawled unconscious across a nasty mattress and halfway on the floor of a motel room occupied by the band. The attack followed an equally vicious attack Cochran had earlier made on members of the band in which he severely frogged the arms of four members of the group.
"Hell," one member of the group said, "it was after three in the morning. I thought he was just passed out."
Another member of the band said he was sure Cochran had only slipped on a chicken wing. "People lots of time hit mashed potatoes or chicken parts as they come in the room," he said.

Cochran's partner, Buddy Buie, refused to come out of his motel room to comment about the incident. No arrests were made.

The motel room was afterwards closed for over two weeks because over 200 empty boxes of fried chicken orders were found there.



This is when Nix came to Clearwater, I think to audition or meet Buddy to get the job with the Candymen. We tossed Buddy and Fred in the pool and I always thought we tossed Nix too. Maybe we tossed him right after I took this picture---I think this room was condemned after we checked out---
Jimmy Dean



Guess Wilbur missed this shot---it's on a fan club postcard---
JD
[Let's see if robertoreg can get it right: Top to bottom: Jimmy Dean, Fred Guarino, Bubba Latham, Johnny Mulkey]


The James Gang in Wisconsin
left to right: Bubba Latham, Jimmy Dean, Wilbur Walton Jr., Fred Guarino, Johnny Mulkey

HOW BAD WERE THE SEEDS?

William Morris released them, while they had a hit record!
Rodney Justo



From: Chris Jones
To: Robert Nix
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 7:47 PM
Subject: Justo Alert
Hello Robert...great posters on your website.
Remember Rodney's story about recording his first song? Well, I bought it on an auction recently and thought you might be interested in seeing it.
P.S. Note the producer.

W. Chris Jones
Roswell, GA

HEY THERE! LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER AND YOU WILL SEE THE SONGWRITER WAS FRED CARTER AS IN FATHER OF DEANA CARTER (STRAWBERRY WINE) AND ONE OF THE GREAT GUITARIST ON ROY'S PRETTY WOMAN!
THANKS,
ROBERT NIX.........ROY ORBISON'S CANDYMEN......THE ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION.....AND NOW!!! DEEP SOUTH................


The point on the road above McIntosh Bluff and Bilbos' Creek where Burr was captured on February 19, 1807
From LaTourrette's 1837 map of Alabama and West Florida
http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/alabama/1826-1840.html



Looks like he was captured at about the 48' BM on the topo map.
Whitney

photo courtesy of Peter J. Hamilton's COLONIAL MOBILE

Robert Nix on the late Denny Doherty:
ROBERT,
I REMEMBER DENNY FOR A FEW REASON'S. FIRST OF ALL HE WAS AN INCREDIBLE SINGER IN AN INCREDIBLY, TOTALLY ORIGINAL GROUP. JOHN PHILLIPS WAS THE BRAINS BEHIND THIS GROUP BUT DENNY WAS THE LEAD SINGER. SOME OF THEM HUNG OUT WITH US (THE CANDYMEN) AT STEVE PAUL'S THE SCENE IN NEW YORK. (JUSTO, THE MEMORY CELL CAN FILL IN THE DOTS I'M SURE) I JUST REMEMBER THEM ALL BEING VERY NICE PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY MAMA CASS. I REMEMBER RODNEY LOVING THEIR VOCAL ARRANGEMENTS AND HAVING US ALL TRY TO SING THE PARTS ON 'MONDAY, MONDAY'. WE ACTUALLY ( WITH JOHN RAINEY CRACKING A WHIP) LEARNED THE PARTS! THE MAMA'S AND PAPA'S WERE A VERY SPECIAL GROUP OF PEOPLE, WITH A FAIRY TALE OF A ROCK STORY TO TELL. JOHN PHILLIPS, WAS TO ME A LOT LIKE JOHN RAINEY. I THINK THEY BOTH DID A LOT OF SPEED AND A LOT OF GOOD! HAVING SAID THAT, HELL! WE ALL DID IN THOSE DAYS! WE WILL MISS ANOTHER GREAT ROCK PIONEER IN DENNY DOHERTY!
ROBERT NIX.................

WHO THE HELL WERE THOSE CATS BEHIND CHER?



From the left:
Eddie Hinton, Jimmy Johnson, David Hood, Arif Mardin, Sonny Bono[wearing a Bear Walking On Water T-shirt], Roger Hawkins, Jerry Wexler, Barry Beckett, Jeannie Greene, Donna Thatcher and Tom Dowd.


Hey y'all:

What a wonderful day!

Paul Finebaum HTTP://FINEBAUM.COM has been on WERC for 13 years and for all those years for five hours a day [Monday-Friday] Bama and Auburn fans ragged each others ASS

and today was PAUL's last day on ERC and guess who was the last caller?...................MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Here's how it went:

Paul: It's Robert from Tuscaloosa!

RR: Hey Paul, did you notice today how I-MAN didn't show any disrespect for BAMA?

Paul: First time ever.

RR: Well, Paul, I'm a serious student of psychopathological behavior.

Growing up in Dothan, they'd always say,"Bob, you keep acting that way and you gonna end up in Tuskaloosa"

So I'm where I belong; I'm in the RIGHT TOWN!!!!

and I wanna say to PAUL FINEBAUM http://finebaum.com

I hope you're able to keep all your screwballs like Jim[DICK GARY] from Tuscaloosa, I-MAN, Bobby from Homewood, Phyllis & Michael the Prophet.

By the way, what'z happened to MICHAEL THE PROPHET?

FINEBAUM: He went down to Miami with Shula!

[JANUARY 19, 2007: Finebaum broadcast ends with Elton John's GOODBYE, YELLOW BRICK ROAD!]

Dah kewlist thang about Johnny Townsend's post is what he had to say about THE SEEDS!

http://www.myspace.com/theseeds

http://www.myspace.com/skysaxonandtheseeds

Robert,

I do remember that show as well as the B'ham ones and the Jacksonville shows.

The Brennans were good to us and we thoroughly enjoyed the shows.

One side note is the Seeds didn't get to play.

The promotors, or the people in charge thought they were just too weird for Montgomery with their hippy beads and hair down to their rear ends.

Me and Tippy were standing back stage watching it go down. They were told they'd be paid but they would not take the stage.

The other distinct memory I have of that Big Bam Show was the Rockin' Gibraltars coming out in some costumes left over from a Riccola commercial. They looked like The Bavarian Polka Ensemble. The colors were chartreuse shorts with suspenders and some wild colored shirts. We had a good laugh at their expense. Nevertheless they were a great band and recovered nicely from their fashion snafu.

Johnny Townsend http://www.JohnTown.com

http://www.TolerTownsendBand.com

http://www.myspace.com/JohnnyTownsend

RR.....

The thing that stands out in my mind is SONNY AND CHER'S road manager telling everybody to clear the backstage area or they wouldn't go on stage.

I remember saying, "SCREW THEM" and ORBISON said "I ain't going nowhere".

If anyone is familiar with the backstage area of the coliseum they know how absurd that demand was. It is cavernous and all those acts and their crews were expected to disappear into a few dressing rooms.

We were told that Cher had a phobia about crowds and being touched.

Wrong career path, BITCH.

BIG BAM played a big part in my success. They supported all my shows and dances and were the first big station to playTHE JAMES GANG and THE CANDYMEN.

BB

Denny Doherty from THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS Died Today In Ontario at Age 66.

My Daddy, Earl, loved Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman.

The Mama & The Papas were absolutely the first pop/rock group he liked. He had their Greatest Hits and maybe one more record.

My sister, Becky, and one of her best friends started singing Mamas & Papas songs for him and he loved the steam out of that.

Some of the Swingin' Medallions bumped into that Mamas & Papas crowd along the way.

Best,
RR

P.S. Next week in the 24th anniversary of Coach Bryant's death.
Please visit http://myspace.com/paulbearbryant
and http://daybeardied.com

At http://myspace.com/paulbearbryant
we are approaching having 2000 friends, 7000 views & 200 comments!!!!

Rockin' Gibralters,
photo courtesy of http://tuscaloosabeachmusic.blogspot.com/
Seated: Sonny Grier and Bobby DuPree. Standing: Rusty Crumpton, Ronnie Monroe, Ed Sanford and Keith Brewer.

HEY Y'ALL:

I guess the wildest thing that's come out of all this is that, according to Johnny Townsend,

"THE AUTHORITIES"would not allow THE SEEDS to perform at the Coliseum on Saturday, November 25, 1967.

Roberto,
Memories, memories...I remember attending this WBAM Winter Spectacular Show!

da Queen


da Queen:

Hey doll, we rilly need yo' testimony on this.

Please do this for me. Think about what it took to buy tickets & get from Dothan to the BIG BAM Winter Spectacular Show by showtime at 8 P.M. on Saturday night, November 25, 1967.

Get a stack of post-it notes and keep 'em with you all day long tomorrow. When you're driving around town , stick the notes somewhere on your lap where you can get to them to write.

Please do this for us.

For every mental image of Saturday night, November 25, 1967 that comes into your head tomorrow, jot down a key word that brings up that memory.

The tickets were $3 for reserved and $2 for general admission. The artists who performed included:

Sonny & Cher
Roy Orbison
The McCoys "Hang On Sloopy"
The Rockin' Gibraltars "Bug of Soul"
? and The Mysterions "96 Tears"
Chris Montez "The More I See You"
The Shadows of Night "Gloria"
The Outsiders "Time Won't Let Me"
The Newbeats "Bread and Butter"
The Rubber Band "Let Love Come Between Us"
The Seeds "Pushin' Too Hard"

When you get a chance, try to copy all of your "key words" in a chronology of that 1967 afternoon and night.

Then write us a story about going to the '67 BIG BAM Winter Spectacular.

Best,

RR http://myspace.com/paulbearbryant
http://myspace.com/robertoreg

P.S. For any body else reading this, remember that the Brennans planned their BIG BAM shows around similar shows in B'ham [WVOK] and Jacksonville, FL [WAPE]

We'd showl 'preciate all reminiscences of that historic night 40 years ago THIS YEAR!

Fw: ALISON HEAFNER

ROBERTO,
HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT HOLIDAY! SOUNDS LIKE YOU DID. I ALWAYS ENJOY YOUR STORIES REGARDLESS OF THE SUBJECT! WE HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY, BOTH WITH DEEP SOUTH AND THE AMAZING ALISON HEAFNER! I'M FORWARDING THIS MESSAGE FROM MEMPHIS' ROCK 103 ABOUT THE RESPONSE TO ALISON'S MUSIC ON THE RADIO. YOU HAVE GOT TO COME SEE US WHENEVER WE PLAY NEAR YOU AGAIN.THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO!!!!!
YOUR UNCONDITIONAL FRIENDS, ROBERT NIX AND ALISON HEAFNER.....................................

----- Original Message -----
From: Lindner, Agnes
To: Robert Nix
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 5:23 PM
Subject: RE: ALISON HEAFNER


Hey Robert,

It is absolutely our pleasure, Alison is one of the best sounding female musicians we have heard from Memphis and the response to her single that we play has been amazing. We play her almost each and every Sunday night during the Great Unsigned and she is played at least once a week during the Dennis and Ric show in the afternoon. The guys and I love the song and we would love to hear more if you happen to have some new cuts. We've had listeners call in, asking who she is, and where they could check her out, so if she is gigging in town or in the surrounding areas PLEASE visit www.vexarentertainment.com click on the ROCK 103 logo and post her (and your) gigs so we can read them off each Friday during the Local Music News Report.

We would also LOVE to have her in the studio with Dennis and Ric as well, either for an interview, or possibly (if she's up for it) a short acoustic performance...or better yet if she could do BOTH we'd be thrilled.

Keep in touch and let us know when you'll be in town for your show, I'd love to see you guys live.

Thanks for the nice e-mail, and if Alison has new material don't hesitate to send it over, we'd love to add some more songs of hers to the rotation.

Thanks again,

Luca


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Robert Nix [mailto:growinnotes@cableone.net]
Sent: Tue 1/16/2007 5:18 PM
To: Lindner, Agnes
Subject: ALISON HEAFNER


LUCA, FIRST OF ALL LET ME THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PLAYING ALISON HEAFNER ON THE GREAT UNSIGNED. YOU WON'T BELIEVE THE TALK OUT THERE! WE HEARD 'DESIGNATED LOVER THIS PAST SUNDAY (AROUND 8:15 P.M.) EVERYONE IS TELLING ME THEY THINK IT'S A SMASH! WE LOVE THE JIVE THE GUYS ARE USING ABOUT ALISON REGARDING HER SONG. BECAUSE OF YOU GUYS PLAYING HER MUSIC. FINGERS AT WBAB IN NEW YORK PLAYED IT! IF YOU HAVE THE TIME COULD YOU POSSIBLY TELL ME WHEN YOU HAVE PLAYED ALISON RECENTLY AND IF YOU HAVE HAD ANY RESPONSE FROM THE PUBLIC. I TALKED TO DYLAN TODAY ABOUT DOING THE WAKE UP KREW SHOW AGAIN SOON. DEEP SOUTH IS PLAYING A CONCERT IN MEMPHIS IN MARCH. SO PLEASE STAY IN TOUCH SO I CAN PUT YOU ON THE GUEST LIST.I'M TAKING ALISON ON THE SHOW WITH TIM AND BAD DOG WHEN I DO IT NEXT TIME. AGAIN, WE CAN'T THANK YOU AND THE GUYS FOR ALL YOU ARE DOING FOR MEMPHIS AND MUSIC ! (ALISON SAYS, "WHERE IT ALL BEGAN")!!!!! ROBERT NIX AND ALISON HEAFNER..................................







Roberto Lounging On The Buie's Deck [photo by Gloria Jane Seay Buie]


FOLLOW THE NINJA BRICK ROAD!
http://www.alafarmnews.com/0205archive/0205bird.htm

HEY, EL NIXO!

Appreciate the kudos!
Y'all take care of yourselves out THERE on the road!

Gotta a couple of ideas I want to share with you.

I got an idea for a documentary/reality show called
FOLLOW THE NINJA BRICK ROAD!

The pilot would have me as a blogger contacting all my old rock 'n roll heroes and inviting them to get out of town and get down home wid me!

The big point of the show will be the fact that the cities of Nashville, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia & Orlando, Florida happen to be, unfortunately, completely surrounded by
THE DEEP SOUTH.

My other idea is for a TV medical drama/comedy called L. P. N.
This show is about a nurse who gets stuck in a nursing home and they get sick of it because nobody ever gets out alive so they go back to the hospital and they notice they got a new sixth sense where they can tell whether somebody is dying. This becomes a double edged sword because the nurse is consumed & tormented by this duty to make sure noone is ever alone when they die and the reality of a world in denial when the moment is about to occur.

If anyone you pitch wonders "Who is this cat,anyway?", turn 'em on to my blogs:

http://robertoreg.blogspot.com/
http://myspace.com/paulbearbryant
http://atlasofalabama.blogspot.com/
http://academicshithead.blogspot.com/
http://cottonkingdom.blogspot.com/
http://rockpilgrimage.blogspot.com/
http://snakedoctor.blogspot.com/
Best,
RR http://myspace.com/robertoreg

Mr. Jim & THE TIN MAN courtesy of http://www.alafarmnews.com/0205archive/0205bird.htm

Hey y'all:

Our property manager, Karen, came in this morning & she immediately asked"How was your weekend? Oh yeah, you went to the party!"

OH YEAH!!!!
Dey were a party!
I gave her the Reader's Digest version of what happened and she yelled "That was so surreal, it's beyond surreal!!!!
That goes on the WALL OF SHAME!!!!" ;
so this is gonna be a good story.

photo courtesy of
http://www.alafarmnews.com/0205archive/0205bird.htm

Last week Archie invited me to go to a party in Demopolis on Saturday night.

Archie had invited me to his Daddy, Mr. Jim's 80th birthday party. The party was held in Napoleon's Restaurant in the Demopolis Hotel. The birthday party would be the 10th anniversary of the Pimps, Hos & John's party of January of '97 which was Mr. Jim's 70th birthday party.

Mr Jim's '97 70th birthday party was held in the old part of the hotel which is a time capsule.{note to movie makers}

Mr. Jim

The invitations to THE PIMPS, HOs & JOHNs went over like a lead balloon in some West Alabama households.

Some folk don' t 'preciate renting rooms out by the hour.

One of my associates here in Tuscaloosa who is in his 80s certainly did not appreciate his engraved invitation to Mr. Jim's PIMPS, HOs & JOHNs 80th Birthday Party.


photo courtesy of http://www.alafarmnews.com/0205archive/0205bird.htm

Mr. Jim lives on top of a bluff above Rattlesnake Bend of the Tombigbee River. He can show you an antebellum engraving of Gaineswood in his living room and identify his aunt who's in a cradle [Mr. Jim was one of her pall bearers] as well as the slaves in the picture.


http://www.demopolischamber.com/historicsites.asp
GAINESWOOD IN DEMOPOLIS

So I got to the hotel on time for the party and I was dressed like Captain Stabbin. The first thing that made me feel at home was seeing Archie out in front of the hotel dressed in drag with Russ taking pictures while he pranced around in his bright blue pimp suit.

After things got really rolling, I answered all the hoity-toity Demopolis folks questions about who I was and finally some moron asked,"So what kind uv captain are you anyway?" So I replied,"I'll have you know that
I AM THE CHIEF COMMANDING OFFICER ON THE GOOD SHIP LOLLYPOP!!

At the end of the night, Mr. Jim challenged everyone to come to church the next morning in their PIMP/HO/JOHN/MADAME/TAXI DRIVERS/SEX VICE SQUAD outfit.

As we were leaving the hotel, Mr. Jim was plotting a scandal at Sunday services by planning to tell the preacher that he & everybody else'd been out all night then I said, "Yeah, y'all come in the sanctuary yelling to the preacher,'WE MADE IT BUT WE BARELY MADE IT'!

Mr. Jim gets his way in Forkland.

Sure enough, at about 9:40 A.M.
a large group of pimps, hos, johns,madames and sex vice squad cops were seen taking communion at St. John's In The Prairie located in Forkland.


St. John's In The Prairie, Forkland, Al

After Sunday services, I went over to Mr. Jim's house for coffee and birthday cake & he showed me around his place.

Best,

Roberto http://myspace.com/paulbearbryant

P.S.
Mr. Jim's art:




photos of MR. JIM's Art courtesy of http://www.alafarmnews.com/0205archive/0205bird.htm