Hey y'all:

I loved when Saban said on ESPN,
"THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR THE STATE OF ALABAMA!"
It rilly hurts me & I hate it when
I hear those Gators say,"Tennessee'zzzzzzzzzzz the INBRED & BUMPED IN THE HEAD!"
but what can I say?
HOW 'BOUT DAT CRIMSON TIDE!!!!

by the way:
They got a Greenetrack ad with Gerald Kimbrough on tape saying he won a gazzillion dollars.
(I'm going to see Gerald tomorrow!!!!)

best,
rr

BB:
You Rilly Oughtta Think About Coming To An SEC Game In Tuscaloosa This Year!!!!

TOUCH OF GRAY sets up on the Quad at about 2 on an SEC pregame (so that's GA-9/22, Tennessee-10/20, LSU-11/3) & plays Mustang Sally/Honky Tonk Women until the cows come home. Their stage is just northwest of the Crimson Village security gate & directly northeast of Crimson Tide Radio Network. All of this stuff occupies the entire southeast corner of the Quad. The entire southwest corner is dominated by the big TV and those jokers went crazy today when AWBARN lost.
I said hey to Tom. He was rill busy.

Nothing happened today with the song. Mean Gene the lead guitar slinger dedicated ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN to me but that was about it. He told me last week he had no control over the P.A. & the radio show was setting up so they TOUCH OF GRAY P.A. were playing NUT TING!!!!!
so I wandered off into the woodwork.

Oh man, you can't believe campus today. The new DEKE house (across from the site of the old DEKE house where the stadium statues are located/ I got over 20 doors out of the old DEKE house 18 months ago & they're all gone-THOSE SOLID WOOD DOORS HAVE SAVED LIVES!!!!)
had a banner up that sed
"BAMA'S BOUT TO BUST A NUTT!"
Houndstooth everything! Houndstooth earbobs -three orbs full!, houndstooth high heels w/ red soles, houndstooth fabric on everything even arm slings, houndstooth bracelets, houndstooth belts, bags----you freakin' name it!

WAIT UNTIL 2013! THAT WILL BE THE CENTENNIAL OF HIS BIRTH!!!!

Oh, dude, the cocktail dresses the sorority girls wear to the games this year are OFF DAH CHAIN!!!!
THANK YOU JESUS FO' LINDSEY LOHAN!!!!
It's all hangin' out there.
That's all I gotta say other than that plastic surgeons now advertise in the CW.

Oh yeah, & some of these poor young girls have never walked in high heels and they go to the game in them.
THEY WALK LIKE A BUNCH OF DRAG QUEENZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!

Anywayzzzzzzzzzz, the TOUCH OF GRAY stage at the GA, TN & LSU games would be a great place to play a new mix of the song along with the stuff from the book's CD.

Let's work on dat!

best,
rr




image courtesy of http://www.buybymail.com

Hey y'all:

Coach Bryant's only autobiography, BEAR: My Hard Life & Good Times as Alabama's Head Coach, http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Hard-Times-Alabamas-Coach/dp/1572438886
has been reissued and it has a new introduction along with a CD of Coach Bryant talking about his life and times.[all the stuff about Sam has been deleted]

We are proud to announce that THE DAY BEAR BRYANT DIED
http://myspace.com/paulbearbryant
is used as a musical tribute on the CD which accompanies the reissue of Coach Bryant's only autobiography.

Please buy this book and listen to this CD.

We will be updating our website soon http://daybeardied.com & we look forward to hearing from you as we commemorate the 25th anniversary of Coach Bryant's last season.

Best,
RR

ks:
Enjoyed the Sponge Company website.
http://apalachspongecompany.com/
Back in the early 80s, Scott Gellerstedt was a liquor salesman around Tampa Bay & I spent a lot of time with him at his place at Madiera Beach. We used to eat lunch in the Greek restaurants in Tarpon Springs and I watched the activities of the sponge fleet and bought sponges there.
Kewl that somebody's brought that business back to life in Apalach.

I have contributed a teenie little bit to the blog http://robertoreg.blogspot.com
but little Bob has had a busy week. Wednesday night I had to hang out with Buie & Gloria Jane & eat fish tacos and drink Margaritas until I was full and then Thursday I had to eat lunch and listen to Buie give a speech & now I gotta get ready for this big ballgame tonight so the blog has taken a backseat.

I'm so glad you missed my email blog blast. A lot of people hate to admit it but they hate missing my blog too.

Folks go,"What's up? How're we 'sposed to know what's going on?"

best,
rr
QUESTIONS FROM ROBERT REGISTER

Boss:

You & I have been corresponding now for about 10 years.
Now I'd like to axe you some queerstions just like all those students do.
-- Robert Register

Question #7:

What do you remember about the moment this photo was taken?

touchup by John Earl
image courtesy of http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/exhibits/sixties/kesey.html

The ancestral mansion at last with plumes of red and blue and green smokescreens swirling about the towers and lawns and Cassady calling, "Here's comes the Wiesenheimer," talking about me extolling upon the marvels of the palatial mannerisms but not for long for we had been up too long on the too many furlong miles behind miles to go yak me fast yak me slow and nap upon the lawn and bathe in the creek, under the waterfall, tootle your flute, Highly Visible, go yon to mystery third floor, Sound Man, scratch betwixt the toes, Swash Buckler, tap the ground with your staff not much ryhthm but you gotta dance with em, Intrepid Traveler, contemplate the lovely lass, Equipment Hassler, days are long and many corridors still to explore.

kb http://skypilotclub.com

Robert: Search Leroy Van Dyke, not Lee Roy.

Bio & personal website:

http://www.leroyvandyke.com/index.cfm?include=biography2

http://www.leroyvandyke.com/index.cfm?include=biography

Best wishes,
JH

FP:

Great to hear from ya again & let me hear from ya sometime.
Buie bought me a cell phone last year 205-239-5401 & I used it so much for business that my boss had to buy me another cell phone 205-657-7724.

Glad you like the '67 flashback.
This cat from Miami who rilly doesn't like me too much, saw me in a bar the other day & he asked me,"I've seen your damn website. Why do you think that shit's so important?"

Instantly, without any hesitation, I said,
" Because it happened when I was a teenager!"

The Hispanics are an absolute nightmare, especially when it comes to education, health care & police protection.

We've got to get control somehow.

Every part of the "social safety net" we've established for our own people is now being collapsed by this inundation.

Our hands are tied right now by a bunch of lawyers & federal judges but it won't always be that way.

One day the cuffs are gonna come off and when they do, we Alabamians are gonna take our state back from the demented, the depraved and the disgusting.

Until then I'll still be rockin' & rolling.

This morning I had to change shirts three times.
That's how much filth I had to deal with.
First I had an eviction.
Then I had to unstop a Section 8 kitchen sink and then I had to put a bathroom door up that mysteriously got kicked in by Mama Kong or one of her ghettopottomus young 'uns.
While I was at the kitchen sink house, BB called and I sat on the stoop and listened as he read me the entire speech he will deliver.
About noon at Mama Kong's Gorilla Nest I get a call from BR.
He's gotta go do a concert where they're about to have a race riot and he's gotta play.
We had a wonderful conversation about his years as a performer BEFORE HE EVER CUT A RECORD!
After I got off from work,
Robert Nix, http://myspace.com/alisonheafner
original drummer for the Candymen & the Atlanta Rhythm Section, called me about his gigs in Dothan and Panama City Beach this month.
Paul Cochran http://paulcochran.com
called me on another cell phone while I was on with Nix so when I got back to the office Paul called back & thanked me for helping.
It is my understanding that Paul was the first guy in the U.S. to ever book the Rolling Stones.

Anywayzzzzzzzzzz, I might be out there making the ghetto safe for democracy & Section 8 landlords but every day wonderful things are happening!!!!

Love hearing from ya. Call me!

best,
rr http://myspace.com/robertoreg
http://myspace.com/paulbearbryant

P.S.

Go ahead & take your room for the first night. Then go talk to Bob, tall guy who's the afternoon bartender in Miz Newby's & he'll hook you up with the maids & maintenance men who can tell you which property manager will give you a deal.
The early bird gets the worm if you're ready to pay attention and burn a little shoe leather.
That is exactly how this ditsy, no account, addlebrained, worthless,
po' ass,
barefooted
REBEL SON OF A BITCH!

WUZ ABLE TO GIT A HALF-A-MILLION CONDO ON THE BEACH BY PAYING $150 FOR A THREE NIGHT WEEKEND.
A RECESSION IS GREAT FO' UZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ PO' FOLKS.
OUR MISS GREEN BE TALKIN'!

I LOST THE CARD. ASK BOB AT MIZ NEWBY'S WHEN YOU GET THERE.

Always remember, Robert Nix:
A STRONG BACK IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE!!!!

BEST,
RR http://rockpilgrimage.blogspot.com

Roberto,
speaking of roadkill,
I'll have to tell you about the Tams' roadkill story!
It's incredible.

Robert 'roadkill' Nix..................

I just thought of something else.
Ask Billy Joe about the time in Las Vegas when I went out to the Flamingo to hang around with him and his band for a while.
We went to Circus Circus and they had this round thing with peepholes all around it, and you would put a quarter in a slot to see a naked lady supposedly dancing inside.
Billy Joe and Fred Guarino and I got on different sides of the round thing and what we actually saw made us fall down on the floor laughing.
Inside was a woman obviously at the end of her eight hour shift smoking a cigarette, tapping her foot and absently looking up.
Eyes would appear and disappear around the thing as quarters were deposited. I swear I saw a slot open and saw Billy Joe's eyes looking all around. We damned near croaked. We couldn't quit laughing and finally just had to leave the casino-----

JD

JD:

All Billy Joe told me wuz, "I had a sack of quarters."

best,
rr

Roberto,

concerning ORION & Jimmy Ellis, Playground Recording

Not sure if you know this or not, Back before I ever got the studio doors re-opened.. I was contacted by a group of Norwegians who represented themselves as part of the International Elvis Fan club.. They were interested in putting together an album on Jimmy Ellis/Orion.. They were not interested in Orion but Jimmy Ellis only. The explained to me that there were still many many Jimmy Ellis fans left around the world and that they were interested in doing a Jimmy Ellis tribute album.. the one without the mask. I dug through some of the old tapes here at Playground and found quite a few songs that Ellis had recorded here Pre-ORION and the resulting album is called "Jimmy Ellis at Playground Recording Studio". Complete with 24 page cd booklet of pictures without the mask and the entire story laid out in detail. This might be the most bizarre and tragic story in the music biz..I notice Bear Family in Germany has added the record to their catalogue.. other that the album was supposedly meant for ardent fans only.

I think I sent a copy to JD..

Lancaster

PRS

Valp, Fl.

JD:
I fucked up your email.

best,
rr

Naw---
that ain't even traumatizing.
I thought that might happen, but heck, we're talking about gutting a deer in a bus here.
Only Billy Joe could fuss at me about this, and he might think it makes an even better story this way.
Now, if you'd told everybody I said Buddy Buie gutted the damn thing in his bus and wrote a song about it,
that would be something different----

JD

image courtesy of http://www.skynyrd.net

Rest In Peace
Hughie Thomasson 1952-2007
founder of The Outlaws and former guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd

RR:
Ask Billy Joe about the time Lee Roy Van Dyke
gutted, skinned and cut up a road kill deer in his (Van Dyke's) bus.
Billy Joe will crack you up with some of the tales he has of the road----

JD


After receiving an email concerning Lee Roy Van Dyke gutting a roadkill deer inside his own tour bus, I googled "Lee Roy Van Dyke" & there's basically nothing on the Web about him other than that he had a hit called WALK ON BY.

One hit on google pulled up Shelby Singleton & Finley Duncan and their relationship with ORION.

image courtesy of http://www.rockabillyhall.com
Now this story would sho' nuff make a big movie!
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/Orion1.html

I know Ben Windham of the Tuscaloosa News has written about Orion but that story is not on the Net & what an incredible music business story this is!

image courtesy of http://www.rockabillyhall.com

best,
rr http://rockpilgrimage.blogspot.com

JD wrote:

Ask Billy Joe about the time Lee Roy Van Dyke gutted, skinned and cut up a road kill deer in his (Van Dyke's) bus. Billy Joe will crack you up with some of the tales he has of the road----

JD