Saturday, July 12, 2008





Hey y'all~


This is where we stand this morning.

THE DOTHAN HIGH CLASS OF '68
40TH REUNION JAM

has a whole lot of potential.

Nobody's spent a penny yet.
[we don't even have a T-shirt design]

Charmin' Sharman has pledged $100 and that's the seed money.

Eventually, I will place an irrevocable letter of credit in the bank so the show can go on.

So now we down to the Downtown Group wid they 501-C-3
Dat meanzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
they can give you a number you can give to
your extortionist...

uh, I meant, yo' accountant...

& WE CAN SELL ADVANCED TICKETS!!!!!

Anywayzzzzzzzzzzz...

We want to give the KA$H box to the Downtown Group.

We will guarantee the event & if anything is left over, they'll get it for the mural.

best,
rr



I really don't know whether there was a Flamingo Club in '68 but
BEFORE YOU COULD SAY "JACK RABBIT"
it
RULED MY LIFE IN THE SUMMER!



J

About the "I THANK WE GONNA SCRAP" stuff...

I like Verizon.

Like them,
Theyzzzzzzzzzzz lot mo' behind me.

Think about this.

We've never had a bad school shooting in Alabama.
EVER
We had folks kilt up
but it was one on one.

Every state around us has some little mama's boy perverts grab a gun and start picking off cheerleaders.

That stuff don't play in Ali Bammer.

We got Indian blood.
We on thAT personal retribution train.

If your child goes POSTAL in Alabama,

" THAT'S YO' PROBLEM!!!!

'CAUSE WE 'BOUT TO FIX IT!!!!"

I think I caught whatever Wilbur caught back in the day.

WHEW~ Hang out wid Wilbur fo 12 hours.
[ed. note: best way is two hours, get some rest and hang out another two. By that time Wilbur'll tell ya it's time for him to go home.]

Our reunion is damn sho' GONNA stand!~
best,
r



G~

Wilber is Wilbur.
Other than that, doll, you on the money.

Now I'm having fantasies of bringing in a girl to do burlesque during the breaks.
Back during the days of the Flamingo and The Bust Stop Lounge (located in the old Greyhound station on N.St. Andrews the block north of the Houston Hotel), one woman burlesque acts would come into town BY THEMSELVES & on the bus in some cases.
They'd have big trunks full of their costumes. There was Little Bo Peep,Miss Anaconda From The Amazon, Miss Scarlet/Rebel Woman and ANNIE OAKLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those girls could put on a show!

Thanks for everything.

best,
rr

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Hey y'all~

Wilbur made it up here and we went out to eat at Nick's tonight.
IT WUZ A HOOT!

Wilbur is gonna be on the radio tomorrow morning at 8 A.M. on Wally & Dave's show on WTBC.
Hopefully, all y'all can log on to http://www.wtbc1230.com/
& click on the upper right hand corner of the page where it sez LISTEN LIVE!

My goal for all this thing tomorrow is for everybody to have a good time with Wilbur while we tell him how much we appreciate him showing us that YOU had the right string baby but the wrong yo-yo.

The WTBC call-in line is 205-752-9822
My cell # is 205-657-7724

If ya can't get either one of those call our property manager Karen @ 205-759-1906 & maybe she can help all of us out.

LET'S SURPRISE WILBUR TOMORROW MORNING!!!!
EVERBODY CALL IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
best,
rr

Man, S., you can't imagine how big REVEREND WILBUR WALTON was in my young life.

That man was 14 stories tall and I'd never seen a building 14 stories tall.

I spent a lot of weekends with my grandparents on Jeff Street.

Not once was I taken to my Grandmother's church which was 1st Baptist.

Both my mother and father came from mixed marriages. My mother's mother was a Methodist & my Grandpa Belcher had been turned out of the footwashers.
My Grandma Register was a Southern Baptist and Grandpa was a Methodist.

Grandpa Register and I usually walked the two blocks together to church.

I'm pretty sure the day after the Vigor Riot in Wiregrass Stadium, my Grandpa retired from the ACL & on the afternoon he would have retired, October 31, 1959, he laid down to take a siesta after dinner, had a heart attack & died.

I'd never been around dead people before but I got a full immersion.

Johnson Funeral Home on N.Foster was AN OLD FUNERAL HOME & as a kid in the Twenties & Thirties my Daddy Earl had stacked formaldehyde crates up the sides of the wall so he could watch , along with his downtown buddies, the embalming of Dothan's elite.
Daddy gave me the grand tour of the funeral home.

Reverend Wilbur Walton preached Grandpa's funeral.It was the only time in my life when I saw my Daddy cry.

This stuff is STRONG!

Enjoyed your article in Dothan Magazine.
You did good & it had to give you a lot more satisfaction than some that stuff you were trying to do for the schools.

Give up on that. It's a lost cause.

Just check the box labeled Negro on the next census. That's the only thing that's important right now.

best,
rr

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

You can listen to Wilbur perform 24 HOURS OF LONELINESS
on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwq-S2vTPM4

Wilbur's record begins two minutes and 38 seconds into this clip of NORTHERN SOUL music from the Manchester area north of London.

THE DOTHAN HIGH CLASS OF '68
Cordially Invites You
To The 40th Reunion Jam at THE DIRTY BIRD
On Sunday Afternoon, July 27th,
At COWBOYS http://www.cowboysofdothan.com/
On 231 South
Doors open at 3 P.M.
BANDS START AT 4 P.M.

Featuring
WILBUR WALTON JR. & THE STRANGE GANG


http://www.playgroundrecordingstudio.com/
www.myspace.com/playgroundrecordingstudio


Wilbur Walton Jr. and Jimmy Dean
image courtesy of Robin Rainer & DOTHAN MAGAZINE http://dothanmagazine.com


THE BOP CATS featuring FRANK TANTON & RICHARD BURKE
http://www.myspace.com/thebopcats
http://www.myspace.com/thebeaugators
http://www.myspace.com/projectxstudio
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=181441207

MITCH GOODSON & THE CAPERS

David Adkins, Mitch Goodson, Frank Tanton


Wilbur On Stage @ COWBOYS


WILBUR WALTON JR. & THE STRANGE GANG
take the stage!!!!!
{David Adkins, Larry Coe, Buddy Burke, Frank Tanton, Jimmy Dean, WILBUR}

See Wilbur's April 13 performance of "Georgia Pines" @ THE NORMAN ANDREWS MEMORIAL JAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YpVtW4cKvo


ALL PROCEEDS FROM THIS EVENT WILL BENEFIT THE EFFORT TO PAINT A MURAL DEDICATED TO DOTHAN'S ROCK & ROLL MUSICIANS

http://www.supportcountrycrossing.org/

Monday, July 07, 2008

MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2008






Re: YOU DAH BOMB,
BOSSMAN!!!!

KB~

Bruce Hornsby on keys. Absolutely dynamically kozmic
in a big way.

YOU DAH MAN, BOSSMAN!

BEST,
rr




His son in school in Virginia is a runner so they came to the trials and Annabelle Garcia who lives next to M.G. brought them over and I got him to play with us. I've known him from before. We had a great time. He wouldn't do any of his own songs, said, I just want to play along with you guys.
--

When Muhammad Ali was stripped of his world heavyweight boxing championship for refusing induction into the U.S. military, George Carlin noted that Ali, who made his living beating people up, had refused service because he opposed the Vietnam War.
"He said, 'No, that's where I draw the line. I'll beat 'em up. But I don't want to kill 'em.' And the government said, 'Well, if you won't kill people, we won't let you beat 'em up.'"
-- submitted by Ray

http://www.skypilotclub.com

Sunday, July 06, 2008


"THE DOTHAN ANTELOPE"

"THAT HOMBRE SURE WASN'T VERY FRIENDLY!
I'LL TRY THE ANTLERS CAFE!
WAIT HERE, REBEL!"

BAMA'S Harry Gilmer

BROADWAY JOE



THE DRONES

Montgomery Advertiser, Sunday, February 23, 1969

Montgomery Is In The Swing
-- See Page 3

THAT MOD, MOD, MOD MUSIC
by Elizabeth Evans

..."We can be proud of our young people here," he said.
"They're among the finest anywhere and they're far from being irresponsible.

"At least 800 Y-Club members who participate in Coffee House activities weekly- making their own rules, decorating and cleaning and forming committees along with many other things-
prove it to me," stated the veteran Y worker.

S.E. Maxwell, president of the Montgomery Fair Plaza echoes the feeling and credits local teen talent with making several store events more successful.

"There's no doubt that the young people's interest in teen bands helped promote success of several fashion shows," he said. "We had one group called The Three Plus Threes play for our "Seventeen Magazine Back-To-School show and another group,
THE ROCKIN' GIBRALTARS,
played for a show at the store.

"THE PLACE WAS PACKED!!!,"
stated Maxwell. "In fact, people filled our parking area and some came 50 miles to hear the group and see the fashions."

Other groups that have performed at the facility include the Early Times from Troy, The British Walkers and The Collections.

Regular groups at the Coffee Houses are King James and the Royals, The Lochapoka Cheese & Fireworks, The Sorcerer's Apprentices, The Blitzkrieg, Sound Attack and The Nite Lights.

The Drones group has graduated to more adult facilities where its members are booked for better pay, however, while another group-
THE ROCKIN' GIBRALTARS
now The Heart-
was "discovered" a year ago by a talent scout and is currently negotiating a movie contract.

Few groups however ever expect or hope to be "discovered" and consider the group itself as a high school or college hobby.

Many groups-like the Soul Divisions-
do split up when its members go to different colleges.

"All of them are in leading universities too, " said Bryan.
"That should speak for itself and them..."

One thing for sure, parents- who like the rock groups because the boys have less time for more frivolous pastimes-
don't have to worry about where their children are when they are "in" a group.

THEY KNOW WHERE THE YOUNGSTERS ARE
BECAUSE THEY CAN HEAR THE BEAT...



Nobody can be exactly like me. Even I have trouble doing it. -Tallulah Bankhead

It's the good girls who keep diaries; the bad girls never have the time. -Tallulah Bankhead



Actress Tallulah Bankhead, married once to John Emery, was romantically linked to men and women including Edward R. Murrow, Burgess Meredith, Johnny Weissmuller, John Hay Whitney, Beatrice Lillie, Hattie McDonald, Patsy Kelly, Greta Garbo, Billie Holliday, Libby Holman, Gary Cooper, Katharine Cornell, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., John Barrymore, Sr., Robert Benchley, Leonard Bernstein, Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, and Winston Churchill.

The Text of a historic marker in Huntsville

Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968)
Alabama's Best-Known Actress

Tallulah Bankhead was the toast of the London theater in the 1920's, and nationally renowned for her dramatic roles in "The Little Foxes" (1939), "The Skin of Our Teeth" (1942), the movie "Lifeboat" (1944), and as emcee of "The Big Show" (NBC Radio, 1950-52). She was born in Huntsville on January 31, 1902, in an apartment of the Schiffman building. Her father, then Huntsville City Attorney, was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. A ravishing beauty in her youth, Tallulah was known for her uninhibited exuberance, deep sultry voice, and for calling everyone "Dahling." She appeared in 56 plays, 19 movies, and scores of radio and television productions during her 50-year career. She is buried in the churchyard of St. Paul's, Kent County, Maryland.

Text is courtesy of the December 12, 1951 BIRMINGHAM NEWS

TALLULAH TURNS ON THE STEAM-

Actress Tallulah Bankhead found herself in a real-life drama yesterday when she expressed her opinions during a recess in New York where her former maid is being tried on charges of grand larceny and forgery of checks. Later, Tallulah swept angrily out of the courtroom when she objected to the defense attorney's "tactics."


STAR IN REAL DRAMA

TALLULAH DENIES MAID PAID GIGOLOS

New York, Dec. 12- (AP)-

Tallulah Bankhead, playing herself in a real court drama, may take the witness stand today to answer a lawyer's statements she was provided "COCAINE, BOOZE & SEX" by her former maid- secretary.

***

"TALLULAH BANKHEAD taught Mrs. Cronin how to roll marijuana cigarettes...I want to shield the names of those who smoked them, whom she paid and the parties." (He challenged the state to ask Mrs. Cronin the names.)


Hi Robert,
Thanks so much for figuring out how to get the cheerleader photo forwarded to me.
I have not seen that photo since it was taken.
I was in the Graphic a lot during college and after college modeling clothes for several of the campus dress shops. Let me know if you run across me again !
I also should have gotten big billing when I was crowned Sesquicentennial Queen in April (?), 1969 and Jr. Miss in December (?) 1966 or Spring 1967.
As for b. and suggestions of adventures in the mansion, I find that rather interesting in that in 1969, b. would have been in the 9th grade, rather young for such escapades, don't you think ?
She was one of my sister's very best friends during this time.
They would come to where I was living and would remove clothes from my closet and take them to the mansion and alter them to fit themselves.
I had so many clothes that it was a while before I started missing things.
I assumed that some of my sorority sisters were borrowing them and not returning them.

I discovered what was going on when I saw some of them at my mother's house.

You reunion web site was cool -
http://classof68.myevent.com/
I loved hearing Iron Butterfly.
I heard that the name of that song came from the singer being really messed up on whatever (drugs/alcohol, etc) and was trying to say "in the garden of eden".
That makes perfectly good sense, doesn't it !
Anyway, we all loved the song and drank lots of whiskey while listening ! - Ahhhh, the good old days !
Have a fun time at your reunion and stay in touch !

J~


RR~
Thank you for enlightening us as to our ethnicity.

I have been worried about this for quite some time now, so I am very relieved to finally put this query to rest.

But, that's not why I called. I want to inquire about the unknown language below the Shorty Price article.

It seems foreign to me...could it be my newfound BLACKNESS is already affecting my ability to read?!?! Can the ability to read actually be ethnically-based?!?!

Aw, Lahd have mercy on dis ole black soul....
BQ~



ALL OF THE FOLLOWING IMAGES CAME FROM http://tuscaloosabeachmusic.blogspot.com/2007/05/early-publicity-photo-of-allman-joys.html


THE ALLMAN JOYS








THE SEEDS OF TIME ~
Read the story of THE SEEDS OF TIME @ http://www.garagehangover.com/?q=SeedsofTime