Click below for The Chips Moman interview:

http://www.georgiarhythm.com/2008/11/lagrange-native-chips-moman-talks-about.html

Goldmine profiles Elvis's Memphis Sessions

image courtesy of http://soulfulmusic.blogspot.com/2008/12/goldmine-profiles-elviss-memphis.html

This is Gillian Garr's 4-part article on Elvis's 1969 Memphis sessions at American:

http://www.goldminemag.com/article/In_session_Elvis_1969_revival_part_I/



From the January '08 issue of GOLDMINE http://www.goldminemag.com

Talkin' 'bout a GOLDMINE!

Jerry Schilling has just written a book called ME & A GUY NAMED ELVIS.

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781592402311,00.html

I wanna read it!

Anywayzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Ken Sharp interviewed him in the January '08 issue of GOLDMINE.

Here are excerpts from the interview I thought would be of interest to the citizens of
ZERO, NORTHWEST FLORIDA:

GM: What's your take on Elvis' producer, Felton Jarvis?

JS: He did really good in bringing in the right musicians. Felton really tried hard when it was difficult to get good material to Elvis through all the politics. Felton recognized that Elvis was his own producer. He didn't get in the way of that, and he complemented that.

GM: As a vocalist Elvis is revered internationally as one of the greats. But who were the singers that he loved?

JS: Elvis was really into Jackie Wilson
[ed. note: Barry Gordy bought the rights to LONELY TEARDROPS from Tuscaloosa's George Byrd for a Christmas bicycle]
They became friends, and he came to the film studio. We saw him play live at The Trip. He was a huge fan of Roy Orbison vocally...huge fan of Tom Jones.

The " '68 Comeback Special" wasn't the show the Colonel had planned. He wanted Elvis to do a Christmas special. Thank God for (director) Steve Binder. Now, there was a producer who knew what he wanted and has the conviction and strength to achieve his vision.
Elvis got to be Elvis.

image courtesy of http://paulcochran.com
left to right: Chips Moman, Buddy Buie, Paul Cochran

Same thing happened when Elvis worked with the producer "Chips" Moman on the Memphis sessions. You will notice that you won't see them again, which is normal business, if you go in and have hits, like Chips Moman did with Elvis, who do you bring to produce the next session?
Chips Moman?
Nope.

GM: So, why didn't Elvis work again with Steve Binder or Chips?

JS: I think in the later years the people that he had great successes with were creative challenges to the business atmosphere that was around. I think it made those business people nervous. Most of things come back to monetary issues.

image courtesy of http://paulcochran.com
CHIPS MOMAN AND PAUL COCHRAN

When you've got Chips Moman, you're gonna pay a producer what you're gonna pay a producer regarding the material that comes in. George Klein told Chips how to get along with Elvis.
"Don't tell him things in front of people. If you talk want to talk to Elvis, do it one on one."

Chips said,"Elvis, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Chips said,"I have a stack of records here that your publishers brought in, and none of them are hits. I have a stack of records over here that you don't own the publishing on, but they're hit records.
Which pile do you want to do?"
Elvis said,"Look, I wanna go back on the road. I want hit records."

If that doesn't tell the story, I can't explain it any better.

GM: So, financially, to get really good people working with Elvis, there would have been a significant outlay of income?

JS: Yes, on the short term, but there really wouldn't have been a loss of income. It was about people being paid what they deserved.
On the long-term, we would have had an Elvis that would have been around singing today, and a lot of people making a lot of money.

GM: Against the string of melancholy ballads Elvis was inclined to record during the '70s came the rocker "Burning Love."
But, surprisingly, Elvis originally didn't want to record this obvious hit.
Why?

JS: Felton Jarvis felt it was a hit record. Having heard the demo of "Burning Love," I also felt it was a hit record as well. Joe Esposito and I also really encouraged him to record it.

GM: Did Elvis know how good he was?

JS: I think he knew he was a great singer but not on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes he thought he was washed up.
But I've seen him where he enjoyed his own voice and knew it was something special, but he wondered a lot and searched a lot as for why he was so blessed with his gift.

GM: If you could spend some time with Elvis again, what would you talk about?

JS: I'd like to just sit up all night and shoot the bull with Elvis.
The conversation could start out talking about girls, and it could wind up talking about Hinduism.
He was unpredictable.
That was one of the exciting things about him.

image courtesy of http://paulcochran.com
TOMMY ROE, CHIPS MOMAN, PAUL COCHRAN

I wanna tell ya Haynes has tuned up blogging to something I have absolutely never seen.
Rock Out, Greg!!!!
http://heybabydays.blogspot.com/

I don't know anything about Al Bell but love me sum music on his myspace page

www.myspace.com/albellpresents

Muchas to Bama Queen who put up all the pics of the mural dedication on the Web!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/photo.php?pid=539189&id=1175740973&ref=nf


Subject: Dothan's rich musical heritage

Dothan Eagle editorial
Published: June 12, 2009

Dothan isn’t Nashville or Motown, but it has seen a wealth of musical talent rise from its soil and mingle with luminaries.

Music historians have long known that Roy Orbison, the pale, warbling hit machine behind dark glasses, didn’t start out with his trademark Ray-Ban Wayfarers. Early in his career, the vision-impaired performer left his thick glasses on an airplane and needed corrective lenses to be able to see to make his way to the stage. He put on his shades and legend was born.

People who grew up in the local music scene can add a note of interest to the story: the stage Orbison groped across in his Ray-Bans was at the Houston County Farm Center.

Orbison was well-connected in these parts, having worked with Samson native Dean Daughtry and the late John Rainey Adkins.

After years of living on in fame and infamy through stories passed among music lovers in the area, the characters of Dothan’s rich musical heritage are now immortalized in the city’s newest mural.

There’s Bobby Goldsboro, Daughtry and noted songwriter Buddy Buie, who formed Atlanta Rhythm Section, John Rainey Adkins, his brother, sideman David Adkins, Wilbur (“Georgia Pines”) Walton Jr. and other area greats such as Martha Reeves, Ray Charles and Mickey Thomas.

Take a trip downtown and learn about these treasured musicians on artist Wes Hardin’s brick canvas. They’re waiting, as always, larger than life.

BB~

Happy birfday.

I saw y'all @ Bama's Woods Quad in April of '73 along w/ Marshall Tucker & Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

A coed got murdered that night and it killed Woods Quad.

Hung out yesterday @ the Dothan mural dedication w/ Jimmy Dean, Wilbur, Chips, The Old Man, Buie
,Gloria Jane, Dean, Justo, JR, Goldsboro, Rodger Johnson, David Adkins, Laura Scott, Tanton & a whole lot of other cats who bumped into to you along the way.

All the Buies, All The Goldsboros, All the Adkins!

WILBUR GOT HAPPY & HE'S GOT A TAN!!!!

You missed IT!

Here are the links to the front page Dothan Eagle story & the WDHN video news clip.

http://www.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/mural_celebrates_local_musical_talent/75784/

http://dothanfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=66291

Enjoy it!

best,
rr

Loved seeing everyone at the dedication of the mural yestiddee. Here's links to both the front page article in today's Dothan Eagle & the WDHN TV news broadcast.


http://www.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/mural_celebrates_local_musical_talent/75784/

http://dothanfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=66291


image courtesy of The Dothan Eagle
In the Eagle photo, you can see me leaning against the wall of the back stoop of the law office where the mural is painted enjoying the shade & the air conditioning blowing out of the office door I propped open.

image courtesy of The Dothan Eagle


image courtesy of Kerry Farrell


image courtesy of Kerry Farrell
TANTON www.myspace.com/thebopcats
signing autographs


Robertoreg high as a Georgia Pine w/ Miss Patricia @ The CrossRoads in The Rocket City!


I finally found the pictures of the Impacts in 1967 at Peanut Festival, when I played bass for them. The great people at Troy State found the pictures. Enjoy.
NEAL ROSE


I played with them for about 6 mos and then went into the Navy and Vietnam. I have only communicated with Preston T about 15 years ago he was working at a funeral home in Dothan, have not talked with any of the Band members since. I was hoping the pictures might stir them up. Thanks for all you do to keep the LA people awake.
NEAL ROSE

Thanks Roberto,

As for Papa Don Schroeder---Sorry Rodney, I never met the man so I can only pass on what I heard. As far as I knew at the time, he was one of the popular DJ's and put on teen dances and shows. He promoted James and Bobby Purify, and had a restaurant. The negative stuff, was there were so many talented Rock bands and such around the area at the time, but they were all white. And Papa Don may as well have hung a sign out that white musicians need not bother trying to get him interested in promoting them. There was a link somewhere on your site Roberto to his telling of his life story, and I would have thought he was describing Clive Davis or David Geffen. I never knew he was such a big player in the music biz. Oh well.

Since I found your blog, I've read most of it. Amazing. As for your story about Pensacola and integration, I'm sad to say your friend must've happened on to an isolated situation. As I recall Young Middle School was considered a black school, sort of. If you were white though and from that area of town you probably went there too. I believe your friend is right that Pensacola was probably not as racially charged as Alabama and Georgia. The Navy base was one big factor, the proliferating music scene was another as bands starting springing up like daisies. Musicians starting about '64 or '65 were starting to hang out together black and white, and Motown, Soul, and R&B were extremely popular there among whites. James Brown was especially big. But segregation and racism was there, but until around '66 and then later, the attitude was, like Bruce Hornsby said, "That's just the way it it."

Then the buses started coming down from 'up North' and all of a sudden things got a little uglier, but I don't recall any big violence incidents, just some protests here and there. The biggest of which was out at what is now called Perdido Key, but was Gulf Beach (White part) and Johnson's Beach (Black Part) back then. To my knowledge no one got hurt and when the buses left things sort of went back to normal.

I went to Escambia High School, home of the Rebels! (Oops!). I mean Gator's now. The mascot changed sometime in the early '70s due to PC. Same high school as Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboy's graduated from (much later than me).. It was my senior year in '68 when the first 4 black students came to the school. So segregation took awhile.

I left in 1968 and went in the Army, eventually to Vietnam. I even had a band in Nam. There was a USO there that had a music room with instruments and after about a month or so of jammin', there were enough of us for a band. The keyboard player was one of the original band members of The Buckinghams. He played on "Kind of a Drag" and when it hit, he was drafted. That was before The Buckinghams got an album out, so he's not on the album cover. We used to kid him and said he was making it up, but he sent home and had his parents send early promo photos, and sure enough there he was. We played at the officer's, NCO's and Enlisted clubs around the base (Chu Lai) and made a little extra money. I got out in '71 after my Nam tour, bummed around California and lived with a friend there. I eventually returned to P'cola in '72.. The music scene there had been pretty much devastated. Disco and DJ's were starting to spread. Went to UWF, then went to work for a major corporation. I now live in the Dallas, TX metroplex.

Those early days in Pensacola were some of the best in my life. Everybody was having such fun.

BP

THE ABORTION READY TO HAPPEN!!!!