Saturday, January 23, 2010

Robert Register found an episode of Where The Action Is. Please pass this along to anyone who was going to high school in Huntsville in '66 or '67. Nine minutes in, Montgomery's Bobby Moore & the lead guitarist of the Rhythm Aces sing a song down by the Big Spring in Huntsville. Jeff Miami will love Steve Alaimo who appears @ 19 min. Bobby Moore comes back on in front of the Huntsville Community Center @ 23 min. The Huntsville girls are wearing those white boots Archie Trawick used to send girls home for wearing to school.http://www.archive.org/details/Where_The_Action_Is_152


Robert Register found a ton of Shindig stuff on youtube. Here's a clip where Mick Jagger and Brian Jones introduce West Point, Mississippi's HOWLIN' WOLF! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06sK7swQRfw

Robert, the name Earl Register
sounds familiar, did he sale/
deliver stuff in the Tallassee,
Auburn,Montgomery area?
My father had a grocery store
in Tallassee for thirty years or
more, from the thirties to the
sixties. Back in the old days
small towns didn`t have tire stores so most stores sold
whatever they could to survive.
When I was 8, 1951; he sold
coal,propane gas,tires etc.
I met a lot of salesmen, since
all of us children were expected to work in the store and the
name jogs my memory. Great
description of your life with your
dad!
THE SWAMPMAN


Swampman~

Daddy was Territory Manager for Goodrich up until '59 when he went into business for himself. I don't think he ever had a territory that went as far north as Tallassee. Most of his stores were along the Florida line all the way to Pensacola so I don't think you ran into him in the tire business unless you bought tires in Dothan after 1959. Daddy put tires on Hank Jr.'s gold Nudie Cadillac with the guns, horns and silver dollars. He took me out to the shop to show it to me that day. I'll never forger that!

Daddy was best friends with Gillis Griffin, Glenn's Daddy, & from '65 to '68 he was Exalted Ruler of the Dothan Elks Club and then for another couple of years, he was District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler for all the Elks Clubs in South Alabama. One day the FBI called him and told him to pull the charters for both Elks Clubs in Montgomery. He told 'em,"Hell, I can't do that! Those are the oldest clubs in the state!" The FBI told him,"Well, I guess we'll have to put everybody in jail." Daddy pulled their charters. Seems as if the boys in the game rooms had gotten a little too tight with Tony in Las Vegas. They all kinds of sophisticated electronic equipment in the game rooms & had a major book making operation going, especially the new lodge out on the bypass. Daddy put both of 'em out of business. He took my Mama with him when he pulled their charters & Mama wanted to steal the frames they came in! She always regreted not stealing those beautiful gold frames.
Later, the lodge on the southern bypass became the national headquarters for Gov. Wallace's presidential campaign. They had just started hiring Negroes to handle the mail at the post office with the advent of the Zip Code in '63.(THE ZIP CODE: the Federal Government's Excuse To Hire Illiterates In The Mail Room). I'm pretty sure my Daddy's brother, Page Register, had to arrest almost every Black hired in Montgomery. They were digging in the mail for the Wallace contributions. Po' folks from all over the country would just put money in envelopes and mailed it to George. My uncle Page was Sectional Division Manager for all the post offices in South Alabama so he had the postal inspectors mail money covered in powder that showed up under UV light. They caught everybody who was stealing from George.

Both my Daddy and his brother Page were exceptional individuals. If you met either one of them, you'd probably remember them.

Glad you liked the story.

best,
r

Friday, January 22, 2010

I ran across your blog tonight and found the info on the Dothan music scene very interesting. My father was a guitar player/song writer in Dothan until his death in 1983. He was Howard Martin, who co-wrote some of Wilbur Walton's songs with him. It was great to see so much of the 70s music scene on your blog. My father played with Norman Andrews and Concrete Bubble so those pictures were very unexpected. I was young during his music career but remember most of the musicians on your blog. It was a real trip down memory lane. Thanks for posting all of his info online!
Just wanted to send a quick e-mail and say Hi.

Chris Martin



CM~

Great to hear from ya.

Glad you like the blog.

Wilbur made sure your father was credited on his new CD.

Best,
Robert Register

image courtesy of Robert Dean


Get Wilbur's New CD @ http://www.playgroundrecordingstudio.com/

Wilbur's CD Is An Heirloom Quality Heritage Commemorative Work of Art http://www.playgroundrecordingstudio.com/

please buy stuff from http://www.playgroundrecordingstudio.com/



LARRY SHELL


PLAYGROUND RHYTHM SECTION


David & Wilbur


Clayton & Jimmy


JIMMY DEAN


WILBUR, DAVID & JIMMY


CHIEF BIGWATER


JIMMY & DAVID


WILBUR


WILBUR


Jimmy Dean, Wilbur Walton Jr., Robert Dean



DAVID ADKINS


David, Wilbur, Robert, Clayton




WILBUR



Roberto,

I remember a story about an Alabama state trooper from
the 70's. He took his patrol car to the state
motorpool to get a tuneup, and a bag of marijuana was
found in his glove compartment. So he was charged with
possession and hauled to court. When the judge asked
why he had the marijuana, the trooper replied "I never
know when I might need to plant it on someone."

Take care,
Jim

Robert ,
I can't get Chris all-access but did meet Billy Gibbons in New Orleans at Jazz Fest one year. It was aboard THE PRESIDENT riverboat during a concert by Bonnie Ratt and Little Feat and they ROCKED . I was wandering around the boat after a trip up to the top of the ship for a little "pause ", and just asked a fella if I could sit for a second to get my bearings . When I sat , I did a double take , introduced myself , and sure enough , it was himself . A really nice guy with a great attitude and an all-time great musician .

Best ,
David A.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008


These are pix with Billy Gibbons. He was great. He's like Justo. He's remembers everything about our tours together.
ROBERT NIX

Robert,
This is some fine stuff. I do believe that you have the makin's of becoming a best-selling Southern writer.

Best,

Herb

Greeetings\\\
There's an entry on yr blog denoting a photo that for some reason is not downloading. Could you link to a copy (not for professional reasons; I wont use it commercially, etc. I am an old acquaintance of Jon (ie yourmusicconsultants.com) stroll.
here:
anyway thanks and have a good one..
Michael (in nyc



B.J. Thomas & Beaverteeth
B.J. Thomas & His Backup Band
Photo taken in front of the Bitter End in New York City
Left to right: Rodney Justo, David Adkins, John Rainey Adkins,B.J. Thomas, Jimmy Dean, Charlie Silva, Jon Stroll

ROGER DYE

Roger Dye Roger Dye of Dothan, died Thursday, January 21, 2010 at his residence. He was 69. Funeral services will be held 2:30 p.m. Saturday, January 23, 2010 in Clearman Chapel at Southern Heritage Funeral Home with Dr. Tony Dye, Rev. Billy Gantt and Rev. Terry Davis officiating. Burial will follow in Memory Hill Cemetery with Southern Heritage directing. The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. prior to the service. Flowers will be accepted or memorial contributions may be made to Wiregrass Hospice, P.O. Drawer 2127, Dothan, AL 36302. Mr. Dye was born January 1, 1941 in Damascus, AL, a son of the late Huland Dixon and Sally Clyde Roberts Dye. He was raised in Geneva, AL where he graduated from Geneva High School in 1959. He was a local musician in the 1960's and 70's and had four songs recorded in Nashville, TN. For thirty years, he owned and operated Dye Printing Service, which continues to be operated by his family. Mr. Dye had a great love for restoring cars. Survivors include his wife, Susan George Dye, Dothan; four sons, Roger Dye, Jr. "Nicky" (Shawna), Newville, AL, Jarrod Dye, Brock Dye, Charlie George, all of Dothan; daughter, Candy George Burk (Craig), Hodgesville; brother, Sam Dye (Jeri), Dothan; four sisters, Julia Faye Godwin (Otho), Geneva, Martha Gene Bedsole, Warner Robbins, GA, Sarah Rhodes (Dorsey), Dothan, Jawona Warren (Donny), Warner Robbins, GA; numerous nieces and nephews also survive. Southern Heritage Funeral Home and Crematory, (334) 702-1712, is in charge of arrangements. www.southernheritagefh.com Sign the guest book at www.dothaneagle.com.

Published in Dothan Eagle on January 22, 2010

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Want y'all to know Buddy Buie and Paul Hornsby are FINALLY going to be inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame on Thursday, March 25 @ the Montgomery Convention Center @ The Renaissance Hotel & Spa. www.timesdaily.com/article/20100120/ARTICLES/1205032/1011/NEWS

What a treat for an 8 year old!
play hookey,
go to the beach; dine at Angelo's
and see a shoot-em up!
Lots of rain over night,
Stay dry today,
M


Beautiful story about you and your Dad. I remember going to the beach with my Dad. He, too, died long before I was ready for him to go.

--William




RR, Great piece about your Dad and what a warm and wonderful memory to keep. Thx for getting it out and putting it on the monitor and for passing it to me. And I never met a beach I did not like, either. And so it goes. God bless & all best, Ern


The old Martin Theatre where my Daddy Earl took me when he let me play hookie one day in the second grade & go with him to Panama City.

THE WAYSIDE PARK

by Robert Register

One afternoon after school my Daddy came home early from work and asked me this question,
"Bob, how'd you like to go to the picture show with me tonight?"

"Yes,sir,Daddy!" I exclaimed.

"Well, get your toothbrush. Tell Mommy to pack you some warm clothes and bring some books and toys to keep you busy."

"To go to the picture show?" I asked.

"We're going to the Martin Theatre in Panama City, son."

"Hot dog! So we're not coming home tonight?"

"No, Bob, we'll be staying at the Dixie Sherman Hotel in downtown Panama City tonight."

"What about school tomorrow?"

"Tell Ms. Odum you were sick."

"Daddy, won't that be telling a story?"

"You're sick, aren't you?"

"No, sir."

"Aw, I bet you're sick. Sick of school."

"Oh boy!" I ran down the hall screaming, "Mommy, Mommy, Daddy's taking me to the beach!"

There is no doubt in my mind that on that winter afternoon in 1958 I was the happiest eight year old boy in Alabama. Even after over 50 years, the memories are so sweet that they bring tears of joy to my eyes. My most vivid childhood memories are of my father, Earl Register. He was loud and he was strong and he loved his little boy. He'll always be my best buddy. Neither time nor the unspeakable tragedy of his death, nor anything else can take that man's love away from me.

That is my inheritance. (Thank you, Daddy, I love you.)

When it came to going to the beach, it didn't take me long to pack my satchel.
Mommy took care of my clothing and I gathered up Dr. Zim's Insect Book,
my color crayons, my tablet and my shovel.

I've always been ready to get sand in my shoes!

My mother, Kate, hugged my neck in the driveway and told me to "be good" and next thing you know we're heading for Panama City. Our house in Dothan was on Gaines Street and it was located one door down from the intersection with South Oates which was U.S. 231 South, the Panama City Highway. Being eight-years old, I was very concerned about getting to the beach as quickly as possible so I was a little worried when Daddy hung a quick left onto the Hodgesville Highway.

"Hey, Daddy. Where are we going?"

"To P.C., son. Why?"

"But this ain't the road to Panama City."

"What have I told you about saying the word 'ain't'?"

"I'm sorry. But this isn't the way to Panama City."

"Sure it is. Hodgesville is due south of town and from there we can cut over to Graceville or maybe Campbellton or maybe even Grangerburg."

"Daddy, why do you always go a different way every time you go somewhere? You even do it when we drive over to Grandma's house and it's just across town."

"Bob, I'm not like a cow. I don't go down the same trail back to the barn every evening."

"I just don't want us to be late. What time is it, anyway?"

"Confucius say, 'He who work by the hands of a clock will always be a hand.' "

Daddy had already handed me a strongly worded explanation of that little saying before, so I decided to climb over into the back seat of the company car and take a nap.

The next thing I knew Daddy was yelling, "Wake up, Bob. We're about to cross the Lynn Haven Bridge!"

I loved Lynn Haven with its pink houses and views of North Bay.

"Are we stopping by Aunt Estelle's house?" I asked.

"Nope. We're heading straight for downtown. We'll check in and then eat supper at Angelo's."

To this day, I always think of Daddy's Aunt Estelle whenever I eat fried scallops. That woman could cook the steam out of a mess of scallops. Every time we went to Aunt Estelle's house in Lynn Haven, she fried scallops. If she didn't have any, she'd send out for some.

The last time I saw Aunt Estelle was in the late 70s at the insane asylum at Chattahoochee.
Old age had caught up with her and she didn't know where she was from the man in the moon, but she remembered me though. She told me,"Bob, let me go get out of these clothes and put on my apron and I'll fry you up some scallops." That's the last thing Aunt Estelle said to me as the nurse led her back to the ward.

I never saw her again.

Daddy and I checked into a great room on the top floor of the Dixie Sherman.
That hotel was Panama City's tallest building and it wasn't a skyscraper but as far as Bob Register was concerned, we had a penthouse suite in the Empire State Building.



image courtesy of http://www.beaconlearningcenter.com/weblessons/bayhistory/bhis29.htm

I turned on the TV and opened the curtains so I could see the sun going down over St. Andrews Bay.

"Get away from that window and get ready for supper, son. Go wash your face and hands. We're going to Angelo's."

It didn't take me long to follow directions. I laced up my paratrooper's boots and I was ready for action. Everything we needed was right there around the block from the Dixie Sherman. Restaurants, movie theatres, newstands, soda fountains- downtown Panama City had it all.

Soon we were seated at a shiny formica table beside a plate glass window inside Angelo's Steak Pit. We watched the traffic and the people on the sidewalk as we waited for our steaks. Angelo Butchikas was the owner and he knew Daddy real well because Panama City was on Earl's territory route with Goodrich. My Daddy was one of Mr. Angelo's favorite customers.

When we were through eating, Mr. Angelo came to our table. He treated us like we were royalty. I really liked him a lot.

"How was your steak, Bob?" he asked.

"Real good, Mr. Angelo," I replied.

"I noticed that you didn't touch your black olives."

"I eat green olives, but I don't like black olives."

"Please, Bob, try one of these," said Mr. Angelo.

"Yes, sir."

I tried one of Mr. Angelo's ripe olives. It tasted real strong but it went down all right. Just like eating fried bay scallops reminds me of Aunt Estelle, black olives always remind me of the nice man who had the great steak house in downtown Panama City, Angelo Butchikas.
& many times, when I try something new, I think of Mr. Angelo and his winning smile.

After Daddy paid our check, we walked down Harrison Avenue to the Martin Theatre. We took our seats and sat down to watch Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas in what was probably the most exciting Western filmed up to that time, "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral."



image courtesy of http://www.panamacitydowntown.com/play.php



image courtesy of http://www.martintheatre.com/history.html

It may have been a great movie but it was too long for this little eight-year old from Dothan. I fell asleep but I didn't miss the good part. All that gunfire at the end woke me up so even though I felt guilty and disappointed for falling asleep and missing the movie, I was sure happy about seeing that gunfight at the end.

When I woke up in the morning, Daddy had already gone to work. The night before he'd told me not to worry, that he would leave early and not wake me up. He told me to hang around the room, draw and color and watch TV so I did. I stared out the window at the beautiful bay. I watched a little TV. I drew insects out of my Dr. Zim book and colored cartoons I copied out of the News-Herald. Before noon Daddy was back and we were checking out of the hotel.

Now came the good part. We were going to Panama City Beach!

It was raining cats and dogs plus it was freezing but that didn't matter to us. We were heading for the beach! As we drove over Hathaway Bridge the weather began to break and the rain slacked up a little, but it was still bitter cold. I had on a couple of sweaters, my windbreaker and my toboggan. [Yankees call them "stocking caps"]

Panama City Beach was a ghost town. Nothing was open except a little grocery store across from Wayside Park. There were no cars on Front Beach Road. No lights were on in any of the motels or in any of the other businesses and not a soul was down toward the Y at the Wayside Park. We had the beach to ourselves. Miles and miles of snow-white dunes & crashing waves abandoned for Bob & Earl's day at the beach.

At Wayside Park, I jumped out of the car and ran straight for the sand dunes. The sand around the concrete foundations for the picnic tables were riddled with ghost crab dens and I immediately began to terrorize those little critters. Down by the water we found plenty of big cockle shells that the storm had washed up on the beach. When we got tired of picking up shells, Daddy chased me down the beach so far that I collapsed in the sand from fatigue. We laughed and walked back to the picnic tables to seek shelter from a fresh rain cloud blowing in from the Gulf.

We sat silently on top of the picnic table & watched the storm come in.

Daddy said, "Son, God knows this is the prettiest beach on the face of the Earth."

"Well, Daddy, you ought to know. You saw lots of different beaches during the war."

"Some of the best. The islands of the Caribbean, the coast of Brazil, North Africa, the islands of the Mediterranean, the French Riviera, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and the Adriatic Coast.
But I still like Panama City best."

Years later, when I was first out of college, I went back to Panama City Beach for a weekend with our family. Daddy was a little mad at me because I'd showed up a day late(blame Tuscaloosa for that), but he forgave me.
(He always forgave us children, but he never forgot.)

At night, Daddy and I buried a light pole in the sand at the edge of the surf behind the Admiral Imperial. This light attracted skates & rays to the shore and we celebrated the excitement of resting our lawn chairs in sting-ray infested waters by toasting each other.

We were having a lot of fun when Daddy made a very serious statement.

He said,"Bob, you've always obeyed me with the exception of three times.
THREE TIMES YOU WENT AGAINST ME!"

silence

I was scared to death.

Believe it or not, I was speechless. (quite an accomplishment for someone who's Cloverdale neighborhood nickname was "LUNGZZZ" )

"Three times you went against my advice & each time you were right."

"I'm sorry, Daddy, but what times are you talking about?"

"Three times. When you changed your major;
when you dropped out of ROTC;
& when you let your hair grow out.
Three times you went against me and every time you were right.
I was wrong."

OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had no idea this would be my last conversation with my father but I'm glad it happened at the beach.

Panama City Beach always brings back memories of my Daddy.

For that reason alone,
Bay County, Florida,
will always be THE HOME OF THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL BEACHES.

I want you to tell anybody with Country Crossing that I got ideas about entertainment based on the fact that George Washington drew the line of the First Southern Boundary of The United States which is located near the development. The man who did it on the ground, Andrew Ellicott, in present day Houston County in August of 1799,
basically wrote Washington & said "If you don't fight 'em now. You gonna have to fight 'em later."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFC8sDTXlng

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

D,

Great hearing from ya today.
Call me http://snakedoctor.blogspot.com
any TIME!!!!

O.K. Here's the deal.
You have plenty of time to prepare for your face-to-face meeting with your neighbor's landlord which should occur around Friday, January 29 or Monday, February 1. At this meeting let the landlord know that you are trying to give him a convenient time to confront your neighbor when they come into the real estate office with their February co-pay.

This gives you time to dig dirt on your neighbors, to set up your Neighborhood Watch Group and to establish your extra patrol with the City Police. All of your work from now until your meeting is to gather evidence to give to the landlord which will convince him that HE HAS THE RIGHT TO TERMINATE YOUR NEIGHBOR'S LEASE & that it will be to his advantage TO TERMINATE YOUR NEIGHBOR'S LEASE! (at the very minimum you have a right to demand that the landlord confront his tenants & tell them that the neighbors are complaining and that they plan to contact The Housing Authority concerning the termination of their Section 8 voucher)

Document all disorderly behavior, wreckless driving, junk cars, litter, disruptive assemblies, vandalism, suspicious activity, illicit activity, obscenities, loud noises, slingin', bingin', saggin' britches etc. etc.

The landlord has a right to terminate the lease if his tenants act so as to affect the health and safety of the premises. The landlord must SPECIFY the acts that constitute this breach of the rental agreement. Under the conditions of the lease agreement, the tenant HAS THE OBLIGATION TO MAINTAIN THE PREMISES IN A CLEAN & SAFE MANNER.

At your meeting with the landlord, confirm that your neighbors are receiving a Section 8 voucher & inform the landlord that every one of your Neighborhoood Watch Group plan to contact the Section 8 office of The Housing Authority with your complaints & that you are considering recommending TO THE HOUSING AUTHORITY THAT THEY REFUSE TO ISSUE VOUCHERS TO ANYONE WHO PLANS ON RENTING WITH THIS IRRESPONSIBLE LANDLORD IN THE FUTURE. You may want to threaten to get this landlord placed on The Housing Authority's Section 8 Shit List.




best,
r http://cottonkingdom.blogspot.com

Boy! You write a good letter and thank you so much for your help and thorough advice! L. made copies of their lease agreement and I received a very nice callback from Capt. Steve of the Police Dept. (thanks ironically to a call I made to the once infamous B. who is now a PI for an attorney and picks guitar and told me," D., Steve will put the narcs on patrol." and he said he would and asked me the hours of prime activity and all that) He said give 'em 2 to 3 weeks to see if things calm down but in the meantime,we're documentin' and gettin' our end together to present to the landlord. You've been a GREAT HELP and I'll keep you posted.
Here's a toast
to GOOD GUV"MENT and fuck Guv SPONGE-BOB!
D.-----





Roberto, Thx for keeping me in your loop. . . . .My family used to trek to Pannymaw City every year or so for the summer vacation to keep up with the postwar Jonses. Both parents grew up hard scrabble farm dirt poor, so the go to the ocean thing for a vacation was a stretch for them...... Dad trained, and Mom visited him, at Camp Gordon Johnston in Carrabelle, FL, during WWII, so Mom and Dad developed a taste for the FL beaches....... We usually stayed in PC at a one story concrete block mom and pop notell, replete with terrazzo floors, painted 1954 Chevy seafoam green, and with jalousie windders. ......We ate red snapper at Cap'n Andersons ? ..........My last high school years visit to PC was the summer of 1964, the heyday of the Hangout. ....."Broken Arrow" by Chuck Berry was in heavy rotation that summer. I made the scene in my scotch grain Weejuns and guaranteed to bleed madras shorts. My baby brother was four years old and he followed me lots. He was almost as good as a dog for picking up girls. .....Would love to see the coon in the Gulf photos.
Take care & God bless,
Ern




Great reminiscence, Ernesto! How 'bout letting me publish it? I won't use your name.
You were right about Capt. Anderson's & I see coons EVERY TIME I go out on the jetties so visit PCB and carefully walk all the way out to the end of the jetties. Probably wouldn't hurt to bring an easy open can of tuna or sardines. It is fascinating to watch them feed. They work their asses off in the winter for mighty slim pickins

Please use the post if you see a place it fits.......... This is an addendum about my late Mom set in the early 1940's:...... After Dad was stationed in Carrabelle, FL, training as a US Army killer and engineer, Mom earned her driver's license so she could drive from Cordova, AL, north of Tuscaloosa, down to FL to visit him. They had not been married long, just a few months. Mom was a redhead with freckles, feisty and prissy, in her early twenties then. ........Gas was rationed, so she had saved, begged, borrowed and bartered for enough ration stamps to make the round trip. Employed by the Indian Head Mill in Cordova, she helped make cloth for military uniforms and was a textile version of Rosie the Riveter, if you will. She had traveled little, except by train, country girl that she was, so reading a road map and having confidence in her ability to make the drive the first time, without much driving experience, and do it solo daunted her somewhat, so her strategy was to follow a MissAla bus and also use a map to increase her chances for success, bless her heart......... She literally and just barely passed her drivers test one day and took off to FL the next. ........Long story shortened, she made it all the way, stopping at every city, small town, pig trail and crossroad with the bus. She was one of that Greatest Generation, figuring it out and making it work as she went along. She was born in 1921 and died in 2006. I miss that girl. She gave her children much more than she had and a leg up on life, too. That's how she rolled. Ern


Hey guys~
See if you can help us on this one. Got an email from Tommy "The Swampman" Mann concerning an item he found in the K-Otics' Archives.
It's a thankyou note from a group called
The Journeymen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxvoGhRK7oc
which consisted of John Phillips on guitar, Scott McKenzie on guitar & Dick Weismann on 5 string banjo. They broke up in the Spring of '64 but somewhere, somehow, The Journeymen bumped into the K-Otics.
Let's see if we can rub some brain cells together & put together The Journeymen/K-Otics Connection.

One other thing... There's another incredible Southern Music connection to this story. Grainger Hines, original Baritone Sax player for The Swingin' Medallions fathered a kid in '82 with Michelle Phillips, John Phillips' ex-wife.

Lemme hear from ya if ya remember The Journeymen touring The South in '62, '63 or '64.

best,
r

Robert, while going through a
folder of K-OTICS stuff, I found
a memo from some musicians
that said: "Thanks Tommy for the help". They all signed the note.
The first name was SCOTT
MCKENZIE, the third name was
JOHN PHILLIPS. The other
two were WIESMANN and
FAUGHENDER? The name of the group was the JOURNEYMEN. I was under the impression that John Phillips was from California but he was
from PARIS ISLAND,S.C. and
SCOTT was from Jacksonville
FL. It`s obvious this is the singer of going/coming? to San Francisco (Mckenzie) and
that Phillips was the founder of
the MAMAS and PAPAS.
The issue is that I don`t remember playing in shows/concerts with them, so what were they thanking me for?
For discussion, I`d like for some of the musicians that kept on playing over the years;Wilbur,
Marvin?, to go back in their
memory bank and see if they
remember us playing with these guys?
THE SWAMPMAN


from the Wikipedia entry on Scott McKenzie:

McKenzie grew up in North Carolina and Virginia, where he became friends with the son of one of his mother's friends, John Phillips. In the mid 1950s, he sang briefly with Tim Rose in a high school group called The Singing Strings, and later with Phillips, Mike Boran and Bill Cleary formed a doo wop band, The Abstracts. In New York, The Abstracts became The Smoothies and recorded two singles with Decca Records, produced by Milt Gabler. In 1961 Phillips and McKenzie met Dick Weissman and formed The Journeymen, which recorded three albums for Capitol Records. After disbanding The Journeymen in 1964, they discussed forming a group called The Mamas & the Papas. McKenzie wanted to perform on his own, so Phillips formed the group with Denny Doherty, Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips, his second wife. The group soon moved to California. Two years later, McKenzie followed from New York and signed with Lou Adler's Ode Records. Phillips wrote and produced "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)", which was released in 1967, for McKenzie. John Phillips played guitar on the recording and Michelle Phillips played bells. The bass line of the song was supplied by session musician Joe Osborn. It became a Top 10 hit in the United States and a number one in the UK and several other countries. Due to its lyrical message of peace and harmony, is often closely associated with the "Summer of Love".

John Phillips' daughter MacKenzie Phillips is named after Scott McKenzie.[citation needed]

McKenzie followed the song with "Like An Old Time Movie", also written and produced by Phillips, which was a minor hit. His first album, The Voice of Scott McKenzie was followed with an album called Stained Glass Morning. He stopped recording in the early 1970s and lived in Joshua Tree, California and Virginia Beach.

In 1986, he started singing with a new version of The Mamas and the Papas. With Terry Melcher, Mike Love and his former Journeyman colleague and ex-Mamas & The Papas' John Phillips, he co-wrote a number 1 single for the Beach Boys, "Kokomo" as featured in the Tom Cruise movie, Cocktail. Which was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Song Written specifically for a Motion Picture or Television category (it lost to Phil Collins's "Two Hearts", from the film "Buster").

By 1998, he had retired from the road version of The Mamas and Papas, and currently resides in Los Angeles. He appeared at the L.A tribute concert for John Phillips in 2001, among other contemporaries of Phillips such as Michelle Phillips and the trio Wilson Phillips.




The Selma U.S. Bicentennial Commemorative

Monday, January 18, 2010

Hey y'all~

Enjoyed the National Championship celebration Thursday night, got some good rest and headed south for my winter vacation on Friday, January 8.

Had a superb lunch with Buddy Buie at a cafe in Georgetown, Georgia. Took a couple of shots of us but I can't figure out how to load the card from this old camera. Buie is doing great and he'll be sharing lots of good news with all the citizens of ZERO, NW FLA in the coming weeks.

Went by & saw Becky & Buddy(Henry) in Cottonwood. They've been photographing wildlife with a remote camera @ night(Hey Buddy, shoot me some of those shots, especially the doe looking up @ the moth) They are really enjoying having Country Crossing in their neighborhood. We never imagined that Cottonwood would become an entertainment destination! http://www.countrycrossingalabama.com/

Got to the beach & enjoyed the evening dancing with the Sea Hags & Mermaids @ a local Laguna Beach dive.

View looking east from my fifth floor room @ Sugar Sands http://www.sugarsands.com/


View looking west toward Santa Monica & Sunnyside Beach

Sign @ The Laguna Beach Christian Retreat

Woke up the next day and read in the paper about the turtle rescue so I headed for St. Joe Bay.
http://www.newsherald.com/articles/continues-80451-joe-port.html.

This four man airboat was the work horse of the effort. I have a shot of it loaded down with turtles but the images are in my bad camera.

By Wednesday, over 1200 turtles had been rescued & taken to Gulf World in Panama City Beach but many did not survive.

They had 18 of the giant loggerheads in one tank @ Gulf World.

Walmart & Florida Linen donated towels & kiddie pools to warm the turtles up in.



Lots of turtles



Lots of them had gotten too cold & didn't make it

The ones that did survive are being returned to the warmer deep water by the Coast Guard & the Navy.

Cape San Blas & The St. Joseph Peninsula are a spectacular wilderness but it was COLD!

It were so cold a damn mockingbird tried to fly into the cab of my truck!



Saw lots of deer out on the Cape Saturday & Sunday but I saw a lot more later in the week @ St. Andrews State Park but it was too dark for me to get pictures.


I did get some superb shots of the raccoons feeding out @ the end of the jetties. It was one of the few times I ever went out on the jetties & noone was there.


It's weird to see coons hanging out in the rocks a half mile out in the Gulf.





They built a nice exhibit to Teddy the Hermit inside the Interpretive Center @ St. Andrews State Park.


They have his grinding stone on display. I visited the spot where his boat ran aground in '29 and also the spot in the campground where he built his shack & smoke house.


They have a lot of Teddy's possessions on display which Mr. Willoughby, the park ranger, collected after Teddy's death @ age 72 in 1954.


Thanks to Charmin' Sharman http://www.southern-style.com/index.htm
I found Teddy's grave in Panama City's Greenwood Cemetery. On Beach Drive in St. Andrews, I also found a fence & a chimney constructed out the same kind of ballast rocks which came from Teddy's boat that Willoughby put on Teddy's grave.


This is Lake Caroline one cold morning.


The old cabin on Beach Drive built in 1934 by Lillian Carlisle West,the wife of George Mortimer West,the founding father of Panama City.


I really enjoyed hanging out in Downtown Panama City.


The Old City Hall in Panama City

I took the Historic Walking Tour of Downtown. http://bayhistory.org/


The old Martin Theatre where my Daddy Earl took me when he let me play hookie one day in the third grade & go with him to Panama City.


Goofy Golf opened the same year that I was in the third grade,1959!




51 years of Goofy Golf!


I ate lunch @ J. Michael's almost every day.


A painting in the new Panama City library.

I used the computers @ The Panama City Beach Library, the Panama City Library & The new South Walton Library.


Our old buddy, Michael McCarty, had an exhibit up @ The South Walton Library


Mike,his wife Sherri & I attended the opening of the 30A Songwriter's Festival @ Bud & Alley's Friday & Saturday night we went to a party @ a house in Watercolor & they had a surprise birthday party for Sherri's 60th Birthday. It was a BLAST! Photos are coming on that one!

Anywayzzzzzz... I'm well rested & ready to experience culture shock again tomorrow when I return to the mean skreets of TUSKEELOOSEE!

BEST,
r