will think of you
and the farewell you must say
be strong for your son

m

Never heard of kalamazoo. Fill me in.

kalamazoo was the name of the most infamous juke joint just across the geneva co. line into florida. it was literally about 50 feet across the line on south of samson on 87. there's still a liquor store there to this day where all the samson folks that imbibe go to buy their booze. when i used to go down to visit and dad and i would ride across the line to buy some beers for me (he didn't drink), we enjoyed counting the alabama cartags in the parking lot. it was always around 75%+ AL. but back in our daddy's days it was a hoppin' joint. dance floor, live music, weekly cuttin's and fist fights and my mom and dad were regulars back then. everybody i grew up with had tales about kalamazoo but i've yet to find a photo of it. it was named after the famous song of the time, 'i've got a gal in kalamazoo,' which our daddys and moms all danced to. it apparently was burned down sometimes back in the 40s . . . probably by an early vanguard of bingo bob's task force.

be careful at work. i'm floating on oxycodone, muscle relaxers, and a decadron shot from picking up a toilet. about an 8 on the pain scale of 0 - 10 (but not now, la, la, la, la). gotta get a MRI on monday and then . . . sigh.

~igor

Man, sorry about the back injury.
Sounds terrible. Old age ain't for sissies.

Studying the Alabama-Florida line has brought me one story that's been repeated over & over. Some guy gets killed in the parking lot of a Florida juke joint. Everybody knows who did the killing. Of course, noone on Earth knows exact location of the Florida Line so the authorities look down at the body and then at one another & say,"Which county should we charge him in?"
The reply goes,"Whichever one we can pull a grand jury from that ain't gonna be full of his kinfolks."

BEST,
r

New post by Greg Spies:
The man is a fraud- he is taking other people's research & bastardizing it for his financial gain--how sad that the unaware give him money to attend his "seminars".
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20100131/NEWS/100139965/1007/NEWS02?Title=Surveyor-works-to-find-original-Florida-Alabama-line

At 11:08 PM 12/28/2009, you wrote:

I'd learned about Teddy back in '86 when I purchased SAND IN MY SHOES by John A. Burgess of Opp.

hey roberto, never occurred to me before, but since you and i both enjoy digging into the history of LA, you might enjoy reading my dad's autobiography which i edited for him, designed the book and published via Authorhouse.com . see - http://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=32386 , and excepts from it are on googles book website. - http://books.google.com/books?id=KcQfPbA0VZUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=authorhouse,+eddie+alford&source=bl&ots=f8Hl_z4VpS&sig=13HP8BJjCf0J-qjR2pMdANklID4&hl=en&ei=96tpS6T1OI7ysQOXtKz4BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBoQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

i googled SAND IN MY SHOES by John A. Burgess and got nothing but songs by same name. is it still available?

~igor

PHILIP A. CROCKETT

Philip A. Crockett Commander Philip A. Crockett, US Navy (Retired), D.M.D., passed away January 29, 2010 in Jacksonville, FL. He was 59. A celebration of Dr. Crockett's life will be held at the Mayport Chapel (Building 350 Massey Avenue, Naval Station May-port, FL 32228) at noon on Friday, February 5, 2010. Philip Anthony Crockett was born in Ardmore, OK, on March 7, 1950. As a child he lived in Arlington, TX, Headland, AL and Dothan, AL and graduated from Dothan High School in 1968. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduated in 1972, and served four years in the US Army. In 1982 he married Olivia Ann Campbell of Athens, AL. He earned an M.S. degree in zoology from Auburn University in 1983. Dr. Crockett graduated from dental school at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, AL in 1985. In 1988 he joined the US Navy as a dental officer, and retired in 2008. During his naval career he was stationed in Jacksonville, FL several times, where he served on the USS Forrestal, the USS John F. Kennedy and the dental clinic at Naval Station Mayport. From 2008 until his death, Dr. Crockett practiced as a civil service dentist in the medical clinic at Naval Station May-port. He was a member of the American Dental Association and a number of other professional organizations. Dr. Crockett was preceded in death by his father, David Williams Crockett. He is survived by his wife, Olivia; his mother, Emily Sue Crockett of Dothan, AL; a brother, Dr. Frank T. Crockett and his wife, Olivia, of Dothan; two sisters, Dr. Melissa Crockett Northam of Dothan and Jennifer Crockett Joyner and her husband, Cliff, of Dothan; three aunts, Peggy Livingston and husband, David, of Headland, AL, Frances Crockett Frear of Pittsburgh, PA and Martha Crockett de Garcia-Llort of Barcelona, Spain; his mother and father-in-law, Juanita and Mack Campbell of Athens, AL; his sister and brother-in-law, John G. and Carolyn Mengelson of Tampa, FL, nine nieces and nephews, Thomas Crockett, Catherine Crockett, Elizabeth Crockett, James Crockett, John Crockett, Emily Joyner, Rachel Shunnarah, Ann Mengelson, and Elizabeth Mengelson and several cousins. Memorial contributions may be made to the National Audubon Society, either on-line at (www.audubon.org) or by mail National Audubon Society, 225 Varick Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10014 Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home of Jacksonville Beach, FL (904) 249-2374, is in charge of arrangements. Sign the guest book at www.dothaneagle.com

Published in Dothan Eagle on February 3, 2010

Hey Robert,
I googled The Omen and their Luv and came accross this video http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xc2kfc_the-omen-their-luv-maybe-later-1968_music .

I have no clue where this video came from, but somebudy out there in cyberland put this thing together or cut it from some '60's film?

Hopper

Buddy wanted me to send this to you.

http://www2.eufaulatribune.com/euf/news/opinion/columnists/article/eufaulas_best_buddy_tapped_for_state_music_hall_of_fame/127224/#comments

Heads up all you radioheads. I’m on cloud 9 right now - know why? I just got off the phone with Buddy Buie, songwriter extraordinaire, who also happens to live on scenic Lake Eufaula.

You can’t really write the Southern rock history book without including at least a chapter on Buddy. The dude wrote such hits as “Spooky” (performed by the Classics IV) and “So Into You” (played by the Atlanta Rhythm Section) - bluesy Southern standards so smooth and sweet, they melt in your mouth like silky divinity candy.

And considering he’ll be inducted in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia this March, the Dothan native is feeling pretty jaunty himself. Buddy was inducted in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1984 (the same year I checked into Helen Keller Hospital, located just down the street from the Alabama Music Hall of Fame), but he will be inducted in his home state’s HOF this year under the “Music Creator” division (go figure!)

“Nice” and “personable” were the words I had heard used to describe Buddy. But those descriptions actually pale in comparison to the open, friendly, down-to-earth guy I chatted with over the phone.

“Fish, eat and sleep,” Buddy ticked off his favorite activities with a hearty laugh. The songwriter penned some of his most famous hits in a single-wide house trailer on Thomas Mill Creek and he still lives on the lake he loves - Lake Eufaula - with the woman he loves - his wife of 37 years, Gloria.

During our interview, Buddy gave me a sort of “Songwriting 101” crash course over the telephone. He told me some funny stories about how he was inspired to write some of his most famous songs like “So Into You”.

“Back in the 70s, we had this catchphrase … We would say, ‘I’m so into this’ or ‘I’m so into that’, so I thought, hey, wouldn’t it be cool if I wrote a song called ‘So Into You’?”

The Classics IV signature song “Spooky” was actually taken from a rather established jazz standard, Buddy explained, and the Classics’ hit song “Traces”, “was written about my wife … way back when I was in high school,” said Buddy.

Buddy got his start at songwriting and producing as a young kid back in D-town. He lured his long-time-friend-to-be, rock pioneer Roy Orbison, to town with a mere $650.

“Roy was my ticket out of Dothan,” chuckled Buddy. “He was from a tiny town called Wink, Texas and I think that made him relate to me and the other boys (in our band called The Webs). Roy had a song called ‘Candyman’, so pretty soon we started calling ourselves the ‘Candymen’.”

The Candymen backed Orbison throughout his career.

And it wasn’t too long before members of the Candymen and the Classics IV merged to create the Atlanta Rhythm Section.

Buddy spoke fondly of his old friend, Roy.

“Roy was the sweetest human being I’ve ever met. He had this song called ‘If You Can’t Say Anything Nice, Don’t Say Anything at All’ … Roy was one of those people. I never heard him say a bad thing about anyone.”

Buddy recently traveled to Cleveland for the HOF’s 25th anniversary (Orbison was one of the first rock ‘n’ rollers to be inducted in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. He died in 1988, just following his induction ceremony in 1987.)

By the way, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010 is shaping up to be a good one: Genesis, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Jimmy Cliff, the Hollies and ABBA will soon take their place among rock’s immortals during the induction ceremonies in March.

Now, every year, music nuts (like me) whine and complain about the HOF’s choices: Why did so and so get inducted before so and so? Why did so and so not get inducted? Why wasn’t so and so inducted sooner?

Well, I’m not going to spare you my bellyaching this year either. Genesis and the Stooges’ inductions are a little overdue … for the Hollies, it’s way overdue. Oh, and also why wasn’t ABBA inducted right along with The Bee Gees and Earth, Wind & Fire?

And where is Kool & The Gang, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Canned Heat, Warren Zevon and Stevie Ray Vaughan in the 2010 graduating class? And, while we’re on the subject, why isn’t the Atlanta Rhythm Section in the HOF?

Oh well, there’s always next year …

Fortunately, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame’s induction list is a bit more to my liking. Buddy Buie will be honored along with several more musically inclined Alabamians this March - among them Eddie Levert (a Bessemer native) of the O’Jays (who are also Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame alumni) and The Blind Boys of Alabama.

Both the O’Jays and The Blind Boys of Alabama were featured in the superb Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyonce Knowles movie “The Fighting Temptations”. (If you like gospel and the blues, go out and pick up this movie - you won’t be disappointed.)

Keep reading and keep rocking.

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame’s induction show will be March 25, in the Convention Center in Montgomery.

Robert Register wants to help any way I can when it comes to giving this fake "Nip & Ernie's" that just opened on U.S. 84 W. in Dothan HELL! These fools "claim" they can use "Nip & Ernie's" & "Where Sports Fans Meet & Eat" any way they see fit plus they "claim" they are serving food that resembles what you were once served @ Nip & Ernies. This is beyond outrageous plus they got folks on their side because they claim to be "God Fearing Christians". Well please allow me to get Alabama Hindu on your ass: EVERY THING THAT YOU DO WILL COME BACK ON YOU! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDMNJsc5xlc

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Everything that 'cha do - Lawyers, Guns & Money

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Lawyers, Guns & Money. Terry VunCannon, Stan Atwell, Rob Slater, Chuck Ward, Mike Thomas covering Wet Willie's Everything That 'Cha Do.

image from the Gargoyle courtesy of Bama Queen http://www.myspace.com/fiddledeedeeme

ERNIE~ D Club his Junior Year 38/39 - IMPRESSIVE!