Dear Mr. Register,
Yesterday, I had lunch in Charles City, Virginia with a friend I have know for a little over four years. I learned during our lunch that she is a widow from the Vietnam War. She told me her first husband, who had been stationed at Ft. Riley, Kansas when sent to Vietnam, died in Cambodia (he was part of a Reconnaissance unit) in 1969. His C.O. wrote to her and told her he would put her husband in for a Distinguished Service Cross. He was eventually awarded the Silver Star (Posthumously). I saw something on your blog from someone who went to high school with him in Decatur, Alabama which said he was "a prince of a man." Do you know of any other people who might be able to offer any comments about Lt Weed, who was obviously a hero in the war? He and my friend's daughter was born just a few weeks after he was killed in action.
I am trying to find his specific Silver Star citation, too, and any other information on him that would be of interest to his widow.
Thank you, Sir,
Major Patricia Summers,USMC Ret'd

Hey Robert----
my father built the Boy Scout Reservation, as it was called then, and I even went up there and worked on it some with him during one summer. He made no money on it, believe me. I remember Morgan from those days after the camp opened. He really was a Prince of a Man.
Jimmy Dean


Dear Maj. Summers:
Morgan Weed had a rare leadership ability. He led through example and inspired the rest of us to always do our best in what we did. He also was very kind and a great teacher.
I was fortunate to get to know Morgan well as a Boy Scout. Although I grew up in a different town, Dothan, Alabama, he was an older camp counselor at the Boy Scout Reservation in southeast Alabama, and I wanted to be like him, first as a camper and later as a camp counselor myself. I also knew him through our involvement in the Boy Scout honor and service organization, the Order of the Arrow, where I got to be a little like him when I too was inducted into the Vigil Honor. He was, without question, the most outstanding leader and teacher I met as a younger Scout.
It is not surprising that he was honored with the Silver Star posthumously. I am certain his leadership ability showed up in the Army too. My reaction at the time I heard that he had been killed in action in Cambodia was negative, however. I thought it was a terrible waste as Morgan had so much to offer if he only could have come home and continued to inspire and lead all those with whom he would come in contact. It helped turn me against the war. While I did not avoid service, and was commissioned, eventually being promoted to Captain, I was fortunate that the war ended before my active service. The Army let me go to and graduate from law school first, and I graduated in 1973. I thought about Morgan at the time and wished he were still with us.
What more can I say. Morgan was an outstanding young man as your friend, his wife, knows. Tell their daughter to not only always be proud of her father, but also to carry on his tradition of kindness and leadership.
I am taking the liberty of sending copies to a couple of others who were in the same Boy Scout troop in Dothan as Robert Register and I, and who also knew Morgan.
Thomas Wheatley
Bar Harbor, ME

Dear Maj. Summers:
Although I knew Morgan Weed, I did not know him well. My brother, Thomas, knew him much better. I knew him as a sterling young man with strong leadership abilities and skills. I had not followed him after I left Dothan for college in 1962, and did not know that he died in Cambodia. That, indeed, was a loss.
Sincerely,
William A. Wheatley

ROBERT !
I went to Decatur High School with MORGAN WEED.I had heard that he was killed in The Nam....your story about him brought tears to these old eyes of mine.We were good friends in high school and MORGAN was a PRINCE among men.ONLY The GOOD DIE YOUNG !
Please keep up the good work Brother !
Love & Respect !wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwykerJohn D. Wyker aka SAILCATMIGHTY FIELD of VISION FOUNDATIONwww.MFVR.comWorldwide NET RADIO 24/7

Morgan Weed.
Click on the following link if you want to read about a true hero. http://www.vietnam6bn31inf.com/KIA/WeedMorganWilliam.htm
Morgan was from Abbeville & he was Assistant Activities Director at the Boy Scout Reservation near New Brockton. He taught me Nature, Archery & Marksmanship Merit Badge in '62 & '63. In '67, I would become Assistant Activities Director and teach Nature Merit Badge. This experience lead directly to my teaching career in Bilology.Over the years after Morgan moved to Decatur, I ran into him at Order of the Arrow functions and saw him a couple of times during my freshman year at Alabama. I had no idea the Army had pulled Morgan out of Law School at Bama and that he was in Vietnam until a fellow Scout walked into Dr. Strong's Political Science class and told me Morgan had been killed in Cambodia. This was May of 1970 and the University of Alabama was under martial law because of the Kent State protests.

Morgan William Weed

First Lieutenant
RECON PLT, D CO, 6TH BN, 31ST INFANTRY, 9TH INF DIV, USARV
Army of the United States
Decatur, Alabama
January 02, 1945 to May 11, 1970
MORGAN W WEED is on the Wall at Panel 10W Line 020

http://www.virtualwall.org/dw/WeedMW01a.htm

image courtesy of http://www.alflcouncilbsa.org/OA_files/OA_224History.html

Morgan Weed, our Lodge and Area Chief in 1962, was presented the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) at Indiana University in 1965 for his contributions to the Order beyond the lodge level. Morgan was killed in service during the Vietnam conflict. Cowikee Lodge established the Morgan Weed Award, given annually at the Section Conclave, to commemorate his service and dedication to the Order of the Arrow.

from an article by Elaine Brackin in the Dothan Progress http://www2.dothaneagle.com/dea/dothan_progress/news/article/local_scouts_will_gather_at_landmark_park_sunday_to_honor_bsa/128033/. :

February 8, 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was born. Sunday, from 2-4 p.m., Wiregrass participants in BSA, along with their families and friends, will gather at Landmark Park to celebrate this organization’s milestone of service - 100 years.

For one local member, Scouting has been a way of life practically since the day he was born. It could be said Frank Gaines III was born with Scouting in his blood.

“My father (Frank Gaines Jr.) was a professional field scout executive for Boy Scouts of America,” Gaines said as he discussed Sunday’s planned festivities. “I often joke that my first words were, ‘Be Prepared.’

“It was my father’s job to recruit and train scoutmasters. He also raised funds for the Boy Scouts and served as camp director during the summer months. He served in that role from 1947 until 1962. However, my dad was involved in Scouting, as a Boy Scout, since 1926.”

At that time, local Scouts were members of the Choctawhatchee Council. In information supplied by Mr. Gaines, it was noted this council was chartered in 1926. L.L. Gellerstedt of Troy, National Council representative, presented the charter to R.L. Gaines (Frank’s great-uncle), local president, in ceremonies held in the Dothan Opera House. Harwell Davis, Ala-bama’s attorney general, gave the address and then awarded Tenderfoot Badg-es to 125 new members of the Dothan troops.

This council, unfortunately, folded during The Great Depression. However, Scouting was reborn in 1935 with the creation of the Southeast Alabama Council. In 1964, it was renamed the Alabama Florida Council, which remains its current name.

Gaines says he owes much of who he is as a person to Scouting.

“I feel Scouting helps you to have strong character,” Gaines said. “There’s just so much you can learn through Scouting. I believe you develop a great love for your country by participating in Scouting.”

Gaines has such a strong belief in the Boy Scouts program that he has passed his love for it to his children and grandchildren. His son, Frank IV, is an Eagle Scout, and his grandson, Ellis Harville, 5, is anxiously awaiting his opportunity to be a Tiger Cub, when he turns 6 years old.

“In addition to the all of the skills you learn through Scouting,” Gaines said, “you also develop lasting friendships. One of my best Scouting buddies, Morgan Weed (from Abbeville), was a true leader. He gave his life for his country in Vietnam. That was a great loss to me.”

MORGAN WEED from http://www.jim-mac.com/mem02.html
Rank and Organization: 1 Lieutenant U.S. Army, D Company, 6th Battalion, 31st Infantry, 9th Infantry Division
Place and Date of Casualty: Tnaot, Cambodia, 10 May 1970
Home of Record: Decatur, Alabama

MORGAN REED was Platoon Leader of the 3d Platoon, a well-liked officer whose shock of blond hair could always be seen in the thick of things, shedding his helmet to unencumber his vision and mobility. On 10 May 1970, his platoon was left at the edge of Tnaot to react to the left or right, depending on what the 2d Platoon found there. When the 2d Platoon became heavily engaged and needed more grenades and light antitank weapons to attack enemy bunkers, Morgan collected the munitions from his own platoon and dragged them forward in a poncho. Seeing Cliff Macomber bravely leading the effort to extricate one of his squads from an ambush site, Morgan joined the fight, standing erect beside Cliff and firing at another bunker to keep its occupant pinned down long enough for other men to assault the bunker with hand grenades. An explosion occurred just behind Cliff and Morgan, knocking them both forward and wounding several others. Morgan was struck in the back of the head, but remained conscious. As men of the 2d Platoon placed him on a poncho to carry him to a safer place for evacuation, he said "I'll be alright, take care of the others." He died the next day at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Vietnam. His wife gave birth to their daughter just a few days later.

Information Submitted by Karl Lowe

Johnny Soteres in 1970
image courtesy of http://www.dothanhigh1970.com/3/guestbook.htm

Dr. Pete Soteres' son's blog: http://mortalethics.blogspot.com/2007_04_15_archive.html


Dr. Peter Soteres
Peter Spiros Soteres, M.D., of Signal Mountain, passed on to Heaven on Friday, April 13, 2007.
He was born in Dothan, Ala., on July 22, 1939, and was the son of the late Fahimy Sapp and Spiros Peter Soteres.
After attending high school in Dothan, Dr.
Soteres attended the University of Alabama, where he was initiated into Kappa Sigma Fraternity as well as ODK and Phi Eta Sigma. He graduated from the University of Alabama College of Medicine and trained at Southwestern Medical School, Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas. He served in the USAF as a medical officer at Offutt AFB in Nebraska.
He completed his training in pulmonary medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical College and at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Dr. Soteres became the first board certified pulmonologist in Chattanooga when he came here to practice in 1972. He was a member of many professional organizations and was a past president of the Chattanooga Hamilton County Medical Society. He was Volunteer of the Year for the Tennessee Lung Association and an active member of Tennessee Medical Association. When his sons were young, he was active in Dixie Youth League Baseball as a coach and as an officer. He was a member of First-Centenary United Methodist Church and the Morgan Sunday School Class.
Following a brief retirement from his medical practice, Dr. Soteres joined Hospice of Chattanooga, where he was a constant support and strong influence for patients, their families and for the staff. Dr. Soteres was a respected and beloved doctor in Chattanooga for more than 30 years. In that time he treated thousands of patients and was known for his medical expertise, his warm bedside manner and his attentiveness to those under his care. Beyond his professional excellence, he treated everyone around him — patients, their families, nurses, doctors and other hospital staff — with respect and compassion, and in doing so touched countless lives and made this world a better place for us all.
He is survived by loving wife, Nancy, of Signal Mountain; three sons, Peter Kipling (Desiree Earl) Soteres, of Signal Mountain, Dr. Daniel Fletcher (Dr. Allison Sabel) Soteres, of Castle Rock, Colo., and W. Ryan (Jeanine Pistocco) Soteres, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; two grandchildren, Zoe Ariadne Soteres and Daniel Fletcher Soteres II; two brothers, Dr. James S. (Nancy Crawford) Soteres, of Atlanta, and Dr. John K. (Anita Zinna) Soteres, of St. Louis, Mo.; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and special friends.
A celebration of life service will be held at 5:30 p.m. today, April 16, 2007, at First-Centenary United Methodist Church with the Rev. Charles Neal, Dr. David Harr and the Rev. Frank Jump officiating.
Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson.
Active pallbearers will be Sid Reynolds, Norman S. Faris, Dan Predmore, Fred Adcock, Charlie Fox, Tom Harris, William D. Andress, Tommy Stevens and Roger Stebbing.
Honorary pallbearers will be the Morgan Class members, Chattanooga Hamilton County Medical Society and Hospice of Chattanooga.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Lung Association, 3335 Ringgold Road, East Ridge, TN 37412; American Heart Association, 519 E. Fourth St., Chattanooga, TN 37403; American Cancer Society, 850 Fort Wood St., Chattanooga, TN 37403; or to Hospice of Chattanooga, 4355 Highway 58, Suite 101, 58 Commons Building, Chattanooga, TN, 37416.
Please share your thoughts and memories at www.mem.com.
Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory & Florist, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson, TN 37343.

RR~

My Mom's name is on a plaque near Human Resources at SAMC as being among the first employees when the doors were opened in 1957. She began working in the Business Office & soon took the position of Administrative Secretary for Dr. Frank G. Stephens in the Pathology Department. After her first "retirement" in 1979 from SAMC, Dr. Stephens offered her the position of Business Manager in his privately owned lab, where she stayed until she retired (for real) in the mid 90s. I practically grew up at SAMC, going to work with her on Saturdays where I was mesmerized by the interesting work being performed in the laboratory. Of course that's how I got the "bug" to be a Lab Tech, working at SAMC twice...the first stretch being 1973-1979BC (before children!). After my sons were almost school age, I returned and worked from 1988 until my medical retirement in 2003. I've watched the growth of SAMC for MANY years and am excited over the news of a Medical School in Dothan!

BQ~
Roll Tide!!


DOTHAN'S MEDICAL COLLEGE has begun!
The modern proctology and digestive disorders complex has been completed. The first patient, Robert Young Register, (seated in above photo) volunteered with a donation from his Brother-in-law to have a proctology exam. Unfortunately, Mr. Register was disqualified from receiving the exam when it was discovered that he was the biggest asshole in the Southeast. New technology is being developed by BP for possible future exam.

rodney to me

show details 6:51 AM (19 minutes ago)

I keep reading about Southern Tracks recording studio in the old schoolhouse in Atlanta.

Aren't they referring to Master Sound?

And Buddy's right about the labor of love. I was staying with him in his house, and we'd go to the site and lay tile, put up sheet rock, install insulation, or anything else that needed to be done. It was pretty hard work but, we'd laugh and have a good time while we did it.

from ROBERTOREG
Here's the explanation about the connection between Master Sound & Southern Tracks from the Tip Tops website:

These songs were recorded in 1968 and 1969 at Master Sound Studio in Atlanta, Georgia. At that time the Bill Lowery Talent Agency and Master Sound were located in a converted school building. When the original site became a MARTA station in 1983, Lowery built a new studio and established Southern Tracks

FROM rodney:
Exactly,I think that's what I said.

FROM THE BAMA QUEEN~
Read the comments below the article...I'm still trying to figure out how gambling & Auburn cheerleaders fit into "rehobethrebel's" equation. Ya just caint make dis stuff up!!

http://www2.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/samc_plans_to_open_medical_school/154059/#comments

BQ~

I haven't read the article yet but get this.

The frist commemorative plaque you see in General's cancer clinic is dedicated to my Daddy. They had a golf tournament after he died in Sept. '72 & kicked off the effort to build a cancer clinic in Dothan. That was Daddy's BIG IDEA & he was in a position to make it happen too because he was on the hospital board.(He hated seeing people miss work because they had to drive all the way to M'gmry for treatment).

O.K. So a couple of years ago I find out that since like '85, THE MAIN NURSING SCHOLARSHIP @ Wallace is named after Mama.http://www.wallace.edu/enrollment/financial_aid/scholarships/2010_Spring_Kate_Register_Nursing_Scholarship.pdf

And now today, Buddy Henry calls me and says," Bob, they're gonna build a medical school on top of your Daddy's old tire shop."

best,
r


BQ~
I read the comments...

http://www2.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/samc_plans_to_open_medical_school/154059/#comments

DISTURBING!
Maybe y'allzzzzzzzzzzzzz needz to build a Bryce'sizizzzzzzzz or a Chattahoochee or a Milledgeville or something wid that bingo money.

best,
r

FROM THE DOTHAN EAGLE~

Southeast Alabama Medical Center is investing $40 million to develop its own private college of medicine on the SAMC campus.

The development would give the state its first college of osteopathic medicine and solidify and expand the city’s status as a regional medical hub while providing high-paying, professional jobs. The college would employ up to 25 medical faculty and another 15 or more support personnel.

The first class of 150 students is expected to enroll in the fall of 2012 following the construction of a new $25 million high-tech teaching facility on medical center property at or near SAMC.

After four years, the college could have 600 students enrolled as they move through the medical school prior to residency.

“This increases the capacity of the state’s medical schools and gives a lot of capable young people the opportunity to get their medical degrees,” said Wil Baker, executive director of the Alabama Medical Education Consortium, which was created four years ago to establish an osteopathic primary care physician pipeline for underserved Alabama.

The idea for the college came about as hospital staff started examining the shortage of family doctors, particularly in rural areas and after being approached by others to act as a branch medical school for their medical programs.

SAMC Chief Executive Officer Ron Owen said instead of sending that tuition out of state, officials felt the hospital could establish its own school with the assistance of the consortium.

“The backdrop for all this is the scarcity of primary care physicians,” Owen said during a meeting with the Dothan Eagle on Monday. “The state’s medical schools, UAB and the University of South Alabama, produce specialists, cardiologist and surgeons, but there is a need for family-care physicians, especially in rural Alabama.”

More doctors are needed, officials say, to handle a predicted onslaught of new patients. With the passage of President Obama’s health care plan, 32 million previously uninsured patients will be added to the health care insurance rolls by 2014. An estimated 700,000 of those are Alabamians.

Hospital officials are also cognizant of the pressure on the health care industry, expected to continue as the population ages. Many baby boomers are also doctors who will retire in the next 20 years.

The consortium will assist the college by placing third- and fourth-year students in clinical settings throughout the state.

Officials believe Dothan is strategically located to attract 4-year medical students, who face fierce competition to get into med schools.

There are 130 medical schools in the United States offering MDs and 28 offering DO, or doctor of osteopathic medicine, degrees in the U.S.

SAMC’s Chief Financial Officer Derek Miller said in 2010 there were 13,000 unique applicants vying for 5,400 medical school slots. Many pre-med or biology
college grads find other jobs as they await medical school acceptance.

There are approximately 55,000 osteopathic physicians in the U.S., who utilize a patient-centered, holistic and hands-on approach to prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Parker believes the number of medical students being trained in osteopathic medicine will climb from the current one in five to one in four, and he sees the benefits.

“This is truly a white-collar, high-wage industry that will lay the foundation to transform our economy to a whole new level,” Parker said. “We will be one of the select communities in the country that will grow medical services and technology for our region, state and nation.”

And he and Owen believe Dothan is a good geographical fit for a college location.

“With a medical school to the north serving the Birmingham, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery areas, and one in Mobile serving that area, it leaves out our part of the state,” Owen said. “We’re a hundred miles from a lot of places.”

Another asset of the teaching hospital would come in the form of doctor recruitment.

“We hope they will come back to Dothan,” Owen said. “We see this as a ‘grow your own’ program where we train our own physicians.”

The Houston County Healthcare Authority is pursing the accreditation process through the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation and will ask the
Houston County Commission for a letter of commitment on the project during the county’s Thursday administrative meeting.

Construction on the 120,000-square-foot facility could begin in January. The hospital is planning a $15 million operating budget for the college.

image courtesy of the front page of the Thurs., May 6, 2010 issue of the Tuscaloosa News
Saw Roosevelt unloading fish downtown today. He remembered meeting me on the St. Andrews Marina back on Monday, May 3.

Roberto.
I want to set the record straight about STUDIO ONE. Wayne Perkins was mistaken when he said Bill Lowery owned Studio One.
Paul Cochran,JR Cobb,Bill Lowery, and I,each invested $25,000. I had totally autonomy as to the design and operation of the studio. I hired
Rodney Mills to be the engineer and designer. A little known fact is that ARS members helped in the construction. It was a labor of love.
Later I bought out all the partners. Bill Lowery and Bob Richardson owned the original Southern Tracks which was in an old school house
off North Druid Hills. I made all the Classics IV records there but ARS never recorded there. While Studio One was being built, we worked at night
in LeFevre Sound. That's where the studio musicians began to morph into THE ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION. When Studio One was completed,
we began recording the first ARS songs.
Buddy

Robert Register found out today that the video BUCKINGHAM NICKS, TUSCALOOSA LIVE will be
released on video on Tuesday, June 1, 2010. I attended both of those
shows in Morgan Auditorium and I'll never forget how jealous I was of
Lindsey Buckingham sharing the stage with that 26 yr. old, drop dead
gorgeous, STEVIE NICKS.
...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEi7GPkxfsE

William Alford

good grief! i did the sound for those shows and i don't remember any videotaping going on. and . . . VIDEOTAPE in 1974? would've been big camera setup. an audio of that tuscaloosa show is available at http://www.buckinghamnicks.net/trade/index.html and click to the Nicks Trade Pages, you find . . .
Buckingham Nicks in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
this is said to be the only set of live tracks in circulation. i'll be looking for that video. do post again if you find it!

William Alford i did the sound for all the Morgan Aud shows. Kottke was the first one. Billy Joel's sound man touched my sound board and blew one of my speakers. Oh, and do you remember when they interrupted the Randy Newman show for the RAUDELUNAS MARCHING VEGETABLE BAND to march down the aisle to celebrate Randy's birthday? how wild was that?

Robert Register

Here's the link http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=43506
for the video.
I remember y'all giving Newman a seltzer bottle.
Pretty sure the only one of those Morgan shows I missed was Buffett.

William Alford

ahhhhhh man. . . . looking at that website, the comments reveal that it was a cruel april fool's joke - http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=43506&page=4
whew, what a rush!

Robert Register

What a bummer.

David Brown

That was one of the few shows I saw at Morgan and consdiered dropping out of high school and following Stevie Nicks around, she must have been a witch and cast a spell on me.....

Robert Register

I guess this tape came off of your board, Igor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Moa2Ef3BuGE&feature=related

Robert Register

Hey Igor, you gotta start shooting me your soundboard reminiscences & when we go commercial, we'll cut ya A DEAL.

William Alford

maybe so. next time we run together remind me to tell you something about that Nicks concert. not for FB.

actually the tape available online was made without my knowlege by the Nicks' drummer. don't yet know how he tapped into the system. will tell you more about that as well offline.

Hey y'all~

Hate to say it but it ain't good.

Look like I gonna have to stay close to home for a while.

Gonna have to save my pennies for Ringo.

Robert Register is gonna try & go see Ringo Starr & His All-Star Band @ the Beau Rivage July 18. They're also playing Chastain Park July 10. This is the eleventh version of the band. Members include Wally Palmer, lead singer for the Romantics,Rick Derringer, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Richard Page & Gregg Bissonette. http://www.youtub...e.com/watch?v=jvHKjDKY_O8&feature=related

On the brighter side, we had a wonderful exchange with legendary guitarist Wayne Perkins.
It all started when I posted this on Facebook:

Robert Register hopes most folks know that NONE of Lynyrd Skynyrd's were recorded in Muscle Shoals & that many were recorded in Buddy Buie's Studio 1 in Doraville including TUESDAY'S GONE. Very few are aware that they are listening to ARS drummer Robert Nix on the original studio version of that song. Al Kooper preferred Robert on a s...low song like this one. Nix is very ill right now & deserves all our prayers.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysP_X_CmE_s&feature=related

So I get this image from Wayne Perkins

David Wayne Perkins Dear Robert,

I don't know Where you got your information but,You should Check things
out a little better before making Statements like that. 1st of All,The 1st Album Was Recorded @ MUSCLE SHOALS SOUND STUDIOS because I Was There & Played on 2 songs later Called"Down South Jukin"& "Preacher's Daughter"which later came ou...t on the
Album known as {1st & Last}.After We Cut the 1st Record,Al Cooper Came along & made them a Better Offer & Took them to MCA & BTW,Bill Lowery Owned Studio 1 Not
Buddy,Bill was a friend of mine & I've known Buddy & Robert Nix since 1968 ! I may have more Photos if Needed.

Sincerely,

Wayne Perkins.

Robert Register

I left the word "hits" out of my post. Muscle Shoals was very important to Skynyrd because that's where they learned the basics of how to work in a studio and they paid tribute to those lessons in the lyrics of SWEET HOME ALABAMA.None of that stuff they recorded in the Shoals was released until '78. Rodney Mills designed Studio 1 & Bill Lowery may have financed it but it was Buddy Buie's baby. He wanted his own studio because he never wanted to work in Southern Tracks again.


David Wayne Perkins
I guess it was the word"NONE" that threw me a bit because
What AL did was take what was done there & Run with it.
BTW,the"Studio1"I was refering to was the 1st one which was
a School house off the Norh Druid Hills Exit,That was the 1st.
Back to MSS,We'd just finished"Leon Russell & the Shelter People" before Skynyrd started & I showed Ronnie the cover
Which had"The Swampers" on it & Leon was the one to come up with that phrase that is just another name for"Cookie"on a Trail Ride like"Wishbone"in Rawhide.He also wrote a Song called"Home Sweet Oklahoma" which is where Ronnie got the Idea for"Sweet Home Alabama" & that was in 1971.I'm Sure
there are more Pictures but,Tommy Wright or Dick Cooper is
bound to have the Best Shots of Anything that happened @
either Studio.Take Care,W P

Robert Register
Yeah, Southern Tracks was in the old schoolhouse. Buie wanted to borrow a bass guitar for a session and some guy there refused to let him borrow it so he vowed to build his own studio. That bass guitar was the genesis of Studio 1. Buie gives all credit to Bill Lowery. Bill is the one who got Buie to produce SPOOKY when Joe South dropped the ball on... See More that project. That gave Buie the start he needed. Buie worked out a deal with Kooper where Kooper & "those boys from Jacksonville" could crash/record during the day. ARS took over Studio 1 at night and Skynyrd left to play in Atlanta's clubs.

David Wayne Perkins
Speaking of Skynyrd,There's a Benefit today in Fultondale AL
for JoJo {1 of the Honkettes} that starts @ 2:pm until 8:pm & I believe it's going to be held in"Black Creek Pk".I've been in
the Studio All night doing final touches to an"Unplugged CD" that's down to the wire but,If I can catch about 20 winks,I'm going to do my best to get out there to her.She's had a
tough bought with Cancer & the Treatments that follow it.
I hear they're going to be a lot of"Guest"there & She Needs All the Help She can get for the Cost of these Treatments !
Take Care friend & Maybe We can hook up one day soon.
Warmest Regards,
Wayne Perkins
PS,I have another computer"Melissa"Killed but,after it's been
Cleaned,I know they're are some Good Pics on it but,again
Dick Cooper & Tommy Wright have More Pics than anyone of
almost Every artist that came through Muscle Shoals Sound
from 1969 until 1986 or so down on the river.TTYL


Robert Register
Hey Wayne!
When ya google zero, northwest florida", ya git 10,200 results & you're #9!!!!

http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=%22zero%2C+northwest+florida%22&btnG=Google+Search

Hunt's in St. Andrews, Monday, May 3, 2010~ image courtesy of KPS

image courtesy of the B'ham News http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/05/university_of_alabamas_moundvi.html


image courtesy of the B'ham News http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/05/university_of_alabamas_moundvi.html

image courtesy of the B'ham News http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/05/university_of_alabamas_moundvi.html

image courtesy of http://uanews.ua.edu/2010/03/after-5-million-renovation-ua-museum-brings-ancient-moundville-culture-to-life/

image courtesy of http://uanews.ua.edu/2010/03/after-5-million-renovation-ua-museum-brings-ancient-moundville-culture-to-life/

Robert Register was so glad the crowd stayed around the museum. Got to go to the top of the 60 ft. temple mound & be alone. Ditto for the nature trail that goes down to the river.

William Alford

i love that place. back in the 60s when it was always open and no charge i used to go over in spring and fly kites off the top of the mounds. was such a hoot.

Robert Register
There's always a good breeze on top the big mound.

image courtesy of http://uanews.ua.edu/2010/03/after-5-million-renovation-ua-museum-brings-ancient-moundville-culture-to-life/

Robert Register tell ya what I thought Old Mama looked better than the bride.

Bruce Mercer

bow and arrow wedding?

Robert Register
YOU GOT IT, MY NINJA!!!!

Marvin Henry
Great picture,RR. My Great,great Uncle married an Indian girl. Traded a horse and the usual stuff for her. Went back the next night and stole the horse back! My Father often saw her{ very old} when he was a young boy at his Grandfathers farm near Greensboro.

A description of poverty in Tuscaloosa during the late Thirties from
http://www.armed-guard.com/fire/ch05.htm

We were not just poor, we were dirt poor, the kind of poor that
creates an empty feeling in your stomach, the kind of poor that lets you
just weigh 122 pounds when you are six feet tall. It was not quite as
bad when Dad was there but he soon lost his job and moved on. This time
Mother refused to go to Smackover and vold him to go his way and not
come back. We were living at 1919 7th Street when he left. Not long
after he left the creditors started closing in and finally the furniture
store said they were sending a truck to get all the furniture. My Mother
decided to fire up the wood cook stove and keep it hot so they could not
take it. They loaded everything but the cook stove and it was glowing
red hot. We were happy we would have a stove but a few minutes later
they came back in an open pick up truck. Two men came in with two by
fours in their hands. They reached over and knocked the stove pipe off
and ran the two by fours under the stove, picked it up and walked out
with it. It was still glowing red when they drove off with it.

 We had no stove, no beds, no tables, no anything. The house was
stripped bare. Herman left and came back with some orange boxes and took
down a door and made a table. He got a couple of burlap bags and told me
to come with him. We went down to the railroad switch yard and picked up
coal along the track. When we had it all, Herman got on top of a coal
car and kicked coal off. He said it was piled too high and might fall
off and hit someone. When we got home Herman rigged up something so
Mother could cook in the fireplace. We went outside and got pine straw
and put it down and put quilts and blankets over it. We made some pretty
good beds. We got an eviction notice there but stayed as long as we
could.

 This was when Mother got a job with Mr. Kincaid making slip
covers and upholstering. She rented a room from Mrs. Kincaid and we moved
there. Herman left us as he was married by this time and had one child.
There was not enough room for the three of us in the one room so Mrs.
Kincaid said I could use the tower. The house was the old Van de Graf
home, built before the Civil War and there was a circular staircase
leading up to a small room at the top. This room was almost fully used
by the railing for the staircase but there was room to wedge a cot in
it. The entire walls were windows and all the glass was broken out. The
attic of the two story house had thousands of bats living in it and when
they came out many of them flew through my room. I would wake up at
times and find bats that had missed a window and fell on my bed. They
were really nasty looking little creatures but they would leave you
alone if you left them alone. In the winters that it snowed, snow would
blow in and pile up on my bed. It was also tough when there was a
blowing rain. But it was home and it was mine and school was just a
block away and I could hear the first bell and get up and wash and get
there in plenty of time. There was no breakfast meal at our house.