The following is a history of how music has
affected
mine and my childrens'
lives as well as the lives of my friends. It is a Chronological History.
See the menu (below) if you want to view categories.
For fellow musicians, I'm giving details about my
instruments. The menu will help you skip to the part you
are interested in. I also discuss playing & recording
with the bands and band members. After reading a section, you can
click the "Return" link to come back here.
If parts seem more like emotionless details, my life has actually been
filled with emotions related to music. Each detail and each
musical instrument I've owned are full of emotions for me. For example:
My
first instrument represents the love my parents and my Aunt Evelyn had
for me.
My
first guitar was what opened the door to dating my wife for the first
time and gave me a feeling of importance I'd never felt before.
My
first band helped me develop a life-long friendship with one of my
dearest friends.
My
best guitar reminds me of the happiness and hardships my wife,
Susie, and I lived
through as a young married couple because it was
with us everywhere.
The
loss of my best guitar reminds me of how I lost Susie to cancer after
3-1/2 decades of marriage.
My
collection reminds me of how purchasing and owning the instruments
I'd always dreamed of helped me get through the loss of both my mother
and my wife in the space of 2 short years.
Other
guitars I've bought for my grandchildren remind me of how much I
loved them and wanted them to know the happiness I grew up with.
My
newest guitar
reminds me of the love my wife Linda has for me. She got it for
my 70th birthday.
So when I tell my family, "I remember that guitar", it isn't that I
notice the guitar in a family photo more than I notice the
people. It's because of the family memories surrounding the
instrument are so dear to me.
I've been told I was born with musical
talent. Being "born with a talent" doesn't mean a
person
will develop the talent. It only means they have the
opportunity.
I've never been
that good at it, just good enough to enjoy it and share my talent to
make others
happy. There's been a little money in it at times.
So the benefits are: the clatter, the calm, occasional
coin, camaraderie,
and accomplishment.
My oldest son John, a
talented drummer, displayed a talent for music as a toddler. When
we sat him on the countertop, he would play the kitchen
cannisters as if they were a drum set. All
my children displayed a talent for music, some more than others.
Some of them have pursued it and made careers, some have made
part-time jobs. Some just shared the joy of music with
friends
and family ever since childhood. You can read more about them
below.
I
never displayed such an interest in music at such an early age as my
children. I
would
plink on a keyboard whenever I came close, but that's all.
Most children will do
that. That's why my wife and I decided they needed a piano at
home to plink on. I believe all children should have musical
instruments nearby when they're growing up. If they have an
interest, they'll pick it up. When I was very young, we never
had instruments in our house. But we had 3 aunts on my
father's side and several relatives on my mother's side of the family
who were quite good at music.
EARLY CHILDHOOD
When I was 7 or 8 years old, I became close friends with
the grandson of the lady across the street from us. His name
was Sandy Barry. Sandy's
grandmother had an old pump organ. I attempted to play it.
Her name was Mrs. Daisy Mulkey. She was good
friends with my Aunt
Evelyn
who may have discussed the organ with her. Aunt
Evelyn lived next door to us. Two of my aunts had pianos but
I typically ignored them until I was a little older.
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THE 1950s
When I was 10 or 11
years old, we often visited the home of Bill and Dottie Dobbins.
My brother Larry was in the same grade at school with their
son, Billy. They had a piano.
I
spent lots of time plinking on that instrument. My mother saw
my
interest and decided I needed to develop it. Perhaps Dottie
encouraged it.
My
First Instrument
Aunt
Evelyn was an antique dealer. She had run across an old
pump organ at a local shop in Woodstock, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.
For my
twelfth
birthday, my mom and dad secretly had Aunt Evelyn buy the old organ.
I
think they paid $100 for it (nearly $1,000 in today's dollars).
That birthday was so special because, to
get me out of the house, they sent my brother Larry and I to see The
Ten Commandments at the theater, a four-hour movie. That gave
them enough time to move the organ to our house without me knowing it.
Dad spent many hours fixing the thing and
getting it to work. He later told me he had to completely
rebuild the
bellows which was made of animal skins. It worked perfectly
and was
quite a surprise gift. They put the organ against our bedroom
wall.
They kept the suprise from me by keeping the bedroom door closed until
they
revealed it. Wow! What a shocker.
I
wasn't interested in the music lessons provided by Mrs.
Harris who went to church with us. I only took lessons from
her for 8
weeks
then I quit. I loved the organ, though, and played it so much
it's a wonder it didn't break. Neighbors, relatives, and I would
play that
old
pump organ until we were exhausted. Mother had wanted me to
learn
how to play some church hymns but the
only
one I ever learned was "Shall We Gather At The River."
My Aunt
Evelyn taught me a couple of old ragtime tunes. Cousins
taught
me
how to play chopsticks and "Heart And Soul." I picked out the
melody for "In The Mood" for my mom since she loved Benny Goodman and
the band tunes of the '40s. I couldn't read music very
well (still can't) but I had no problem picking out single-note tunes
on that old organ. It entertained me and my neighbors for
hours.
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THE 1960s
My First Guitar
My dad loved to travel and took our family
on some amazing
vacations. I was 9 years old the first time my father took us
to
Mexico City, Mexico. He took me there 7 times in the next 10
years. On our vacation in 1961, we were nearing the
end
of our trip. Our favorite town to shop for souvenirs was
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. There was a huge market there
with
stalls on two levels where vendors sold nearly everything. I
still have a few old souvenirs from there. Many of
the vendors
sold inexpensive Mexican guitars.
These were the cheap, nylon-string Spanish guitars found all over
Mexico.
We had often listened to Mariachi
guitarists. Dad bought some records. There was one duo
who played at the Hotel Fundicion in the town of Zimapan, Hidalgo,
Mexico. The lead singer was Valentin Estrada. He
was a charmer and great singer. His brother was one of the
best guitarists I've ever heard. Our family loved their
family and we all became very close. I fancied myself playing
the guitar like them and asked my dad if he
would buy one at the market in Monterrey.
He didn't hesitate. The thing cost less than 5 dollars ($47.76 in
2021). I was 14 years old. I don't have
a photo
of it but it looked like the one above, just not as fancy.
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My
First "Band"
Steve Hamilton and I were neighbors.
When I found out Steve
played guitar, he and I immediately began playing together.
We played
American folk songs. Folk groups were quite popular in the
early 1960s
so we mimicked groups like Peter, Paul, and Mary, the Kingston Trio,
and
the Smothers Brothers. It was Steve who "introduced" me to my
wife, Susie Little. Together, the 3 of us
played
for Susie's class at Pittman Jr. High School. The kids in the
class loved
us.
The "love story" they conjured up was quite a plot. Susie and
Steve were classmates as well as neighbors. Susie and I lived
next door
to each other but I had never paid much attention to her.
She was just a skinny kid next door, one of 3 sisters
all much younger than I. As a 'man' of 16 years I failed to
notice this child barely 14 years old. I was in high school.
She was in junior high.
Steve played
match-maker. With the help of Mrs. Cahela who lived across the
road from Susie, Steve helped plan to get Susie and I
together for a first date. I was so naiive. It's a
good thing Susie could sing well or my kids might never have been born!
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My
First Electric Guitar
We weren't home from
vacation long before I began
spending most of my free time picking out tunes on my new nylon string
Mexian guitar. Harry Belafonte and calypso tunes were
popular so I picked out the lead guitar parts to "The
Banana
Boat Song" and "Jamaica Farewell." That's all I knew at the
time since no one had ever shown me how to play guitar.
My mother's double-first cousin, Russell Warren, mentioned
something about guitar chords. I said, "What are cords?"
I
may have pictured something to hang my guitar around my neck.
Russell taught me my first chords: G, C, and D. The
lyrics
to Ray Stevens' song "Guitarzan" come to mind. The first
chords
Russell taught me went to the tune of "Little Brown Jug."
Finally, I could play a whole song!
Over the next
months, Russell taught me several new chords. My dad thought
I
was getting pretty good with it so he surprised me one day with a new
Japanese electric guitar and amp he got from a local pawn shop.
He paid $40 for them both ($382.06 in 2021). The steel
strings were
a
challenge at first but I played 'til my fingers hurt then kept playing.
Russell said that was the only way to toughen up my
"calluses."
He was right.
The electric guitar pictured above is similar to the one I had.
Mine was a knock-off of a Fender Stratocaster.
Guitar manufacturers copy each other like crazy. My
first
electric guitar had one, single-coil pickup and a pick guard like the
one above but
the
neck and body paint on mine were different. Mine was dark
brown
sunburst that faded into black around the edges. The neck
and
headstock were also
dark.
My first guitar amplifier was a Japanese no-name brand.
It
had one volume control, one
tone
control, and an 8-inch speaker. Just the basics.
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My First Rock
Band
I had heard my first Beatles tune at my
cousin Chuck Knaffl's
house in 1963. Chuck was interested in learning guitar so his
mom
bought him a Gibson Melody Maker and amp. It was a really
sweet
guitar and I loved playing it. Chuck only had a passing
interest in it. As Chuck and I listened to the
Beatles for the first time, we wondered what kind of group this was.
The music was new and exciting. Every teen boy back then
had dreams of becoming a famous rock'n'roll guitarist.
Steve
Hamilton was 2 years younger than I and about to enter the 10th grade
the summer after the 1963-1964 school year. It was then, the
summer of 1963, when Steve first introduced me to some of his fellow
class mates, Robert and Rick. Rick Jackson's house was in
Rutledge (AKA Fairfield Highlands, today part of Midfield, Jefferson
County, AL).
His house had a big,
empty basement where we could practice. Rick's dad also
played guitar so Rick played his dad's Fender
Telecaster guitar through a Gibson amp. The guys wanted me to
join
them. They seemed interested in my ability. Ha!
Little did they know.
I
didn't even know how to make Barre chords. In
fact,
my knowledge of chords and scales as well as how to play rock music in
general was almost non-existant. But I was a quick learner
and
Steve was willing to teach me. Rick picked up where Steve
left
off.
In no time, we had learned a few songs. We had no drummer, no
bass player, just 3 guys with guitars plus a mediocre lead singer.
The one thing we had going for us was courage. We
were
oblivious to our lack of knowledge and talent and we had the guts to go
ahead anyway.
Our first gig was a talent contest at their old
school which was a feeder school to Hueytown High where they would
enter the 10th grade in another month or two. We couldn't
decide
on a name at first so we called ourselves the "Strangers."
Later
we found out there was already a band with that name so we chaged it to
the "Huns." Here's a news photo from that summer 1963
engagement:
The
news media got everything wrong as usual. Rick's brother,
Mike
Jackson, just
happened to be there so they included him in our photo. Mike
wasn't in our band.
Philip
Lacy wasn't in our band
either, just a neighbor and friend.
Looking at this photo makes me laugh. We were all trying to
look
like rock stars. Sadly, this is the only photo ever taken of
us
when we first
began. Steve left the group later so this is also the only
photo
with both Steve and I together. I'm holding my first electric
guitar mentioned above.
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The
Huns
Within a year, we had practiced so much we
were quite good. In 1965 and '66, our band promoted Vox
guitars and amps in
behalf of our sponser, Ed Phipps, owner of Phipps Piano Co. in
Birmingham. Here's a promo photo below taken of our group
during
those
years. That's me in the center of the photo a little left of
the
drum set. Rick is on the far left. Next to me is
Robert,
then Mickey King, our drummer. Laying down is Don McCurdy,
our bass player.
None
of this equipment belonged to us. We
were advertising for Ed Phipps, our promoter. We had cool
looking band uniforms. The clothes in this photo were custom
made chartreuse shirts with dark-green polka-dots. They had a
3
button cuff and heavy ruffles down the front. We wore
matching
black pants and Beatle boots with this outfit. I think we
were
trying to look like Paul Revere and the Raiders.
We also
had black naugahyde vests to go with this outfit. I remember
Rick
joking about how many "Naugas" they had to kill and skin to make our
vests. I attempted to create a colorized version of this B&W
photo but was not very successful. Click the photo to see my
attempt. The actual color of the shirts was more like the
background of this web page.
(CLICK the photo for an enhanced version in COLOR)
Just
for grins, here's a few other Huns band photos. In
the one below, taken in 1965, we went for the "Robin Hood and his merry
men" look.
L to
R are Don, Rick, Robert, and me (Ron). I had already
graduated
high school by the time this photo was taken so I let my hair grow out.
Note the ring on my left hand. I still
have it, a
Christmas gift from my mom.
The other guys (Rick and Robert) got in trouble at school for
such "long hair." The principal threatened to expell Robert for
wearing his hair as long as it was in this photo.
In
this Huns band photo, Don and I are wearing the vests I mentioned
above. We were also wearing
the shirts with ruffles. Note the Beatle boots which were
really
popular in 1966, one year after the British Invasion. These
old
photos show what an influence Brit music had on teen dress styles and
behavior.
In
this last Huns band photo, we thought it would look "cool" for Bob to
be pouring from a can of oil onto an old hubcap I'm holding while he,
Rick, & I stood casually on a car hood. Hey, ya never know
when ya need a good pic for an album cover!
At the time we were practicing in Rick's
basement in 1964, a neighbor of his who could play
blues
harmonica came by. I
don't know
the
guy's name but he taught me how to bend notes and play cross-harp.
I began buying
harmonicas and teaching myself how to play blues cross harp
style.
"Cross harp" is a method of playing harmonica tuned to the "four
chord"
of whatever key the guitarists are playing in.
I found that the 'A' harp was best
for
many blues songs.
I
began learning the styles of blues harp players Slim Harpo and
Sonny Boy Williamson.
In the summer of 1965 or '66 my father bought me a 12-string guitar in
Mexico.
The size of the neck was huge so I never played it much. Here is
a 1969 photo of me with that guitar.
As my father-in-law would have said it, "The neck
was so it took 3 grown men and 4 little boys to reach around it!"
Between
springtime and Christmas 1965, I somehow persuaded my father I needed a
better guitar and
louder amp. My little cheap, Japanese amp was so small that I
could barely be heard on stage. My dad knew I needed better
equipment and genuinely wanted to get me quality equipment but nothing
he found suited me.
His efforts endeared me to my father emotionally more than I can
explain. He had been very thrifty all my life.
If he was willing to spend his hard-earned cash for my benefit, I
knew it
meant he loved me and appreciated my accomplishments.
After
he died in 1993 I asked my mother about it. She said he
always
enjoyed my guitar playing. The thought of it makes me smile.
My father came from that
generation when men rarely expressed compliments or showed signs of
love. He showed his love in other ways but we wanted to hear him
say it.
One
day my oldest brother Rick asked him, "Daddy, why don't you ever tell
us
you love us." Dad said, "Rick, you know I love you."
With
tears in his eyes, Rick said, "Yeah, but you never say it!"
From
then on until the day he died, our father always told us, "I love you"
whenever we visited him. He made a point of it. I
know it
was hard on him. I always called them the "Popeye"
generation
because they always acted tough like the cartoon character.
Never
let your emotions show.
PERFECTION
I
finally discovered the
perfect guitar in the shop window of Banks Pawn Shop in Bessemer,
Jefferson County, AL.
A man whose name we only knew as "Mr. Limley" was the very kind,
old gentleman there in charge of musical instrument sales. I
thought Mr. Limley had told me the guitar I wanted was ony $40 so I
rushed home to tell my father.
When
my mother and father went with me back to purchase the guitar, Mr.
Limley told me, "No, I told you it was $140." I had
misunderstood
him. My heart dropped. This was more money than my
dad had
ever spent on any of his children.
By then, though, I was the youngest and only child still at home.
Both my 2
brothers had already married and left home. Dad had recently been
promoted to supervisor at U.S. Steel. He had the money and
surprised me by agreeing to my begging. That sweet Gibson
guitar
was mine!
It was a vintage "thinline" Gibson semi-hollowbody
ES-334 in a tobacco sunburst finish. The serial number was
A-33230 which showed it to be 1960 model. It came with an
original plush lined hardshell case. I got Mr. Limley to
install
a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece on it for an additional $40.
Later
my dad took me to Sears and bought me a Silvertone 100 watt, 2-channel,
twin-twelve stack amp with reverb and tremolo. He got less
than a
dollar in change from the $200 he gave the sales person for it.
He bought both the guitar and amp in the fall of 1964. I
remember playing with this rig for several months before I
graduated in '65. Here's a 1967 photo:
Here's a better photo from Christmas Day 1967 of me playing the Gibson:
In today's dollars the price day paid for the guitar and Bigsby vibrato
tailpiece would be $1,613.89 and the price of the amp would be
$1,793.21. For $1,000.00 LESS, he could have bought me a new '64
Ford Mustang! Needless to say, I was shocked at his
generosity. No wonder my brothers were envious.
I foolishly traded the guitar on May 6, 1993
for
a Gretsch Country Gentleman and hardshell case, S/N 102239.
The
Gretsch was in near mint condition and I had always wanted one.
When the salesman offered an even trade I should have realized he got
the better deal.
I later found out the Gretsch was only worth
$1,000 while my Gibson was worth at least $1,500 at the time with the
price steadily spiraling upward. Prices vary widely but, today,
my vintage Gibson would be worth between $10,000.00 and $20,000.00.
I can't complain. My fellow bandmate, Rick, also traded his
vintage Telecaster worth between $18,000.00 and $25,000.00 today and
his dad sold a vintage Martin D-28 acoustic guitar worth maybe
$40,000.00 if it was still in the same shape when it was new.
We've all made stupid decisions.
Here's a silly video of me in 1966 acting like a fool with my Gibson.
My dad took this on our front lawn.
The Vietnam War, marriage, and life in
general put music and
band business on hold for several years. I've had many other
guitars, amps, and other musical gear since my teen years.
During this period of my life, music
was still very much a part of my life and the lives of my wife and
children but I was no longer in a rock band.
In
the photo below, my wife and kids were supposed to be dressed as
cowboys while
I sat at the piano wearing a silly, oversized cowboy
hat. I
loudly played and sang "Long Tall Texan" with my family as my backup
group.
I love the angry look on 3-year-old Karen's face as
mom
held her hand for the photo. That's Rainey posing in the
white
shirt with tall brother John behind her. Sarah is behind
Karen,
David by John, and JoAnna behind Sarah.
They
were all
grinning
"like a possum eatin' saw briars" (as my dad used to say).
The
photo is from 1983. Notice my bell-bottom jeans, a hangover
from
the 1970s clothing styles. Every time I look at this photo I
can't help but grin, it brings back such sweet memories of my children
when they were young.
Our
old garage band, the "Huns," had our first reunion in 1985.
Here's a
photo from then (below). Our group hadn't been together
since 1966. We tried playing the old songs for an hour or so
then
ate sandwiches our wives had prepared. After it was over, I remember
waving goodbye to Rick as he drove back to Memphis. I had
been so happy to see him that I forgot to ask for his address or phone
number.
As I stood in the middle of the Birmingport Highway waving goodbye to
him, it dawned on me I might never see him again. I almost
cried. I never felt that close to the other guys but there
was
something between Rick and I that just clicked.
We were both
devout Christians, passionate about our religion and our families.
We were both deeply into electronics and the new computer
generation, and we both loved music and old rock'n'roll
songs.
Rick
is generous, smart, and talented. More than that, Rick has
values. He has always been a good man and I knew it, a man
who
was a good influence. I knew we somehow had to get
back
together and share our interests more often.
Fortunately
we did get back together every few years after that. Here's
a 1989 photo of me, Rick, and my son John who had his own band by then.
That's me with a beard on the left, Rick seated, and John
(with
long hair) on drums. John became a great drummer and, like
his dad, played gigs with several bands. His last band was
called Exit 97 after the community at the I-59/20 exit where he grew
up.
In
1995 my family was back on stage at church with me playing guitar as we
sang lyrics to a song my daughters and I had written previously.
We wrote the song on a Saturday when my girls were
bored and I
was looking for something for them to do. So I said, "Let's
write a
song" and we did.
We got together on something simple to the tune of
the old Renaissance tune, 'Greensleeves." Our version was
called
"Green Leaves" and was about how they turn brown and you have to rake
them up, a silly song but we had fun with it. In the photo
below, L to R are my youngest daughter Leah, then JoAnna, Sarah, my
wife Susie, and me on guitar. That's Karen hidden behind
Susie.
On
April 13, 2005 my son David (who sings bass) with 2 others
from church and I created a quartet for a song competition at church.
We sang this song the girls and I wrote. It wasn't
half bad.
CLICK
HERE to hear me singing "Green Leaves" in an
acapella quartet with my son David, Charlie
Bush, and his brother-in-law, Ted
Driscoll singing 3-part harmony. In the photo below, that's
Charlie on the left, then Ted, David, and I. We didn't win
any
prizes but we had fun.
Susie
and all 8 of my children were musically talented almost from the
time they were born. Susie conducted Handel's Messiah at church
for several years and sometimes sang at weddings.
It was more than a great loss when she died of cancer in 2003. Susie & Ron
We're blessed that she allowed me to record her singing a few of the
songs we sang with our children while they were growing up. CLICK
HERE to listen to Susie and Ron singing in 2003.
After she passed away,
Linda and I married. I was happy to learn that her daughter Wendy
also played piano and her son Kaleb plays a little.
Here's an example of some talents of mine and Susie's children and
grandchildren:
John sings
bass and
tenor (better at tenor). In falsetto he can hit 2nd tenor
high notes. Like his father, John's volume trails off when he
sings bass. He still has the range, though. He
studied trumpet in junior high school band but preferred the
drums.
He later went on to become the high school band's percussion
leader. As a teen, he was a
drummer in a rock band.
After
he married, John became a semi-professional drummer and
singer with the band Exit
97,
a popular country-rock group in central Alabama.
John's
children all studied dance and did quite well. His daughter
Jori, with the help of her sisters, organized a dance class and recital
at church. John and his wife, Tracy, also have sung in church
choir. Here's a sample of John's music. This is a song he
wrote calledLong Time.
In this song, John is singing multi-part vocals and playing drums. CLICK
HERE to listen.
David sings
bass
better than any of us. He studied tenor sax in high school.
David has also sung in church choir. His beautiful bass
voice has always been our family's bedrock male sound and was just what
we needed when he and I joined a brother-in-law team from church to
form an acapella quartet. In a '50s Do-Wop song where our friend
Charlie Bush is singing the lead part, my son David starts the song
off. To listen to David sing bass,CLICK HERE.
JoAnna sings
soprano
like her mom and plays piano. She studied clarinet in junior
high band but wanted to be on the flag team. She later became
flag captain. Her son, Joseph is a better guitar player than
any
of us. All her children play piano and Hannah is quite good
at
it. JoAnna's husband, Glen, is studying to play the banjo.
JoAnna and her children have sung in church choir.
A few
years
ago JoAnna and Karen helped me sing a song I had just written for some
friends. That's JoAnna on the left.
Click the video to play.
Sarah is
our best
alto and has the most clear voice of any of us. She also
plays piano and played several instruments in junior high and high
school band. Sarah sings in church choir.
Rainey was
born to play the piano. Like Sarah, she
played many instruments in the school band, majoring in French horn.
After she
switched schools the band director selected her to be the drum major --
the person who leads the band on the field. She did well.
After
studying classical piano for years, she studied piano
pedagogy in college, graduated summa cum laude, and became a
professional classical piano teacher.
In voice, Rainey sings alto. She has sung in church
choir, led the choir, and accompanied the choir on piano and
organ. See below for a video of Rainey playing.
Karen was
an award
winning clarinet player in high school but later began studying piano
and now plays for the Primary at church. She sings 2nd
soprano when we sing as a family. Karen has also sung in
church choir. She has become a talented pianist like her
sister.
Here's a 2 minute sample CLICK HERE.
Adam is
our church's
choir leader. He arranges his own music. He was an
award winning trumpet player in high school. He is the only
one of my children who learned to play guitar. His wife,
Andrea, sings in church choir. They'll probably never forgive me
for posting this publicly but here's a sample of Adam and Andrea
singing a popular tune. To their dad, they sound like beautiful
harmony even if it's not the most professional recording. CLICK HERE
to listen.
Adam and Andrea's oldest daughter, Bianca, recorded this multi-track
recording of You
Are My Sunshine. CLICK HERE to listen.
Leah is
our family's
other 2nd soprano and a great harmonizer. Like JoAnna and Karen,
she learned to play
the clarinet in high school band. Leah's husband, Ed, plays
guitar and ukelele and sings in church choir. For Fathers Day
2020, Leah and Ed recorded my favorite song that Leah and I always sang
together. Ed's playing is perfect and Leah's 3-part harmony is
simply beautiful. CLICK HERE to listen.
Here's a 3 minute video of my daughter Rainey at my
piano playing Clair de Lune:
My renewed involvement with my old garage band in the
late 1990s
taught me I needed
new gear. Also, I did not own a decent acoustic guitar, never
had
one in fact, but always wanted one. I bought a Ventura V-10
acoustic steel-string guitar
for around $100 in the early 1980s when I got a check from the Veterans
Administration to help with my college education. I kept it
for
nearly 20 years then sold it February 1, 2002 for $100.
By the
late-1990s I was making very good wages as a systems specialist for
Bellsouth. A friend and coworker, Jeff Newman, had a Japanese
Fender Stratocaster for sale for about $100 so I bought that (thanks,
Jeff). That's another guitar I wish I had held onto.
They're collectors items today. Here's a photo:
Here
I am below playing the same guitar in this 1998 photo with my Gretsch
guitar on the side below. I see in the photo I'm wearing a
Delta
Blues Museum t-shirt that Rick and I had bought the year before when I
visited him for the first time in Memphis, TN.
Epiphone
Dot, Gibson Blueshawk,
Epiphone Alleykat, etc., etc.
I must have been in a trading mood from
1999 to 2002.
Please note that it's very rare to gain on a trade.
Almost
every one I know who sells or trades old music gear loses money on the
deal. If vintage equipment is involved, you lose money on its
unknown future value. If it's non-vintage, you often make
only 40
cents on the dollar of all retail sales. That's kind of a
national
average with prices fixed by the huge, nationwide retailers like Guitar
Center. According to my records, here are some of the trades
and
purchases I made during those years:
DATE
TRADE
Cost/Value
FOR
VALUE
5/26/1993
Traded
Gibson ES-335
$1500-
$2000
Gretsch
County Gentleman guitar
$1000
11/17/1999
Traded
Gretsche
$1000
Epiphone Dot
guitar and
Fender Super Reverb amp
SAME
3/23/2000
Sold Epi Dot
and Fender amp
to Mars Music, in Birmingham, AL
bought a
Gibson Blueshawk
guitar at Mars Music
$864.00
10/6/2000
Bought a
hardshell case for
the Blueshawk from a guy in West Memphis, AK
11/24/2001
Bought a
Line-6 Combo amp
from Highland Music in Birmingham, AL
2002
Traded the
Blueshawk and
hardshell case at Musictown in Memphis, TN
$864.00
Epiphone
Alleykat guitar
$528.00
Epiphone
guitar is a subsidiary of Gibson. The Gibson ES-334, the
Gretsche
Country Gentleman, and the Epiphone Dot guitars are all thinline,
semi-hollowbody guitars, my favorite guitar style.
Sometime
in the early 2000s about the time I bought the Line-6 amp, I bought a
200 watt Fender Bassman Amp and a Fender Ultimate Chorus Amp.
I
no longer own either of these. The bass amp went belly up and
was
not repairable. I traded the Chorus Amp and Alleykat guitar
for an old, Ford
pickup truck in 2004. I later sold the truck for $1000.
Sometimes
I traded even, sometimes I traded down. The 2002 trade of the
Blueshawk for the Alleykat looks like I traded down. However,
at
the same time and place I traded a $200 Vega banjo for a Deering
"Goodtime" banjo and resonator that's now worth more than twice that
much.
Here are a couple of photos :
The one below is a Gibson
Blueshawk like the one I bought at Mars Music in 2000.
My son John tells me frequently that it was his favorite and
he
wishes I still had it. Me too. I also wish I still
had the
Alleykat.
Here's
the Epiphone Alleykat and Fender Ultimate Chorus amp that I traded to
coworker Larry Hughes for a pickup truck. I emailed Larry a
couple years ago and he said he still has this guitar and amp.
Larry is an expert on music quality, what's called an
"audiophile" in the industry. He's also an excellent trader
and
knows value when he sees it.
He
was quite good at picking up bargains in yard sales. He told
me
how he once found stereo amp for $14. I was writing tunes and
experimenting with my BR-8 at the time so I recorded this little ditty
for him. It's written and produced as if it were a jingle, a
radio advertisement.
The Boss BR-8 digital recorder had built-in voice effects that allowed
my voice to sound like one of the famous "Chipmonks." It also
allowed me to artificially alter the sound of my 6-string electri
guitar to sound like a bass guitar. On this song, I played "bass"
guitar, lead guitar, and sang 3 part-harmony. The drums were
"canned."
Written in 2000, I call it "Larry's
Rhythm." CLICK
HERE to listen to it.
Here are the lyrics:
Here
I am playing the guitar on stage at a club in Memhis, TN in October
2002. Rick and I had matching guitars. He just
chose not to
play his Alleykat that night, but we really looked good on stage with
them. That's my son John looking up at me from his drum set.
For me, as a musician, it has always been a "Bucket
List" item to produce my
own music and to own and be able to play several instruments. In
1965 I had met a guitarist at a neighbor's house who had a Roberts 770X
4-track reel-to-reel
recorder. He showed
me
how it could record one track while playing back
another.
He let me record all 3 guitar parts
of a Ventures instrumental. I loved it but it would be another 34
years before I could afford to purchase one. By then, technology
had changed so much that my first multi-track recorder came in a really
small package.
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Fostex X-14
On
May25, 1999 I bought a Fostex X-14 Multitracker at a music store in
Tuscaloosa, AL for about $100. It recorded on cassette tapes
and
was really simple to use. I had a lot of fun with it
recording
song idea, singing multi-part harmonies, etc. I would still
have
it except it wasn't what we needed at the time.
Our band was
just getting into recording our own songs. The little Fostex
would often fizzle out. I had to send it back to the
factory for repairs. It was time to replace it.
Rick
Jackson to the rescue. Rick bought an expensive Roland
digital
8-track recorder that recorded to a hard disk. This was back
in
very earliest days of home recording. His machine cost a
bundle.
He had to trade an expensive guitar for some of the stuff
that
went with it. It was on Rick's Roland that our newly reformed
band, The Bluerock Band, recorded all of our songs. I had
written
several of them and was delighted that the guys thought some of my
tunes were worth recording.
I've had 3 other multi-track recorders since then, all by Boss and all
digital.
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HERE to return to Top)
BR-8
My
first digital multi-tracker was a Boss BR-8. I got it from
MMI in
Hoover, AL for about $400. Of all that I've owned it was my
favorite. It was very simple to use and had all the tools I
needed onboard (and then some). Unfortunately, the technology
was
quickly out of date. It recorded on Zip disks. No
one uses
them anymore. I sold it to my son John for about $200.
He
recently told me he still has it he thinks.
For
the first time in my life I had the tools to record the kind of
multi-track music I had always dreamed of. I had to
experiment.
Here's a verse of an instrumental I created in August 2000.
I called it "BR-8 Blues." Haha. CLICK
HERE.
On this song I'm playing bass guitar, lead guitar,
rhythm guitar, and
blues harmonica. The drum machine was built-in to the multi-track
recorder (i.e. "canned").
My
next was a BR-1180CD purchased through Musicians Friend on
October 21, 2003 for $999.99. I was sure it would solve all
our
problems. It had a CD writer. All I needed to do
was write
my songs to CD and we would no longer have the problem of finguring out
how to share them. I didn't know at the time that technology
still had not caught up.
Writing CDs is an unreliable
catch-as-catch-can operation with more problems than solutions.
I
needed a device that would write directly over a USB cable to my PC.
Unfortunately, reliable multitrack recorders with USB would
have
to wait another few years. They weren't invented yet.
I
could do more with this recorder. Here's a 1 minute song, an
old
gospel tune called "Railway to Heaven." In this song, I recorded
myself singing
4-part harmony, bass guitar, rhythm guitar,
harmonica, and
banjo. Because the parts used more tracks than I had available, I
mixed down the vocals and rhythm guitar to a single stereo track before
overdubbing the other instruments. CLICK
HERE.
My
final recorder is a used Boss BR-800 I paid $335.85 for at Guitar
Center. It has USB connections and can transfer multi-track
files
directly to my PC. I had to convert songs from all my
previous
recorders to different formats and/or from digital to analog then often
back again. That's no longer necessary. I just wish
I was
into recording as much as I used to be.
My
kids had a piano growing up. We got an old acoustic upright
piano
from someone and they banged on the thing from the time they were kids
until we sold the house in 2007. David (the one on the right)
carved his initials in the end of the old thing. This is a
Pioneer Day photo we took in July 1981 in front of the old piano.
After
the kids were grown, and after Linda and I married, I got rid of the
broken old acoustic piano and bought a new Yamaha digital piano.
I've
had a banjo since the 1980s. Russell Warren sold my first
banjo
before he died in 1991. I later traded it for a Deering.
You can see it in the photo below
in
the corner of the room. That's a Johnson dobro on the left.
"Dobro" is actually a brand name the same as "Band-Aid." However,
no one says "adhesive bandage", everyone just calls them "band-aids."
It's the same with the dobro. Few people would know them as
a "square-neck, resonator, acoustic steel guitar."
It's easier to just call them a dobro.
The
other guitars in the above photo are (L to R):
an acoustic-electric Little
Martin that Linda got me for my 70th birthday,
a Martin DM I bought 20
years ago for $700. I couldn't afford it at the time and had
to
borrow the money from my father-in-law, Coot Little. I paid
him
back a little at a time for about a year.
an
inexpensive little Harmony nylon string guitar that has an amazing
tone.
an Blueridge BR-160. Blueridge is a
Chinese
knockoff of a Martin D-45. I bought this one at Alpha Music in
Murphy, NC for about $750.
I had looked at this
model guitar in 3 other states -- a music store in La Grange, GA;
one in Memphis, TN; and one in Bucksville, Tuscaloosa County, AL
before I found one in North Carolina that didn't have major fret
problems.
If you get a chance to pick one of these babies up
for
a good price, be willing to pay an experienced luthier $100 or so to
finish the frets properly and setup the action. These guitars
sound awesome.
In the corner is my Deering Goodtime Banjo.
Next is a 1965 Gibson J-45. It looks awful but
plays like a
dream. I picked it up a little shop in Nashville, TN for
$800.
Next to the Gibson is my Washburn "A" style
Mandolin.
Not shown in this photo is an Ovation 12-string
guitar my friend Rick Jackson sent me.
After our friend, Melanie Witte, told us about her dulcimer, Linda was
fascinated with the instrument. Her decor matched it and she
wanted one to display. We never play it but it's a pretty
simple instrument to play and is really unique with its drone strings,
its open-D tuning, and because it is fretted to diatonic scale (8
notes) like a harmonica instead of a chromatic scale (12 notes) like
all other instruments.
There are different types but this is the most common. This
is Linda's dulcimer (below).
I don't
have any
current photos of my electric guitars, amplifiers, harmonicas, PA
system, microphones, mic stands, guitar effects pedals, tuners,
accessories, and other gear. Here's
an
old photo from 2005 (see below). On the wall are a few of my
favorite
electrics.
On the far left is a Gibson Melody Maker with after market PAF pickups.
It's an all mahogony guitar that sounds a lot like a Les Paul
only lighter. It's a vintage guitar but not in mint condition
since it's been modified.
Next is the Japanese Squire Stratocaster which I mentioned earlier.
The green guitar on the far right is a cheap 'fat-Strat' style
Kramer
from Music Yo that my friend and luthier Rick Jackson customized for
me.
It's now a gorgeous guitar that I gave to my grandson Joe
Arnold (our family's best guitarist) to remember Rick by after we're
all dead and gone. Rick is a great guitarist and an even
better guitar maker. The instruments he makes all turn out
looking amazing.
Next to the left of the green guitar is a yellow sunburst Fender
Telecaster that Rick also customized (I had to keep one for myself!).
It also has custom electronics -- a four-way switch and
special pickups.
The red guitar in the middle is one I would have trouble parting with
if it came to it. It's a Line-6 Variax, one of the first.
It only cost about $400 but it's one of the world's first
all-electronic guitars, not "Electric" but "Electronic." It
has built-in, onboard computer processors and external switches that,
when properly plugged in and hooked up, can make it sound like almost
every vintage electric guitar ever made. It can also make
sounds like electric-acoustic guitars, 12-string guitars, a
sitar, and a banjo. Very versitile.
Beginning
about 1997 our old garage band from high
school became interested in reforming. We kicked over several new
names for the group. On Feb 6th, 2000, I emailed the guys
and suggested a name. Lead guitarist, Rick Jackson, liked it,
added the word "The" in front, and we renamed the group "The Bluerock
Band." It fit because we played classic rock'n'roll and blues as
well as several songs I wrote for the group. There is at least
one other group, more famous than we were, with the same band
name. Perhaps that's why Rick added the word "The" as part of the
band name.
The BlueRock Band
cover of Tequila Sunrise
From 2000 to 2002, we
were doing a lot of recording and a few public
performances. We entered a battle of the blues bands where we
played in
Birmingham, AL hoping to represent the city
at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN where
our lead guitarist lived. For more about this gig and to listen
to the songs we played, CLICK
HERE.
We did not win but we attended the International Blues Challenge that
year and heard some great performers from all over
the world. The performers from Scotland and Japan were especially
interesting.
Gigs
Over
the years, I've played a lot of venues with a lot of different people.
They were all fun but being with my bandmates was the most
fun.
Rick and I have known each other since we were kids.
It was
icing on the cake when my son John joined our group. Here we
are
at Bartlett Park near Memphis in October 2002, one of our last big
engagements. Rick and I both played harmonica and guitar for
this
gig. These were our matching guitars. He was really
good at
lead guitar.
Leroy's Boyz
We
don't get paid for playing in our church. It's all volunteer.
But the talent shows and such are so much fun I'd rather do
the
non-paid gigs anyway. One such group was Leroy's Boyz, named
after the children of Leroy Bush who made up most of the band members.
Here we are in February 2007 playing at a talent show.
L to
R are Charlie Bush (lead singer) on guitar, Daryl Bush (our bishop) on
the upright bass, Ron
Carter (Daryl's brother-in-law) on guitar, me on banjo and
dobro, John (my son) on percussion, and Jake Ware on guitar and
mandolin.
This
same group played a couple gigs at the Tannehill Opry in 2005.
The Opry was a local stage near the famous state campling
park in
Alabama. Jake played the mandolin in this photo.
I
don't do much with music anymore. Now and then I'll pick up a
guitar, banjo, or mandolin. Now and then I'll plink a few
notes
on the piano. I no longer practice like we all should but
years of playing eventually paid off. Fellow
church member, Hank Painter,
asked
if I'd join him in a performance. That's when my past
experience came in handy. Hank is an excellent
singer and
drummer. He plays guitar. He has a voice that can
nail John
Fogerty of Credence Clearwater Revival.
When Hank
asked if I'd join him for his
mother-in-law's 90th birthday, I accepted. He needed someone
who knew classic rock'n'roll.
I thought we were gonna practice first. We never did! In
fact, we never even met each
other before the gig !!! I still can't recall the name of
the bass
player.
Somehow the gig went so well it was as if we'd been playing together
for years. What happened was truly amazing to me.
Below is a 2009 photo of
Hank on drums with me and the other guys he organized.
The other fellows were clearly much better than I. The
lead guitarist was James Deraney from our church. He and Hank
once played professionally together in a band. The
bass
player had also played with Hank but had never met James or me.
One reason the gig went so well is because Hank picked mostly songs
with three-chord
(1-4-5) progressions. A chord progression and the key the song is
in is
usually all an
experienced musician needs to follow a tune. Experienced players
can play chords and adlib the scales to fit.
James and I took turns playing lead guitar.
I called out the chord changes to the bass player. We all
sang backup harmony as Hank sang lead. The crowd was
well
pleased and never knew we band members had never seen each other before
the performance.
In the photo below (L to R) are: the bass player (still don't know his
name), Hank Painter who played drums and sang lead, me on the
Telecaster guitar, and James Deraney on the red Gibson ES-335.
Hank had the PA and mics. Jim didn't use many effect pedals and
(I think) a custom Fender amp. I used a Boss GT-6 pedal board and
a Peavy Classic 30 tube amp.
This has been my musical story. What's yours. I'd
like to hear about it. Email me at the address below.
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