Check out the Locust Fork Band's new website
http://www.locustforkband.com/


Click below to hear Tiger Jack's Saturday morning oldies show on TBC. It's 9:50 A.M. so he'll be on until noon. Go to the website, scroll down to Tiger Jack's picture and get the feed from al.com
http://www.wtbc1230.com/

From: ned mudd
To: Wyker
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 12:28 PM
Subject: Tippy tale No. 2


Here's another Tippy tale from circa 1974.

Bill Marshall and I were recording a duo project called "The Truck Stop Opry" and Tippy would wander in from time to time, just checking out what was up, seeing if we were making progress etc. I recall he had an old sedan and carried his Fender bass around by sticking the back end on the rear dashboard, the tuning keys on the front seat. No case. That means, the bass was sorta flying in the car as he drove thru Tuscaloosa.

One day he came by and said he'd gotten a call from Jimmy Cliff. This was after "The Harder They Come". I said "What did he want?" Tippy says something about Jimmy wanting him to go on a big tour. I think it was a world gig but we're stretching my memory banks here.

"You going?" we said.
Tippy says, "I asked Jimmy if that meant I'd have to leave Tuscaloosa."
At that point, Tippy had no interest in leaving home. I reckon he told Jimmy "no."

Another time, shortly after that, I was working the door at Jumpin' Johnny's, downtown Tuscaloosa. I think Locust Fork was playing.

Tippy saunters up with this old gut string guitar on his shoulder, no case. The back end is dangling out behind him. Like everybody carried their guitar that way.

We chatted and he said "You think I could sit in?"
Locust Fork was one hell of a loud-assed band.
I looked at Tippy and figured he could work it out with the band somehow. No cover charge.

The guy who owned Jumpin' Johnny's, Alex Kontos, came by my place the other day with a CD. There was Tippy, jamming with Locust Fork, "live" at Jumpin' Johnny's.

I took one guitar lesson from Tippy. He decided to show me a cool lick and call it a day. The lick was a little 3 chord thing that was a mix of Appalachian with Muscle Shoals R&B thrown in.

Tippy said "Eddie Hinton taught me that."

Mudd

Subject:
Thank You All!
Date:
Mon, 14 Feb 2005 01:43:07 +0000

I really don't know if tonight I can muster the words to appropriately express to all of you how much your kind words and thoughtfulness have meant to my family and me this past week. In addition to the emailed condolenses and support, many other dear friends continued calling in from everywhere, and I am so sad that I do not have most of their addresses to communicate to them my appreciation for their loving words also.

One never really knows how much a person has contributed to this life until we have to finally say goodbye. His father died during the depression, and he had to work in his early teens to get my grandmother and himself through those very trying times. Nevertheless, he studied hard enough in school to be accepted to The University of Alabama at the age of 15. He excelled as a big band leader, violinist, and upright bass player before he answered the call to serve his country which included landing at Normandy and surviving his way all the way to Germany. Major Albert Braxton Connell was a soldier and patriot who sacrificed all but his life to assist the freeing of Europe, but he NEVER mentioned a word about any of his constant tribulations or multiple wounds during World War II. He was a civic leader, a humanitarian, a loving husband, father and grandfather, not to mention a joy and inspriration to everyone who met him. .

The U.S. Army sent one of the most impressive units that any of us had ever witnessed at a military service. The very moving moment for me was when I realized that taps was being played, not by the bugler from the Army, but one of the trumpet players who played with "Al Connell's Rhythm Lads" in the 1930's. After the Army's impressive precision folding of the flag, which two of the soldiers lifted from atop his coffin, the Officer in Charge presented it to our step mother/grandmother; but as my sons and I helped her to the vehicle she was to leave in, she handed the flag to my sons and said, "Your grandfather wanted you to have this." There couldn't have been a more moving or fitting end for all of us that glorious day that he finally was relieved of the dreadful Alzheimer's disease.

Again, thank you for your prayers...we love all of you,

Bill & Laura Connell, Terry Connell, Nathan Connell & Braxton Connell

Johnny Shines
http://www.island.net/~blues/johnnys.htm
"Everybody has the blues. If you didn't have them yesterday and don't have them today, you're bound to have them tomorrow."Johnny Shines
JOHNNY SHINES was born John Ned Lee Shines Jr., on Sunday, April 25 (not 26), 1915, Frayser (then a suburb of Memphis), TN. Shines was "rediscovered" by British researcher Mike Rowe, author of CHICAGO BREAKDOWN (Eddison Press, 1973), in 1964 on a tip from Willie Dixon. This prompted Sam B. Charters to recorded him (in Dec'65, w/Walter Horton) for the award winning VANGUARD Records series : Chicago/The Blues/Today!

JEROME HOPKINS- Tuscaloosa, Alabama
He earned a Masters in music education in 1952 at Howard University
He gained his first exposure as a jazz pianist, playing for blues singer George Craft at a D.C. club called the OffBeat.
In 1956, he met Billie Holiday. Subsequently, Holiday offered him a job an offer he accepted and an arrangement that lasted some three years.
From 1960-1965, Hopkins played with the house orchestra at the Howard Theater, working with such performers and old friends as Sarah Vaughn, Red Foxx, Slappy White, and the notorious Jewel Box Revue.

ティッピー・アームストロング(Tippy Armstrong)
ギタリスト。モダン・メンフィス・ブルース。アルバート・キングのマッスルショールズ録音でリズム・ギターを担当。(AMG)

Lost And Found

Copyright 1995 Breathe Easy Music http://www.jjcoleman.com/LostAndFound.htm
Jim Coleman - Vocals, Guitar, Bass Eddie Hinton - Vocals, Guitar, Piano, HarmonicaTippy Armstrong - Electric Guitar, Vocals Roger Hawkins - Drums David Hood - BassBarry Beckett - Piano, Organ John Hughey - Pedal Steel Guitar King Curtis - Soprano Saxophone Chuck Swartz - Clarinet The London Symphony - Strings

Eddie's good friend and former roommate, Duane Allman, was asked to played guitar, but, I told Eddie I wanted Tippy Armstrong to play guitar instead. Tippy was a great player and a great friend of mine. He played on albums for Bobby Womack, Albert King, and Jimmy Cliff among others. Duane was planning to leave town anyway and had asked Eddie to join him in a new band he was putting together with his brother, Greg, to be called "The Allman Brothers Band." Eddie turned him down for his studio gig and to finish the album we had decided to call "The Coleman-Hinton Project." Eddie had also picked Tippy to replace him as the staff session guitarist at Muscle Shoals Sound when he and I left to go on the road to promote our record.

In addition to recording in Muscle Shoals, we also recorded at David Briggs' Quad Studio in Nashville and at Olympic Studio in London where we recorded the strings. We used the same string players from the London Symphony who had played on the Beatles' records. Other notable musicians on this record include the late, great King Curtis on Soprano Saxophone and John Hughey on pedal steel guitar. I was a big fan of Conway Twitty at the time and wanted to use Hughey who was Conway's steel player. John Hughey now plays for Vince Gill. King Curtis was very popular in the 60's and was actually the opening act for the Beatles during their 1965 US tour when I saw them in Atlanta. King Curtis and Tippy have both been gone now for many years along with Duane.

Tippy Armstrong - Died 1979 ( Rock ) Singer and guitarist - Was a member of The Rubber Band (They did,"Charlena" and "In And Out Of My Life") Worked with Wilson Pickett and Roy Orbison.



Armstrong, Francis Tippy
Rock, Blues, Country
Guitar
Bobby Womack
1947
6/9/1979
Tuscaloosa, AL
Muscle Shoals, AL

Urban legends surrounding performances by famous artists at drunken BAMA frat parties are ubiquitous here in T-town. ROCK PILGRIMAGE in its never ending search for TRUTH has uncovered two legends surrounding the old Zebe house located at 600 Stadium Drive (now Wallace Wade Ave.).
Legend has it that not only Fats Domino but also Little Stevie Wonder played for ZBT[a.k.a. ZILLIONS BILLIONS TRILLIONS]

Any recovered memories of drunken frat parties will be appreciated.
best,
ka$h

Robert,
I would just like to say that the Lakers are still waiting for the beer
from the volleyball game against Fat City. The Lakers consisted of
people who lived in the Cottondale lake area consisting of Canyon Lakes,
Lake Wildwood, The Farm and Dogwood Lake. Fat City wanted to play by
Jungle Rules, however the Lakers were aspiring volleyball players and even
played in the Y's volleyball league. We were good and Fat City has never
accepted that. Laker members were Billy Townsend, Charlie Haun, Al Livey ( and his friends from the Valley who lived in the old log cabin at
Canyon Lake), Bruce Hopper, Brian Hendrix,and others whose names escape
me.
The Dogwood Lodge parties totally eclipsed anything done at Fat City.
The last big party on 1976-77? consumed 53 kegs of beer, unknown
quantities of canned beer and we bar-b-qued one cow (raised by Willie Jordan),
countless ribs and chickens. The guess on the number of attendees was
one or two thousand. Five to Ten bands played including Locust Fork and
my band at the time, Stache(which included Richard Kent, Bill Brown,
Kevin Peterson and Jeff Phillips any myself on bass).
Too many other stories for an email
Hopper

The cover of WILBUR WALTON JR.'S Japanese release of Twenty Four Hours of Loneliness

John Earl on the subject of COURTNEY HAYDEN:

From :
John Earl
Sent :
Thursday, February 10, 2005 2:53 PM
To :
"robert register"
Subject :
Re: A Rock 'N Roll Pilgrimage To Tuscaloosa

Somewhere in the mists of the early seventies, I believe, WTBC had a tryout for an "underground FM radio" DJ. I auditioned and probably, in addition to my complete ineptness with radio station turntables, hurt any chances of getting the gig by playing Sonny Boy Williamson's "Little Village" from a Chess album which denoted it as "not suitable for airplay." The profanity that Sonny Boy used was mild when compared to today's musical standards but it was a breakthrough moment in Tuscaloosa FM. A "white" station had a cussing blues musician on it for the first time. Fortunately for aficionados of album length "cutting edge" music Courtney Hayden became Tuscaloosa's first "underground radio" DJ! It was late night, early morning listening with a cool looking, shoulder- length haired dude with a great voice. I got many of my first cool albums at Papa Genes, located at the end of the shops adjacent to the Corner.

"We are learning, as has every generation passing before us, that memories gain value when those who make them leave us."
COURTNEY HAYDEN

To:
"robert register"
Subject:
Re: A Rock 'N Roll Pilgrimage To Tuscaloosa
Date:
Wed, 09 Feb 2005 01:14:58 +0000

NO, Robert, you are not bothering me. I look forward to meeting you when you visit the historical music town of Tuscaloosa, or as Tippy Armstrong referred to it as in the 60's & 70's, "The Music Mecca of the World." As you know, there's a lot of music history & musicians that originated and evolved out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Thanks for forwarding the news of my father's passing to all those that loved and respected him. He WAS "Al Connell's Rhythm Lads," a twenty-one piece road band in the 30's. His musical career was halted when he was sent to land in Normandy and fight his way through Europe, almost identical to my musical career coming to a sudden halt when I was drafted during the Vietnam Era while playing with the Allman Joys.

Respectfully,
Bill Connell



From:
"Dean Moore"
To:
robertoreg2003@yahoo.com
Date:
Tue, 08 Feb 2005 23:16:25 -0600

hi... my name is dean... i was ( am still am ) the mayor of a place
we
called Fat City up close to Deer Lick Creek, .we had tons of parties
there...a strong history of fun.. . but to quit rambling, there is a
band up
here in N. Ala. ....Micro Wave Dave and the Nukes... they have an album
named Moon Winxs, and the cover has a cool painting of the old Moon
Winxs
sign. thought you might like to know that little tid-bit. You might
be on
to something here......good luck !! feel free to email me at any time,
I
lived in T'town from around '69-80.... Dean

Dear Dean:
We have never met, however, I have extensive information concerning your mayoral administration of the municipality know as FAT CITY and game preserve:

1) The Founding Fathers of FAT CITY and game preserve were Uncle Bud Dunn, Jim Baker, Bill Caldwell, Dean Moore[alias "Mayor of FAT CITY, "Toad Man", "Todacious Man Fellow" and Joe Poole-sometimes. Caldwell, Grant Oka(my wife Sharon's first husband), Jim Owens and Baker all served in 'Nam together.

2) FAT CITY and game preserve consisted of three houses and a log cabin set away from the houses.

3) Peak occupancy consisted of two to three hundred people for a party. Ya'll even had a lesbian wedding.

4) Shit hit the fan at one party when David Brown ran over a biker's dog.

4) July 4, 1976 was probably the last major FAT CITY party and for all practical purposes was the end of FAT CITY. 40 cases of Red, White and Blue beer were stored in a Knoxville,AL chicken house for consumption at this party.

5) FAT CITY became Small City at Canyon Lakes.

6) Bill Caldwell of FAT CITY still owes 3 cases of beer to "The Lakers" on an "at home loss" in volleyball. The explanation for the FAT CITY loss went like this,"The reason we lost is cause they liked rules!"

Looking for stories about Jumping Johnny's, Zorba's, Ireland's, The Super Market,The Library, and Raymon's Food and Sandwich Shop at 1307 10th Street.

A BEATLES' FANATIC'S PILGRIMAGE TO ENGLAND IN 1981
http://earcandy_mag.tripod.com/rrcase-beatlepilgrimage.htm

From : robert register
Sent : Tuesday, February 8, 2005 2:42 AM
To : robertoreg@hotmail.com
Subject : A Rock 'N Roll Pilgrimage To Tuscaloosa

| | | Inbox


My dear beloved sister and brothers:
I decided that if NYC and London could have guided tours of sacred rock 'n roll sites, I could do the same for Tuscaloosa.

Please think about this for me and offer any suggestions.

Of course, ya got Ft. Brandon Armory, Foster, the Quads and Memorial Coliseum but you also have the fraternity houses.
From what I can tell there were never ever any real juke joints on the chitlin' circuit in Tuscaloosa because dancing where alcohol was served wasn't made legal until ' 75 but you did have the Citizen's Club, some other dives(the one on 26th Avenue south of 21st Street behind the Apostolic Refuge Church is one I'm interested in learning about. Heard Cort Pickett played there- it was last known as Club 61), house parties and I have been told groups played the Diamond Theatre.(I am very interested in any of those stories).
Of course, Northport had The Chef, The Red Ox, The Shiloh and the Stardust( I was very good friends with Ted Grace)

Well here's what I got:

Eddie Hinton lived with his mother, Deanie, at 1414 University Blvd., Apt. 1, 759-9057

In '66, a student named John W. Townsend lived on Pelham Loop Rd.

The Dobb's House was at 1400 Univ. Blvd.

Barnwell Hall which housed Downunder in the basement was located at 800 10th St.(now Bryant Drive)

Solomon's was located at 1001 Univ. Blvd.

1009 Univ. Blvd. housed the first location of Another Roadside Attraction.

Johnny's Restuarant was at 2400 Univ. Blvd., the Deep South Lounge was at 2402 Univ. Blvd. and Roy's Place was at 2404 Univ. Blvd.

1302 Univ. Blvd. housed Beggar's Banquet. 1207 Univ. Blvd. housed The Dickery.

Jackie's Lounge was once called Pat's Cafe at 2111 10th Street.(now Bryant Drive)

607 15th Street was Joe Namath's Restaurant.

The Chukker was at 2121 6th Street.

2309 7th Street was the Chuck Wagon Cafe. 2311 7th St. was The Silver Dollar Bar. 2313 7th St. was Hanly's Pawn Shop.

Lee's Tomb(John F. Mason,mgr) was at 2209 4th Street.

Frank's (later the Bahn Hof) was at the end of 11th Street beside the railroad tracks.

The Tide was located at 614 25th Avenue.

Haven't really gotten into Moon Winx, Dill's Motor Court, the Travelodge, and the Stafford.

Any suggestions or stories will be appreciated and feel free to forward this to anyone.

best,
Robert Register http://rockpilgrimage.blogspot.com

HEY YA'LL:
Working on a SOUTHERN ROCK PILGRIMAGE TOUR OF NEW YORK CITY and LONDON.
I would appreciate any comments and please feel free to forward this to anyone.
best,
Robert Register http://robertoreg.blogspot.com



http://rockjunket.com/


MADISON SQUARE GARDEN has placed tribute plaques to famous rockers who performed there


BILL GRAHAM'S FILLMORE EAST at 105 2nd Avenue

STEVE PAUL'S THE SCENE 301 W. 46TH STREET AT THE CORNER OF 8TH AVENUE:
a maze of cellar walls and passageways....

"I believe that we followed THE DOORS.
Meaning that we appeared there the week after them.
We were paid $700 for ten days.I remember that it cost $10.00 a day to park our car and trailer
The Doors got $700 for a week and their record was #1 in the country at the time
Steve Paul liked us so much that he brought us back for $750 and I think that we once got $1,000 for a week.
I tried to get more money out of him one time since we were going to be in or near New York and we really wanted to play there and he told me that $1,000 was the most he would ever pay and that there were only two groups that he would pay that much for .
The Candymen and The Jeff Beck Group which incidentally had a young singer by the name of Rod Stewart."
RODNEY JUSTO

Need all information concerning the Beatles' mansion at #3 Seville Row, Abbey Road Studios, The Apple Boutique at 94 Baker Street and Magic Alex's Apple Electronics Workshop.

http://archives.waiting-forthe-sun.net/Pages/Venues/Scene.html

JIM MARSHALL, founder of MARSHALL AMPLIFIERS
http://www.blamepro.com/mar/jim.htm
By 1964 Jim had to expand again and the first proper Marshall factory opened in Hayes with 6000 sq. ft. and 16 people making 20 amplifiers a week.

Marshalls were only available to customers at first from his own shop in Hanwell then, as word spread, Jim offered them to other retailers in the South of England while his friend Johnny Jones of "Jones and Crossland" in Birmingham Distributed them in the north of England from late '63. This arrangement continued for about 18 months until 1965 when Jim signed an exclusive Worldwide distribution agreement with Rose-Morris that was to last for about 15 years. Consequently, Johnny lost the rights to distribute Marshall so Jim introduced the "Park" line of amplifiers for Johnny to distribute as a favour.

It was now 1965. Britain was revelling in the hysteria of the "Beat Boom", America was succumbing to the "British Invasion"....... and Pete Townshend needed a bigger amp. Jim put Ken to work on the prototype 100 watt head.

"Jimi said that he wanted to use Marshall gear and that he was also going to be one of the top people in the world at this type of music. I thought he was just another one trying to get something for nothing, but in the next breath he said that he wanted to pay for everything he got. I thought he was a great character, I got on very well with him and he was our greatest ambassador. I saw him play about three times, and I saw him at the first sort of major concert which was at Olympia with Jimi Hendrix, The Move and Pink Floyd. I was very impressed by him as a musician; it was something new to me. I also went out with Ken and saw bands like The Who and Cream".