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

From Jimmy Dean:


Hey Robert----Regarding Jim Hodges' post to you---we were on Midnight Special backing up BJ in I think 1975. The show was taped at the University of Chicago campus. Charlie Daniels was also on the show as well as others who I can't remember. It was after the release of BJ's tune "Hey Won't You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" which he had recently done in Nashville with Chips Moman. Beaverteeth was made up of Charlie Silva, John Rainey Adkins, David Adkins, and me. Rodney Justo had stopped working with BJ around that time, so I don't recall if he was on the show with us or not. We had a keyboardist who came on stage with us when BJ came on stage. It may have been Jon Stroll, but I think it was more likely Rod Erhousen at that time.

We also did DINAH! (Dinah Shore's show) about the same time. We taped that show at CBS's Television City in Los Angeles. On that show was Radar from MASH and Sammy Davis Jr., who I had met previously with Billy Joe Royal in Las Vegas. As you can imagine, if a DVD of either of those appearances is ever released, I would love to be able to get a copy and would appreciate any more info about it.

Thanks to Jim Hodges for letting me know about this----
Jimmy Dean


Hey Jimmy:

Last Thursday I was talking the Johnny Sisty, the owner of WTBC. He was talking about witnessing B.J. cut "Hey, Won't You Play...." in Chips Moman's studio in Nashville.

He said two of his strongest memories of that session was how all the musicians took off their shoes before entering the recording studio and how B.J. would sing a few lines, break away, go outside the recording booth and fight with his wife and then calmly return to cut more of the song.

Thanks for responding.

Best,
RR http://rockpilgrimage.blogspot.com

from Rodney "The Rocker" Justo:

Your viewer is correct.
It was MIDNIGHT SPECIAL.
I however, was not on the show.
It was David and John Rainey Adkins, Jimmy Dean, and Charlie Silva.
B.J. did in fact mention David Adkins. I think it was after the guitar solo on Hooked on a Feelin'

Rodney

From Jon Stroll:


Hey Roberto:

Nice to hear from you and thanks for forwarding my web site to James Hodges. I was just down in Florida with my songwriting and recording partner Bobby Weinstein. Bobby and I recorded with Chips Moman at American Recording with the legendary Memphis Boys:Reggie Young on guitar, Bobby Wood on piano, Bobby Emmons on keyboards, Gene Chrisman on drums, and Mike Leech on bass. We also wrote songs for Petula Clark, Brenda Lee, Ronnie Milsap, and Len Barry, among others, while we were down there.

Our album,"Cook Me Up Your Taste" by Weinstein and Stroll, is still a favorite among many people and there has been some recent interest in it from Japan. We're trying to have it re-released. Akihide Nakamura, a music critic and record reviewer in Japan, described our album as "an unknown masterpiece".

I have been in touch with Chips, and Bobby was just at Chip's horse ranch in Georgia. Chips just produced an album with Willie Nelson. I was in Nashville and saw Mike Leech, Bobby Wood, and Bobby Emmons.

I don't know if I had mentioned it to you, but Bobby and I wrote the hit song for the Boxtops, "Sweet Cream Ladies". It was a pretty revolutionary lyric at the time!

Talk to you soon,
Jon Stroll www.yourmusicconsultants.com




From cindy a. reilly:

My Xhusband, Jack Lane played bass with Beaverteeth in 1975 & 1976, they played the local clubs in Dothan (the Oasis), and Montgomery, Birmingham, Atlanta .. The Late & Great Charlie Silva was the Drummer!! Thanks for the memories...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Patton
SO WHAT'S SO ORDINARY ABOUT WALKING ON THE GROUND WHERE THE DELTA BLUES WERE BORN?

Joe Rudd & THE DISTORTIONS at Tuscaloosa's Ft. Brandon Armory courtesy of http://wtbc1230.com

Will Rudd, Joe's brother, called to tell me Joe passed away last night about 10:30 P.M. at the V.A. Hospital.

Will said that Joe appeared to suffer very little and just went to sleep and didn't wake up. Joe required very little pain medication during his hospital stay and every visit or phone call from his old gang really brought back his mental powers. Joe shared memories and joked with visitors till the very end.

Will is finalizing plans for a memorial service which will probably occur next Saturday. I feel that all the details will be worked out by this time tomorrow. Joe is survived by his 99 year old mother and her condition will dictate that the service be short.

Will told me that one of the things that he will carry away from the ordeal of the past three weeks will be an undying love for the preservation of Southern music.

I replied that we have two options:

We can let all our memories dissolve into oblivion or we can preserve all that we have left.

Will is not the only one who is making a commitment to remember our musical heritage. Many of the people who came to The Heeey Baby Days of Beach Music http://heybabydays.com
book signing with Greg Haynes last night will take a little more time to preserve that old concert poster or to scan those old photos or email us about their memories of the music and the men and women who entertain us.

I know Joe's ears were burning last night about 7 o'clock because everyone in the old Tuscaloosa crowd at Chuck's Fish http://www.chucksfish.com/
were talking about Joe Rudd as we hustled autographs from Greg Haynes, Nora Haynes, Tiger Jack Garrett, Bill Connell and Bennie Deer.

Connell had a really cool portrait of Gregg Allman and him taken recently when Bill and his wife, Laura, stayed at Gregg and his wife's house on a bayou near Savannah. Gregg was wearing a Chuck's Fish cap so maybe Bill can get him over to T-town for a little jam session at the restaurant. Gregg also told Bill that he had contacted Polydor to have them send Bill the four gold records that he is owed.

Thanks to everyone who had a hand in making last night's event a success and I'm sure I'll
see some of you at Joe Rudd's memorial service next Saturday.

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

P.S. I'll send out more details on the Old Musician's Reunion and Super Jam Thursday night at Rhythm & Brews but I received this email from Jerry Henry:

Robert,
I want you to help me get the word out about Thursday night. The Musicians Reunion and Super Jam at Rhythm and Brews http://www.rhythmnbrews.com/
beginning at 8:00. Us old guys still know how to party. Great seeing everybody at Chuck's last weekend. Bill Connell coming in while I was there was a God send.
Thanks,
Jerry