Saturday, March 08, 2008

From the Dothan Eagle:

Norman Andrews



Mr. Norman Andrews of Gordon passed away at his home Monday, Feb. 25, 2008. He was 73.
Memorial services will be announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may to made to Pet Pals or to the family, 2390 Grimsley Road, Gordon, AL 36343.
Mr. Andrews was born April 11, 1934, in Houston County and lived most of his life in and around the Dothan area.
He was the son of Ralph W, and Willie Mae Ball Andrews.

An accomplished singer and musician, Norman was best known as the lead singer of the group "Norman Andrews and the Concrete Bubble" around the 1950s to the 1980s.
He and his wife Pam gave their whole lives helping others less fortunate than themselves as well as helping homeless animals. They have operated and maintained a non-profit animal shelter, Pet Pals, for the past 35 years.
Survivors include his wife of 43 years, Pam Andrews, Gordon; sister and brother-in-law, Winona Murphy and Jim Duffard.
If his friends had it to say ever again, they would say he is/was a card.
Southern Heritage Funeral Home and Crematory, (334) 702-1712, is in charge of arrangements. Sign the guest book at www.dothan eagle.com.


There will be a benefit for Norman at Cowboy's Night Club April 13 (Sun. @ 2-6pm)
http://www.cowboysofdothan.com/

image courtesy of http://www.myspace.com/cowboysofdothan

Norman's widow Pam, has a lot of medical and funeral expenses and no insurance but a lot of Normans' former bandmates and friends will be jamming there and donations of $10 and up will go to help defray Pams' debt.

Anyway for more info, e-mail me @ pianodave@comcast.net,

Thanks,
David Adkins

Robert,
I remember Norman Andrews.

Obviously I met him through John Rainey.http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=198156299

I remember when I first started with Roy Orbison and the Candymen, we would all stay at the Heart of Dothan Motel.
It seems like we would always be hanging out all nite @ Buie's City Cafe after the clubs on the Strip closed.
Norman was there a lot with us. He was a wonderful guy. Always full of life and excited about just making music.
John Rainey had a way of bringing together the good guys. Norman was definitely one of them.
I know that he will be very much missed by the Dothan musical community.
I also know he's up there with Roy Orbison, Bill Gilmore, Fred Guarino, lil' Bobby, and John Rainey Rockin' for the Lord!!!!
Robert Nix.....................................


Norman Andrews was a good guy.
Wow, 73!
If you had anything to do with music in the Dothan area, you couldn't escape knowing Norman.
The first time The Candymen played in Dothan (well, we didn't exactly play, we were driving through and John Rainey wanted us to sit in at a couple of clubs) we sat in at The Oasis and the Alibi.
Norman was playing at one of the clubs,and Dean Daughtry at the other.
I have great memories of seeing him at The 1890s with The Concrete Bubble.
JET by Paul McCartney comes to mind.
He always had a funny story, and I don't recall him ever saying a bad word about anyone.
Dothan has lost a big part of their musical history.
Rest in Peace Norman.

Rodney Justo



>Hi Robert,
>I don’t know if you remember me. I played in the local area with a number of bands including two stints with Norman at the 1890 club in Dothan. First, do you have any more details about Norman’s passing, arrangements, etc., and can you give me e-mail addresses for Frank Tanton (who I played in some bands with and was also in my wedding). George Cheshire would also be good as I also worked with him. I actually entered the music scene in Dothan in around 1970 working with Mike Griggs and Jerry Keel. We worked out of an old radio station studio downtown over Mike’s Father’s flooring store just down the block from the Houston Hotel. I then went on to work with Jerry Wise in a band called “The Shop” and after that played with several musicians/bands locally and eventually with Norman when The Bubble was the house band at the 1890. Our line up at the time was Norman, me on Keys, Kruschev (remember him?) on guitar, Dickey Burrows on Bass, Wayne Andrews on drums, and a horn section with Joe Buffard and Jeff Crocket (saxophones), and a guy named Freddie on trumpet (sorry, last name eludes me). I would love to contact some of my old friends and pay my sympathies to Pam. Does Richard Burke also ring a bell? Thanks for your reply.

Max Montgomery

Robert

I posted a tune that was on a Concrete Bubble Tape on our MySpace


Best
Lancaster