from Ken Murphy: The original combo was born in the fall of 1962 with Barney Parker, Mike Johnson, Joe Torillo and Warren "Pinky" Munday. both Tommy and I sat in occasionally for high school gigs and proms. The band took off in 1963 with Tommy's direction and "Swampman" led us to new heights. Barney named the group as most of us were members of Circle K International at the time. Now you know the "Rest of the Story".

In 1962, you could bebop to the likes of Honky Tonk, Boney Maroney, Peggy Sue, What 'd I Say, Sheila, Road Runner, Summer Time, and the killer Are You Awright? In 63 we added Louie Louie, Long Tall Texan, Johnny B. Goode, and moved on to R&B.

Richard, If you are interested in contacting Tuscaloosa people who may have seen the Stones show, I will send you the University of Alabama '73 yearbook which has all the members of the University Program Council identified. We have a Facebook group for those associated with UPC. https://www.facebook.com/groups/216405808417345 The deal was that BAMA had a large venue and Birmingham didn't so big shows came to the "new" Memorial Coliseum on the University of Alabama. Hendrix performed in Tuscaloosa in '69 and he was booked by the Cotillion Club, a BAMA student organization. A BAMA student organization also booked the Stones in '72 but it had a different name: THE UNIVERSITY PROGRAM COUNCIL. I guess the difference was that the Cotillion Club was Frat-Rat and UPC was more Freak-Independent oriented but for all it's counter culture aspirations, UPC was just as snooty and clannish as Cotillion Club. I didn't belong to any student organization but from 1970 until 1972, my part-time job as a BAMA student was Union Building Maintenance Man and all student organizations had their offices in my building so I ran into most everybody and that's how I ended up working "security" for all the concerts plus I had master keys to every door on the University. UPC "Security" was trying to make folks behave and follow whatever the regulations were for a concert. An example was Jethro Tull where we closed seating on the floor as soon as all the chairs were full. I was in charge of that gate at Jethro Tull and that's how I met my first wife but I didn't marry her until 16 years later. Rolling Stones was different. It was festival seating all the way. 16,000 first come first serve so all we did was open the doors and let 'em pour in. I'll never forget that the late Bob Roberts was the first person on the floor. How he did it I'll never know but he had played football @ BAMA so he had practice running over people. The folks who worked security that night got there in the afternoon and witnessed this incredible production take shape. It was a full Hollywood stage hand union outfit. Never seen that. They drove the speakers into the venue on carts and those carts had two pillars that extended somehow and raised the speakers above the stage. They suspended this huge milar mirror across the hall and all lighting was onstage. It was one or two rows of super trooper spotlights behind the band, each operated by a union member. The spots were reflected off the mirror so there was no need for security outside the stage. All lighting was on the stage behind the band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esULRb7QMRg Anyone connected with that stage crew would make a great source for your story. At most gigs, we students got a free t-shirt with the band's name on it. I was 22 and had graduated in May. I was still on the UPC list so even though I was not enrolled so I still worked concerts during the summer and fall of '72. For the Stones there was no t-shirt. All we got was a name tag with the Stones lips and tongue on it. Looked like the head security guy for the band was a dark-skinned dude. Lots of celebrities. Almost certain I saw Jimmy Johnson from Muscle Shoals. David Hood might be a good source. https://www.al.com/life/2021/08/swampers-bassist-david-hood-remembers-charlie-watts-rolling-stones-muscle-shoals-sessions.html I saw this cat who looked just like Bobby Whitlock but he denied it. I still think it was Bobby Whitlock. Bianca was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Pretty sure she was wearing this white dress with a wide brim hat. Kind of a "down on the old plantation" costume. Pretty sure I saw Truman Capote. Truman's birth name was "Truman Persons" and his Daddy and Granddad had lived in Tuscaloosa so he'd been to T-town plenty of times. Somewhere in my stuff I've got that Life magazine with the cover story. https://www.google.com/search?q=%22mick+jagger%22+cover+of+life+magazine+1972&rlz=1CAXGER_enUS977&sxsrf=AOaemvL5NiyUFW8qHYH6kMd802WSLsg6bg:1635779176725&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiFm4mmuPfzAhWSTDABHcr7DvMQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1366&bih=649&dpr=1 Chip Monck was the stage manager. My job was to make sure nobody got to him or messed with his cables or electronics so I was on the left side of the stage during the show. Not on stage but below. The stage was about 12 feet high so nobody could get up on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Monck The stage was covered in formica with two Donald Duck dragons painted over it. A stagehand came out and mopped it with 7-Up so Jagger wouldn't slip when he went to the edge of the stage. The gospel group wasn't about much but Stevie Wonder got us stoked. The show was amazing. Imagine this dark hall and a glowing STONES right in the center with spotlights hitting the mirror and reflecting down. No lighting coming from the arena. The impact of the Stones' music on me goes way back to growing up in Dothan. That's a whole different post but by Midnight Rambler the crowd was going wild. When they broke into Street Fightin' Man, the crowd started trying to jump onto stage from the upper levels and somebody sent me up to stand behind the rail and warn folks that they might get hurt. Some girl fell and started yelling at me so I quit the job. Tore my name tag off, walked into the crowd and enjoyed the rest of the show. I was bad about eating hash brownies before a big show like that but I wasn't too buzzed that night because I'd done too much at the Who in the fall of '71 and didn't wanna have a bad reaction at the Stones so I enjoyed the performance. There's a lot to learn about that tour. It was the biggest production I've ever seen before or since.