Michael Maestro's blog post about the first Marshall amp to make it to America: http://www.michaelmastro.com/FirstMarshall.html?fbclid=IwAR1xx_WDthpHiE2E_5QrQf9EnzxfQHywB-2w3MLuAhU-6TN9h0rMTRkID7w

 December 4, 2004 

ROBERT, 

SPEAKING OF GUITAR DISTORTION, I KNOW A LITTLE.
JOHN RAINEY HAD THE FIRST DISTORTION PEDAL IN AMERICA AS FAR AS I KNOW. YOU CAN ASK THE MEMORY CELL(RODNEY) TO VERIFY. JIMMY PAGE GAVE IT TO JOHN RAINEY IN LONDON AFTER WE TOURED AUSTRALIA WITH THE WALKER BROTHERS AND
ROY ORBISON. THE YARDBIRDS OPENED THE SHOW AND WE BECAME VERY CLOSE WITH PAGE. HE LOVED THE CANDYMEN AND EVEN SAID HE WAS QUITING THE YARDBIRDS AND STARTING A NEW BAND. HE SAID HE MIGHT EVEN MOVE TO ATLANTA AND PLAY WITH US. LATER HE STARTED LED ZEPPELIN. THERE'S A WHOLE LOT MORE I CAN TELL ABOUT THIS STORY, BUT MAYBE IN A BOOK.
OH YEAH!
WE ALSO HAD THE FIRST MARSHALL AMPS EVER IN THE U.S.
ASK RODNEY THE ROCKER!!!
GOOD EVENING,
RENEGADE ROBERT NIX!!!

 

from Danny Miller: I first saw John Rainey Adkins during the summer of 1966 at Misty Waters. I was 18 and he was 24. He was playing a Fender Telecaster with a thumb pick through a Marshall amplifier.

His band~The Candymen are

still to this day~the finest band I ever saw. They achieved a level of musical ability under his leadership that remains unequaled. They were a musician's band. They played the

hardest songs perfectly. They were grown men who were all world class professional

musicians. They had traveled the world backing up Roy Orbison~ and they knew The

Beatles. They were the real deal. They were the first great band I had ever seen that did

not dress alike. John Rainey was the essence of 1960's cool. He wore blue jeans,

tennis shoes, his shirt tail out, and a scarf on stage, and he bounced up and down as he

played. He projected virtuosity, happiness~ wit~ and true cool. His playing was perfect

and effortless. He played the hardest licks correctly and with the correct sound and

attitude. I wanted to be just like him. We became friends years later and he told me

many fascinating stories. I went to see The Candymen play anytime I wasn't playing.

Watching them was like going to rock and roll school. I never failed to learn something

from them. John Rainey inspired me to work hard, learn things right, and to become

a professional guitar player. I last saw him in 1982. He died in 1989.

 

The Candymen started out as a backing band for Roy Orbison but eventually started their own act. This poster shows the band after their keyboard player, Little Bobby Peterson was drafted and Kinston, Alabama's Dean Daughtry took over. Lower photo: John Rainey Adkins(Dothan), Rodney Justo (Tampa), seated Bill Gilmore (Sarasota), standing Robert Nix (Jacksonville), Dean Daughtry(Kinston, Alabama)