Circa 2005 email from Dr. Jim Turner (1950-2008)

"Before Tippy went into the Army he was the most beautiful person you ever met. But, his experience in the Army changed him forever.  I think if he had been able to get out of the draft he would still  be alive today.  After Eddie Hinton quit his job at Muscle Shoals Sound studio to work on my record, he picked Tippy as his replacement and everything was going fine until Tippy was drafted. Eddie and I had moved to Atlanta and were working on getting a record deal for our album.  Then, some strange things happened.  Tippy got drafted and Eddie got strung out on speed and weed. Eddie blew our deal with Atlantic Records and also with Island and Warner Brothers.  So, after 2 years of waiting for him to  get a deal I gave it up and went back to college and then onto medical school.  The last time I saw Tippy was in June of 1979 when I left Alabama to move to San Diego and begin my internship.  He and I and Joe Rudd all played together at a VFW club.  I believe it was only about a month later that I got a call telling me Tippy had shot himself. Tippy's mother was a patient of mine when I moved back to Tuscaloosa in 1986."