Note: Always under construction!! <LOL>  This is a page in progress as I look for my old notes, photos, etc... to make sure the information is as close to correct as possible.  Most of this is from memory and we all know as time progresses, our memories become intertwined.  If you know me and find something out of place, please drop me an email and bring it to my attention. It is my goal to have all my notes as accurate as possible.

UPDATE: A good friend from years past, a fellow musician I worked with as well, Alan Lowery passed away February 3, 2011. Most remember him for singing the Billy Joel song "Piano Man". Many great memories with Alan. He will be missed.
Sad news, Long time entertainer and friend Jimmy Mitchell passed away November 25, 2007.  The Decatur Daily has a guest book and the obituary online for more details.  I am looking for photos and tapes to share in remembrance of our great friend.  I will update when I can.

 So I had met some of the musicians in Huntsville from playing the clubs during high school. Among them was Price Mitchell and his brothers Jimmy & Johnny who were known as The Mitchell Brothers.  They were known for their harmony and had been around the night club scene for a while.  Their band members were Jimmy on piano (he did some killer Jerry Lee Lewis style things), Johnny on organ,  Milton Sledge on drums, Mike Chapman on bass guitar and Roger Henson on lead guitar and occasionally steel guitar.

They were doing a weekly live broadcast on WBHP and a DJ named Dana Harmon was the MC for the show.  I assisted with some of the sound mixing and it was not bad for what it was.  This only lasted a few weeks when the club owner didn't want to pay the band their full pay one week.  So, the band moved from The Someplace Else Club to the other end of town and a newly opened hotel lounge called "The Flame".  I took a job there spinning records during the band break (the first in the area that didn't just turn on a juke box and the first club DJ in town although it was country/top 40 and not disco DJ as it later became).  While there, Mike had to take 2 weeks off for summer guard duty and they asked me to fill in on bass guitar.  While he was gone, I came down with a severe throat infection and the doctors put me on Percodan.  I had never had anything and didn't know what it was, so about half way through the night I couldn't stand up, and after sitting on a bar stool trying to play, ended up falling off of it and they took me to one of the hotel rooms.  I woke up the next morning on the floor, the lamp and phone on the floor beside me (I think I think I tried to get up during the night <LOL>).  I never took another one, I didn't like not being conscious!

Mike returned and gave his notice and the asked me to continue until they hired someone since I didn't want the job full time (I was working at WGSV, going to college and working the breaks at the club).  Well, while I was filling in, Bob Brockman (a partner) who was the manager and co-owner of the famous Carousel Club came in to hear the band and hired them.  The Carousel was a bigger club and seated probably 350-400 people.  The Mitchell brothers packed the house 6 nights a week, well, Sunday nights were a little slow as were Tuesday and Wednesday, but it would still be half full those nights.  I ended up not finishing college and playing with The Mitchell Brothers for 4 or 5 years, even after leaving The Carousel.  I later formed a Band and got the job back at The Carousel.  I can't remember the name of that band, but it featured Jan Young (female vocalist), Jerry Smith and later Carl Edwards (keyboards), Roddy Taylor (drums), Roger Henson and later Steve (can't remember his last name) on guitar along with myself on bass.

Now I should mentioned, I am remembering this as best I can so some of the info may not be perfect but it's the best I can remember in my (um hum) old age!  I had met a girl named Glenda Johnson who became my first ex wife.  We started dating in '77 and split up around '82.  It seems that Jan's husband Robert (who worked p/t at the club as a bar back/bouncer) was messing around with my wife (who also worked p/t as a weekend bartender there).  It was not planned, but the day I moved out from Glenda's house, Jan moved out from Robert's house... the next day, Robert moved in with Glenda.  They have been married ever since and the last I heard (a few years ago) are still together.

I hired the band to play on some music tracks for me a demo that I did at Music Mill Studio in Nashville.  Harold Shedd (the owner) used to have a studio in Huntsville and was recording a group called Alabama.  They were putting down some finishing touches on their first album the night I did my demo.  It was released on Mr. DJ records and the single was My Home's in Alabama.  It was a long song and Harold talked with me about doing a radio edit.  I was working at WBHP at the time and took a copy and did an edit.  We were the first station to play the song before it was actually released.  RCA picked it up so the Mr. DJ release I don't think happened.  RCA did their own edit so my edit was only heard on WBHP (and I think was better than the edit RCA did, but maybe I was biased).

After that band split up, I played a few local jobs before getting an offer to work with a musician who had been playing at another club in town for many years.  Wayne Bridge was the front man and guitar/steel guitar player for Frankie Lowery at The Peppermint.  He did floor shows as well as dance music and always was packed as well.  So, Roddy Taylor and I went to work with Wayne and a newly revamped version of his Kactus Kreek Band.  Originally, he had a horn section.. it was a killer band.  This was a smaller version of just a 4 piece group. 

The First Road Job - Wayne had met Johnny Greene at some point and Johnny's Band had just quit him to work with a guy named Charlie Daniels and he was looking for a replacement band.  Me, Wayne, a piano player named Johnny Bates and a drummer from Louisville named Bill Games started working as The Johnny Greene Band and took out on the road.   Now, this adventure is a book all in itself!  While working with Johnny Greene, Glenda and I decided in order to work our relationship and try to make it work that I should not be traveling around the country so I left the group and returned to Huntsville.

Back in Huntsville - I took a job at a small club called The Back Door Lounge while working on the relationship with Glenda.  While playing one night, word was sent that the owner of The Peppermint was wanting to hire the band and could be stop at the club after work.  Sunday night was their big "Foxy Lady Contest" night and it was always packed.  The club owner wanted to hire the band along with another 2 vocalists, Monkey Childress who was known around town and was a great entertainer but not the most recognized vocalist.  The second was a fantastic female vocalist named Becky Reading.  Becky and I had dated back before Glenda and I got married and I knew that would be a problem so I declined the job.  When I got back to the table where Glenda was, she was having a fit because she saw Becky go in the office too.  Before I could let  her know what had done, she was yelling at me and giving me orders about how I should go back in there and turn the job down or move out.  As the say, that was the straw that broke the camel's back... I did go back to the office but instead of turning it down, I accepted it.  I told Glenda later and 2 weeks later is when I moved.  She would still come by the club to see me, come by my apartment even after Robert moved in.  It really drove her nuts that Robert and I could have a few drinks and talk and were civilized about the whole thing.

That band really sounded great.  Wayne replaced Monkey to front the show and add a second guitar player.  Jake Gilliam was our drummer.  He and I had a blast and usually after work a few of us would go to his house and eat breakfast with him and his wife of the time Donna.  I became friends with Donna and their daughter gave me a friendship pin when she was about 8 or 9 (I still have it to this day).  Years later after they had divorced, I ran into her at a happy hour and we re-established our friendship. She needed some photography work done for her and a lingerie selling business she was doing on the side.. she was hot.  I also became better friends with her now grown (18) daughter Louisa and still keep in touch with them to this day.  They are awesome females!

The club was packed almost every night and on Sundays it was over flowing with beautiful ladies there for the Foxy Lady Contest (I took lots of pics!! and will share a few of my favorites).   While there, I took a job at WAFF-TV as an engineer. After leaving The Peppermint (It had changed it's name to The Super Star) we regrouped and played at a place called Martini's and had a blast. That was me, Wayne, Max Hunter and Mike Fontenot (I hope I spelled that correctly).  I played bass and keyboards (a talent that I developed somehow of playing the bass with one hand, my left, and the piano with my right).  Glenda and I had already split yet she was still coming around and I felt I should take the new job offer with Johnny Greene to be out of town again.  I turned in my notice at the TV station and the week after I left, the studio burned to the ground. 

We spent so much time in the Ashland, KY and Charleston, WV area that Wayne rented a house in Ashland.    That is also where we hired Matt Lowe for keyboards. We also brought up Steve Cameron from Decatur, AL to play drums. When we worked, we stayed in the hotels but since we were a little slow, Johnny had an RV that I lived in for a while. We needed more work so Johnny got the band booked without him at Carl's in Ashland, KY.  We had another guitar player named Steve but I don't recall his last name plus we hired a saxophone player named Ernie Dunlap. Very talented and could play 2 at one time, harmony in tune!!!

Johnny would get occasional bookings and we played often in the Charleston, WV area.  I met some nice people when we played at a place called Smiley's in the Cross Lanes area.  Including a fantastic woman named Lori Tillinghast (I've tried to track her down for many years... she was SOOO much fun and we stayed in contact for many years after).  I also acquired a miniature schnauzer I named Gilbey.  I think that was where Wayne left the band and Johnny worked out a deal to open a club in downtown Charleston.  We replaced the guitar player with Roger Henson and I brought up my lifelong friend Pat Coburn to manage the club (she was a genius with management and tax/money issues).  The timing was just right for her as she had just divorced her husband who tried to destroy her little red corvette with a hammer.  I got my brother in law to help her load up the u-haul and the drove the corvette into the u-haul and packed her stuff all over and around it.  What a site it was when she arrived and we had to figure out how to get it out of the u-haul <LOL>!

The band did a radio show there on WCAW for a few weeks, some good times there.  I met a few people that I became good friends with (Lou and Janet who owned a printing company  and Glen and Sheila who owned an upholstery company).  We had many parties at their house and the club.  Lou was a cigar smoker and turned me on to really good cigars, although I only smoke one or 2 a year.  They also followed the band after we left the area as well as on any returned engagements.  I really miss those guys!  They were closer to family than friends!  Roger got into some drugs and Pat had to let him go, I had to take his equipment down cause he was trying to fight everyone.  It was one of the hardest things to do even though he and I had in the past had a few words, he taught me so much about music in my first years with The Mitchell Brothers.

Eventually the club closed because the owner of the building and restaurant filed bankruptcy causing us to loose the lease/agreement.  I had rented an apartment in Cross Lanes and Pat became my room mate (again) when we moved her up. The band booked out on its own and Pat moved back to Alabama after living with a guy in Charleston for a while.  One of the jobs we booked was in the Cincinnati area where we met a musician who also operated a recording studio. The old Phil Donahue theme song was recorded there in fact.  He did a demo for us while there and it wasn't all that bad. 

We also worked at a place across the river from Ashland, KY at a hotel club.  Across the street was another club with a band and a singer named Billy Ray Cyrus.  We would cross the street on breaks to hear the other bands and occasionally have jam nights.  I had hired a local guitar/steel guitar player named Tim Sergeant who was multi-talented.  His girlfriend at the time was also a talented singer, a young 15 year old girl named Tonya Virgin.  I kept in touch with her for many years.  A good friend of theirs was Tim and Sherry.  Sherry later became a model for some catalog products for Service Merchandise... they both were beautiful women!  I went to a few of Tonya's beauty pageants when she was in high school and college.  She would always win or come in 1st runner up.

The owner of the club also booked in outside acts like Chuck Berry and Ronnie Dove.  Ronnie Dove brought a guitar player and then we backed him up.  We became friends and during some off time, I worked with them on a few jobs including Windsor, Ontario.  That was a blast as well!

Back In Alabama Again - I can't recall exactly why, but eventually I ended up back in the Huntsville area again.  Decatur had voted wet while I was gone and there were more jobs available so I started working with a group with Jan Young again.  The owner of the club was the Alton's dad.  Alton Thrasher had played guitar for The Mitchell Brothers and was an aggressive type musician, sometimes a little over bearing but a very talented guy.  I don't recall who else was in the band but we did front the Merle Haggard show at the VBCC in Huntsville.  Now, Merle used to come park his bus at The Carousel and we would jam on his bus and drink Tequila until way past daylight.  He did his best to try and get Alton's ex wife to leave with him that day, it was so funny.  She had a body to die and it was a general consensus that she had the most perfect ass for any woman  so who could blame anyone for that!

I rented a house from Alton's dad for $150.00 per month (can you believe that!) that was on Elm Street.  It was the last house on the street and only about 4 or 5 others on the street.  It sat on an acre lot with pecan trees and such.  Now, it was nothing fancy but very comfortable.  I set up a C-Band Satellite dish, had me a garden, and was living the good life.  Alton lived in the house on the corner.   I was working at WAJF in Decatur, had been playing at The Carriage Inn when we got hired to play at a dinner club called Mr. C's.  These were both in Huntsville and  with a drummer named Phil, a guitar player named Curtis Swaggart and a wonderful female vocalist named Charlene Carson Tolbert.  She was SOOO much fun and full of energy, we always had a great time.

This was the time I started taking flying lessons, I never finished but I did solo!  While living on Elm Street, the city did some water work on the main line and all of our water pressure dropped.  My neighbor and I called the water department and became pretty friendly with the supervisor (Mr. Waters was his name.. seriously!).  They finally decided to connect us to the big pipe, not the one at the end of our road, but the one that fed it.... my house was the only one that didn't have pipes bust from the surge of pressure.  Years later I was talking with a bartender that said he lived in the same area as Elm St.  He brought it up cause he lived on Baldwin Ave.  We talked about where the house was and come to find out, it was on the same street.  They had changed the name from Elm St. to Baldwin Ave... I am sure it had to do with the phone records from calling Mr. Waters and the Water department <LOL>.

I believe it was about this time that I went to the Gulfport/Bilolxi area with Wayne Bridge to open up a club there.  We spent a few weeks working on the club, rented a house and I worked p/t at WGCM (well, it was close to 40 hours a week but still considered a p/t position).  Charlene came down to work it, Jake Gilliam a drummer I had played with at The Super Star

It wasn't long until Price Mitchell was putting a band together without his brothers and hired me to help coordinate the band.  We played at The Carousel and hired a hot young fiddle player named Rhonda White (Carr).  I had known her from her playing in other bands but really become close friends with her.  She was one of those ladies that I could have loved, she was such a great woman!  She was also a great friend to me when I was dealing with Glenda and the break up.  We hired a bass player named Stanly Cottles, Les Hisaw for drums, I brought a friend from Baltimore down for guitar (I had worked with him while working with Ronnie Dove some) although he didn't stay very long.  We later replaced Les with Roddy Taylor on drums and added Phillip Moose Adcock to guitar.  The Carousel was celebrating it's 20th anniversary and Price, who had recorded several chart records including a top 10 of his version of "Personality" and had worked some shows with Johnny Lee, called him and asked him to come over and celebrate and perform with us.  He had just moved to Guntersville, AL although why I don't know <LOL>.  I had met him a few years earlier when he arrived with Nelson Larkin, a record producer for Price, for a session.  Nelson produced some of Johnny Lee's stuff as well as Billy Joe Royal, Earl Thomas Conlee and my friend (well, at least for a night or 2) Robin Lee's version of "Black Velvet".

The also started booking in some acts in the club like Billy Joe Royal and Highway 101.  We would play a set, then the booked in artist would do a set, then us again, then them.  Most of the time we shared equipment so there was less time between the acts.  Cactus with Highway 101 busted the snare on Roddy's drums and he wasn't a happy camper about that.  Mainly because he didn't offer to repair or cover the cost of a new snare head.

Rhonda left the band and took a day job with Liberty Mutual so we replaced her with Jan Young.  Not long after, the band had an offer to another club but with out Price.  This was a hard thing to do, but the band all decided it was better for all those concerned.  Price, who was a great singer and showman had gotten into talking so much, trying to be more of a showman that people were starting to complain to the rest of us.  They were calling him "gums" cause he talked so much.  He's still a friend of mine and although there was a hard period of a few months, we later worked together again (friends forgive their friends for even small things).

I wanted to name the band Priceless, but everyone thought that was tacky.  I think Price would have been honored (eventually).  So, the band I had put together now consisted of me on keyboards, Stanley Cottles on bass, Roddy Taylor on drums, Phillip Moose Adcock on guitar and Jan Young on vocals.  The new place was at the Carriage Inn and a local singer named Doyle Brady was taking the lease for the club and coffee shop but he didn't want anything but the club.  Stanley and I worked out a deal for the coffee shop.  I loved cooking and food and had thought of owning a restaurant for several years. It was a lot of work, I started the business with a $700 loan from Joe Clayton (he was part owner of The Carousel and also owned a Chevrolet dealership and was a great man).  Why $700?  I needed to buy the supplies to do the repairs and could not get a bank loan.  We spent several weeks working on the kitchen to pass the health department's inspection.  It had been closed for several years and was in bad shape, but we did it.

We didn't have money for much operating so I would go to the grocery store every morning to buy the supplies for the morning menu, take the money to buy the lunch supplies, etc... after a few days, I was able to buy a few things from the restaurant vendors and slowly built it up.  We played in the club at night, slept a few hours and opened for breakfast. I cooked, Stanley waited tables.  At night, I had another cook and my sister worked the tables then a good friend Nancy Connell worked for me for a while.  Pat Coburn had moved to Florida but was ready to come back to Alabama so after the first month, she came and helped me with the book keeping.  She was surprised to see how well I had done without really knowing what I was doing.  One of the highlights was getting my first catering job... nothing major, just for the Governor of the state of Alabama!  It went off without any problems.  It wasn't long until the holiday season and we got a few catering jobs from the hotel.  Most were out sourced since the manager didn't like us (he wanted his son to have the restaurant).  We got ambushed for the big holiday party by the hotel who got paid but didn't pay us and interfered with our service.  Now, to be brief, the hotel was required to have the holding kitchen in operational condition... it was not working that night (I think they sabotaged it), plus about half way through the serving, the hotel sewer backed up into the kitchen.  I closed and never opened again when the plumbing company said the back up was somewhere else on the property and the hotel refused to take care of it.

I had written checks to the vendors for the supplies since they new I had been paying them promptly.  But without the money from the catering job, I didn't have enough to cover the checks they were holding... That's another story for another page.  I also filed a law suite against the hotel and management.  The manager filed bankruptcy and was removed from the filing.  After a day in tilal, the judge dismissed the case. Every juror came by on their way out and made statements to me and Stanley about how we got screwed and some body is probably driving a new Cadillac.

Laredo Was Born - It wasn't long until we had a job offer with Price in Attalla, Alabama.  We took the job and after a few weeks, Price had left again.  There was a local steel guitar player named Barry Hunter who played with us and the band kicked ass.  We were the house band at The Showcase in Attalla, AL and one of the regulars was Danny Mayo, a songwriter who lived there.  He has since passed on, but is remembered for writing such hits like "Keeper of The Stars", "Feed Jake", "If I Had You" and many more.  He was also the writer of a few commercial jingles including the old Miller Beer "Buy That Man A Miller Beer" song.  He was a regular and really liked the band.  He was instrumental in our meeting and working with Russell Smith (writer and lead vocalist for "Third Rate Romance" with The Amazing Rhythm Aces).  Danny kept trying to get Russell to form a new group with us but Russell was working on his solo career that never took off.  He is a very talented song writer though and a very nice guy, plus I love his vocals.  We also did some work with Freddy Weller including some road work that took us to the Chicago area to do a show with Charlie Rich and then out to Nevada where we did a show with Roy Clark.

This gave the band a taste of the real road and within a few months we had a Nashville Booking agent who kept us busy.  Most of the work was in the Midwest but we were also able to work out a house job at "The Stage Door Lounge" in the Opryland Hotel.  This was where the first Nashville Now was taped before moving to a bigger studio.  To my knowledge, we were the only "house" band to play at the Opryland Hotel lounges but to make it all work, we still booked out.  We were also the highest paid band to work at any of the lounges at the Opryland hotel and they made a special booking for us to play during the CMA awards one year.  Only CMA attendees were allowed in the areas where the lounge was.  We met several people plus CBS gave me a great bolo tie commemorating the show.

We were booked in Albuquerque, NM for a week at a place called The Caravan East.  It was a huge club and they had a happy hour quartet then we took the stage.  The house sound man took the feed from us individually so I didn't mix the sound from the stage like I usually did.  The first night, the club owner kept asking us to do songs we had just done, etc.. he kept say the band doesn't have any punch, etc... I finally talked with him on break and told him we had just done the song he asked for and wondered why he hadn't noticed or heard it.  He said, it was just dull sounding and he wasn't listening.  I told him we would come in the next day and check the sound system to find out why, etc... Well, the sound board was set to not have much of anything but vocals on us.. the drums only had the snare plugged in, no kick drum, no bass guitar... so, I set up our board and got a mix then sent the left and right outputs to his board.  That night, the bouncers had to pull their sound man off of me and bar him for the rest of the week.  He was pissed off but had no explanation for what he had done. I found out that he wanted  his band to work there that week because it was the week of the state fair and was a busy week.  The next night as we are about to start our 3rd set, I heard someone at the desk (it was right behind the stage) ask if this was the same Laredo that is from Huntsville, AL.  The doorman said he didn't know to ask the keyboard player he's right around the corner.  I look at the guy and it's Cactus with highway 101.  They had played at the fair that night and saw our name on the sign and stopped to jam with us.  It was funny when he got up to play the drums he smiled at Roddy and jokingly said "let's see what I can tear up tonight!".  He later paid Roddy for the drum head he had broken a year or so earlier.  Of course, Highway 101 knew us and came in so the club owner loved us then!! <LOL>... oh, and that was the night the club owner also booked in an all female band called "Wild Rose".  We ALL had a blast that night!  The next day, we did an interview at the club with The Bellamy Brothers.

I Love Lucy Lives - Now it was not always great times, we had our share of problems.  Since we had no money for fancy buses or even a trailer, we bought an old camper trailer (the old one with the round back from the 50s) and fixed it up.  Stanley painted it will left over paint (a funky red and pink color) and we were for sure noticed.  When we first arrived in NM we stopped to get something to eat... a van pulled up beside us with exactly the same paint job.. it was weird!  Now, as we were leaving Albuquerque to go to North Dakota, I noticed something flashing in the side mirror... Roddy's drums were falling out the back of the trailer!! We had to stop and mend it before continuing... but we made it.  We got booked back in Nevada a few times without Freddy Weller.  The Casino seemed to like us. They booked us to front the show for The Smother's Brother in the big room then the 2 weeks after we played in the cabaret.  I was left a message at the front desk from Robin Lee who had played there the week before.  That was the last I ever heard from her, but she sure was fun and a great singer/entertainer!

It wasn't long before a little ego started forming in some of the band members while the agent was talking with me about a few things to improve the band and get us booked on a cruise ship which was going to be an increase in our pay as there are no expenses there.  I called a band meeting but they didn't believe me and we decided that the band had their direction and it wasn't the same as what I wanted and so I gave my notice.  The were in shock when they saw our Nashville agent in the audience that night but their pride must have prevented them from talking about it.  We played there through Christmas night before heading home.  It had not been about 0 for about a week, it was very, VERY cold.  We had to start the van every hour because we didn't  have a heater for the engine block (we were from the south, who knew!).  When we finally did get the trailer packed up, we headed out.  Even with the heater in the van on, there was still ice on the inside of the windows, we all had blankets and were freezing our butts off.  The van eventually overheated and busted a radiator hose.  At least it was before Salt Lake City as it seems every time we went through SLC, we had car problems.  In fact, on the way out on this trip we broke down there at 4am.  Jan and I were talking with the clerk at the truck stop when this guy came in and started talking to all of us.  He finally said he recognized us and that we should recognize him, he was Lynard Skynard and went to get us a copy of his record.  He brought in a worn out cassette.  Now most people know, Lynard Skynard was the name of a couch at the high school where one of the band members went to school.  He named the band after the couch cause he didn't like him.

So, we made it home.  A few days later we played our last job together (New Years Eve) as Laredo.  In 1992 I ended up working with a group called Stetson back at The Carousel.  It was now under different ownership and management. Joe Stafford, who had owned The Red Carpet, was the owner. He was a great boss man and had a great staff.  Rhonda was playing music again and was in the band along with a keyboard player named Alan Lowery and a guitar player named Ronny Hardy (I believe).  We had a lot of fun here and I met some very nice ladies including my 2nd ex wife, Carol Hornbuckle.  We married June 13, 1993 and had a blast reception with so many friends from the club.  My best man, my best friend, Jan Young (ok, she wasn't a man, but she was my best friend) who was in the band also (she was the one that her ex husband married  my ex wife).  This is also where Tracy Hughes and I met and became friends.  She and Carol remained friends for many years as well.  She gave me this wonderful card many years later (see image on left-click card to read inside) There were a lot of great people that came to the club and I became friends with, especially some ladies (Laura and Amy Ryan, Melinda Seagars, Darlene Gordy and Karen Martin - see gallery).  Karen wanted to enter the Achy Breaky Heart dance contest so I video taped her to send in.  Unfortunately, she was quickly diagnosed with throat cancer and it rapidly spread.  She was not with us much longer.  I had made her a promise way before she knew she was sick to sing "Unchained Medley" at her funeral if I was still around then.  We didn't know it was going to be within a year.  I still miss her and her friendship, her smiles and happy personality!  I miss a lot of old friends actually.

Right after I joined the ban we played the telethon and was booked to be right on before The Forrester Sisters.  Now, I had been a fan of them for a while and one in particular I found to be extremely beautiful and dreamed about.  So hear we are, doing our first song that I'm singing and I see her looking at me with a very sweet yet intense look then during the guitar ride, she winks at me!  I don't usually get flustered or caught off guard like that, but I just started singing the next verse right there.. just on top of the guitar ride... we all found that funny afterwards.  I later saw her in Nevada when working with Razzy Baily.  I still love those girls although I don't know them that well.

About that time, the band was making a change to become Desert Wind with Anita Biss (Palmer) who was known for singing at another huge club in town and an excellent (and most beautiful woman) singer! We hired her old bass player Randy, guitar player Ronny Hardy, and Roddy Taylor on drums while I returned to keyboards.  Anita and I also did some freelance weddings and such.  I took a job at a large club in Decatur with Roddy, a married couple (Tommy and Angie Roberts with Tommy on guitar), Doug Maples on bass.  This was also a large club and we had a blast!

It wasn't long before someone else had bought The Carousel and changed the name to The WIld Wild West.  The band there was needing a bass player so I took the job.  The keyboard player was one of the best there is, Danny Bealer.  Roger Wallace on guitar, First Brian Williams (in photo) then Rodney Powell on drums and a young and beautiful vocalist named Nikki Taylor (Bronson).  This woman can put most of the stars to shame, always perfect!  We did a few little sessions and wrote a few songs together.  She became my best friend and room mate for a while (after Carol moved out).  I would LOVE to re-establish contact with her!