Our Monthly Club Meeting will be Sunday, November 8th at the Homewood Public Library. 2:00 PM

*****Next club meeting will be December 13th, 2009, the second Sunday******

SPECIAL GUEST THIS MONTH
BE SURE TO BE AT THIS MONTH’S MEETING AND HEAR FROM HAYES HOPPER, AN ORIGINAL MEMBER OF THE TIKIS. HAYES WILL GIVE US THE “REAL” SCOOP ON THE TIKIS AND WHAT IT WAS LIKE BEING IN THE GROUP, THE GIGS THEY DID, DAYS (AND NIGHTS) AT THE RECORDING STUDIOS AND TRAVLING WITH THE GUYS. HOPE YOU CAN BE THERE FOR THIS INFORMATIVE MEETING. BRING A FRIEND.

AT OUR SEPTEMBER MEETING WE PAID TRIBUTE TO ONE OF BIRMINGHAM’S FIRST ROCK AND ROLL BANDS, BAKER KNIGHT AND HIS KNIGHTMARES. WE HAD NAT TORTORICI AND A. D. DARBY, MEMBERS OF THE KNIGHTMARES, AS WELL AS BOB REDUS, BAKER’S STEP-BROTHER AS OUR SPECIAL GUESTS. I WAS SENT AN ARTICLE THAT APPEARED IN THE CITY SCENE SECTION OF THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS OCTOBER 21, 2005 AT THE TIME OF BAKER’S PASSING SO I THOUGHT I WOULD INCLUDE IT HERE.

BAKER KNIGHT SPOKE TO THE WORLD THROUGH HIS SONGS, SUFFERED ILLNESS ALONE

It’s an image that has stayed with me for years. Now, I'm unlikely ever to forget it. A wary, angular man stands with his guitar near the railroad tracks running along First Avenue South in Birmingham. His silver hair is ruffled slightly by the breeze. He's wearing a casual, expensive-looking jacket and a blue shirt buttoned tightly up to the neck. The guitar is white and of the electric variety, possibly a Les Paul. Veteran songwriter Baker Knight was doing his best to pose for the camera, but I could tell it wasn't easy for him. His jaw worked nervously, and he kept rolling his tongue around the outer surface of his teeth.

He had to be coaxed to remove the guitar from its sturdy case, and would do no more than prop it vertically at his feet, resting his hands at the top like a cane. He had trouble smiling. I think Knight trusted me, after several hours of interviews in his Vestavia Hills home, and he had taken a liking to the photographer.
But he was anxious and afraid. Of what, I can't exactly say. I later found out that Knight, who suffered from agoraphobia, had forced himself to leave the house that day. He wanted to seem as normal as possible, and he wanted his picture on the cover of City Scene.

Paul McCartney had just revived one of his songs, "Lonesome Town," on the album "Run Devil Run” and Knight was quite proud of that. In November 1999, at age 66, Knight was hoping for a career resurgence - for the respect and praise that be had missed since moving back to his hometown in 1985.
Unfortunately, fame never returned during Knight's lifetime.

A Birmingham native, he made his name as a composer in Los Angeles, where he wrote radio hits and album tracks recorded by artists ranging from Elvis Presley to Mickey Gilley during the 1950’s, '60s and '70s. Ricky Nelson was a friend, and the teen Idol frequently cut Knight's songs. So did Dean Martin. But Knight's success was halted by illness - specifically, fibromyalgia, an energy-sapping ailment similar to chronic fatigue syndrome. He also dealt with an acute anxiety disorder.

"I have a very sensitive nervous system." Knight confided soon after we met 'One thing makes the other thing worse. But I think I've got it pretty well licked."

According to his daughter, Tuesday Knight, Baker Knight was in a great deal of pain recently. He was found dead in his home on Oct 13, He was 72. "I feel completely broken," she says. "You couldn't find a more wonderful, giving. talented and caring man. My dad never knew how amazing he truly was."

Ms. Knight, who lives in Studio City, Calif., believes the end came several days before her father's body was discovered. He didn't have many visitors, and described himseIf as a loner. However, Knight and his daughter talked on the telephone frequently, sometimes three or four times daily. Last week, she became worried by silence on his end of the line.

"He never really felt accepted in Birmingham." she says. "Professionally, there are more creative people out there, that understanding things. We had talked about him coming out here to live. He was the other half of me."

A memorial service for Knight will be held at 4 P.M. today at Ridout's Valley Chapel, 1800 Oxmoor Road in Homewood. His body is being cremated, Ms. Knight says. Meantime, newspapers all over the country have published accounts of his death.

Baker Knight wrote more than 1,000 songs, including "Lonesome Town”, “The Wonder Of You" and "Don't the Girls All Get Prettier At Closing Time”. He also wrote a memoir, self-published this year, titled “A Piece of the Big-Time: My Songs. My Success, My Struggle for Survival”. It details a childhood filled with loneliness and emotional abuse, a young manhood dependent on alcohol, his early days in music with a local group, Baker knight and the Knightmares, and his stressful ups and downs in California. It is frank, confessional and very sad, even when Knight is talking about his triumphs. But he appears to find some personal solace at the end.

"As long as I’ve gone along," he writes on page 416,” I have felt the pain deeply all over again. I've said what I wanted to say and earned my own self-respect doing it. I feel worthy of being here these days.
Knight sent me an autographed copy of the book a couple of months ago. During a brief phone conversation, he admitted that be didn't expect anyone to pay attention to it. Still, Knight was glad he had set his story down on paper.

I am too.

Side note to Baker Knight’s “Lonesome Town”. Paul McCartney sang this song at a ceremony as a tribute to his late wife, Linda. McCartney also included the song on his 1999 CD, “Run Devil Run”. One Baker Knight fan once said that “Heartbreak Hotel” is located in “Lonesome Town”.

Had another interesting bit of info sent to me recently. A record on eBay had some background info concerning the artists which happened to have an Alabama flavor. Othell Sullivan was the artists. The record, on a Dallas label called Longhorn, was “A Fool To Care”. Here is what was said:

In the Cowboy Songs issue of June 1955 we read that when WVOK went on the air 'nearly eight years ago', the Dixie Jamboree was born, which means around 1947. The show was an hour and a half presentation at noon on Saturdays. Then it was sequeled on Saturday nights when Dan Brennan (producer / emcee) presented another show at the Birmingham National Guard Armory.

After the Saturday night show, rounds of square dancing followed. Othell Sullivan and his Radio Pals usually did the musical chores for that portion. Other acts of the Jamboree also played Saturday night gigs at National Guard Armory and Legion Halls throughout Northern Alabama.

One of the unique aspects of the show was a "Talent Finding Contest" conducted by Dan Brennan about once a year. It was known to attract talent from around the state and introduced the audiences to some great new artists.

The mainstay of the Dixie Jamboree was Othell Sullivan and the Radio Pals. And wouldn't you know it, they were first place winners in the 1951 "Talent Finding Contest."

Another popular act was that of the Brewster Brothers and steel guitarist, Ray R. Myers. Mr. Myers had a unique way of playing the instrument as he was born without arms. Fans flocked to see the group and Ray play the guitar with his feet while accompanying the band. On top of that, there was usually a big run for the exits after the show. Why? They wanted to see Mr. Myers drive! Yes, he was the nation's only licensed automobile driver at the time that was born without arms.
Some of the acts that were a part of the WVOK Dixie Jamboree included:
• Othell Sullivan and his Radio Pals
• Red Bates and his Boys
• The Brewster Brothers and Ray Myers
• Satterfield's Southern Serenaders
• Harry Blevins and the Steel City Playboys
• Waldon Trio

Going to the Winter Dance Party in Clear Lake, Iowa this year? Some of the acts this year include Fabian, Freddy Cannon, Dickey Lee, Lesley Gore, The Orlons and Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers. Feb. 4-6, 2010 at The Surf Ballroom.

UPCOMING RECORD SHOWS

Atlanta…….Sunday, Nov. 22. Marriott Century Center . Located At I-85 & Clairmont Rd Exit 91.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

DEC…..OUR ANNUAL DIRTY SANTA GAME AND ANOTHER FREE-FOR-ALL WHICH IS WHERE YOU CAN BRING THOSE 45’S AND/OR LP’S THAT ARE IN THE WAY AND LET MEMBERS HAVE THEM FOR FREE.

THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING GOING ON AT THE MEETINGS SO BE SURE TO MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND DROP BY FOR FOOD, FUN, MUSIC AND FELLOWSHIP.

SEE YA,

CHARLIE