My initial introduction to any music was by my Grandmother in the early 40s when about 3 or 4. Every Saturday I was required to listen to opera. This was during WWII and occasionally we heard Kate Smith belt out “America” or some other patriotic ditty. A couple of years later when attending Mrs. Cushman’s kindergarten in Buckhead, the entire class was organized into a band. Early on someone said I was tone deaf and I had no musical talent. Also I couldn’t play any instrument, so she assigned me the triangle or a wooden block. I marched at the back of the band. By now you must realize this blog is about the music that I listen to and has nothing to do with my playing music. At about the same age I was introduced to two very different types of music: country and western and the blues. My Dad, Alan Clow, had a Silvertone radio painted green and a 78 rpm record player. I enjoyed the Hank Williams set which included Kalija, Jambalaya and Rye Whiskey. I still enjoy those songs. One day I was standing outside the “Help’s Quarters” behind our house listening to AM radio. The radio was tuned to Atlanta disk jockey Zenas Sears. Every so often he would say something like “Kreazar Kreazar – we are here Kreazessing”. And what that means I have no idea. Same for “…One salt two salt little zing-um-zang.” Occasionally Zenas would play “Caldonia what makes your head so hard…Bop!” or another favorite of the time “Drinking wine Spoodie Oodie…drinking wine Bop Bop..pass that bottle to me…” Lots of bopping going on… Hell it was WWII! This kind of music was definitely held in low regard. Caldonia set the stage for 70 years of enjoying blues and rock and roll.
My formal music education focused on listening to AM radio, WLAC, Nashville, Tenn. I , along with hundreds of thousands of other southern teenagers listened to Disk Jockies Gene Knobles, “John R.” Richbourg, Herman Grizzard, and “Hossman” Allen. It was brought to me by sponsors Royal Crown Hair Pomade, Ernies Record Mart, and White Rose Petroleum Jelly. Contests were held to determine the most unusual use for petroleum jelly – often with a double entendre – like to “lubricate my saw” or “grease her gate”. Oh yes, Madame Walker…..I can’t remember what Madame Walker was all about. But you were in the know if when time for a hair cut you would say “It’s time for Madame Walker to walk around the edges”. Anyway, it was on WLAC that I was introduced to Bo Diddley, Little Richard, The Turbans, Chuck Berry, Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Carl Perkins, Big Joe Turner and Fats Domino. Incidentally there was some music that we did not listen to: Definitely NO Frank Sinatra or Pat Boone and his sissy britches and white buck shoes. Ricky Nelson wasn’t that cool either. Both Bo Diddley and Fats Domino popped up several times later in my life. These musicians are without a doubt the most important musicians in American History.
During High School years in Greenville, SC and Kingsport, TN, I was fortunate to occasionally attend a Rhythm and Blues Show. The shows were held at local auditoriums and were segregated – Whites in the balcony and Blacks downstairs. When there was only a single floor, the whites and blacks were separated by a rope. When the joint started rocking the whites went downstairs or the rope came down. There were always plenty of cops to keep their eyes on “race music” events and always shut it down when too much hell was raised or the music or dancing got too raunchy. This was always the case when Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts were at the Pavilion in Myrtle Beach, SC ( I need to do a blog on Myrtle Beach in the mid-50s). When the “Nuts – you get ‘em from the peanut man” – appeared on stage they usually were only allowed to play a couple of numbers before being physically removed. I have seen the whole group taken off in handcuffs. I understand at one time it was illegal to send one of their albums through the mail. Most radio stations wouldn’t play “Annie had a Baby”.
Fats Domino's Piano in the Lower 9th Ward after Katrina
At one of the Rhythm Shows in Greenville we went backstage and saw Fats Domino sitting on a box sweating profusely. He was struggling with getting some equipment back to his tour bus. Me and my buddies were happy to help him. A number of years later during Hurricane Katrina, some National Guardsmen were surprised to see Fats waving out of a window in the Lower 9th Ward. After the Hurricane he stayed in Baton Rouge with his grandaughter’s boyfriend LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell.
Bo Diddley & Me at the Lumberyard, Mobile, AL
My all-time favorite was the man from McComb, Mr. Bo Diddley. I was in luck to see him up close several times. The last was at the Lumber Yard in Mobile. His cousin was sitting at our table and asked if “after the show – we would like to go back and have a beer with him”. I sat down next to Bo and started some small talk. He said the next day he was going to South America. As a take on one of his songs I said, laughing, “Hey man, you are already in South America”.
Me & Gatemouth Brown on the street in New Orleans
In the late 50s I went in the Air FARCE. I was sent to northern Germany where my top-secret job in communications intelligence was to copy Russian and East European military stations. It didn’t take me long to determine that morse code transmissions between a couple of Russian radio operators was damn boring – just endless 5-digit number groups. It was a short spin of the dial down to AM station Radio Luxembourg and Ruth Brown belting out “Jim Dandy to the Rescue”.
Luckily, we now live on the Mississippi Coast nor far from New Orleans and close to the Delta. We keep up with music on radio stations WWOZ and in a couple of hours we are on Frenchman’s Street or in the Treme Section and Tipitina’s is just out St. Charles Avenue. Just up the road is the Mississippi Delta and its many juke joints and annual blues festivals. The AM stations in Clarksdale still play Muddy Waters.
Me & Wet Willie, AKA Jimmy Hall, Spanish Fort, AL
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