Known Felons in Drag

While in the process of trying to explain the existence of Jerry McGill aka Curtis Buck aka many more, to the music world.. I came across the poster from "Confederation" days in Memphis. This was a concert that we did at the coliseum, Yeah the same spot where King Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman duked it out. Even though McGill's picture is on the poster.. he didn't perform. He was in attendance however. It seems the federales were looking for him but they were not looking for a female.. thus "Known Felons in Drag" which later became the title of the first Mudboy album

Noteworthy

The Playground Team (Jim and Jill) took off on Saturday April 2nd and drove to Memphis to attend the unveiling ceremony of Jim Dickinson's Brass Note on Beale Street.

The ceremony was held on April 3rd in front of the New Daisy.

John Fry from Ardent studio opened remarks. His first was that Jim was the first independent record producer he had ever worked with. John and Jim were contemporaries and basically the same age, but it occurred to me that Dickinson was one of the first independent producers anywhere. John continued with well deserved endearing remarks.

Knox Phillips followed John. Channeling some of his Dad's revival spirit he told studio war stories of unique situations involving Dickinson sessions which included known felons in drag, Harleys playing to Gene Chrisman's beat on a Dan Penn track. firearms and mojo charms. We very much enjoyed Knox's genuine heartfelt presentation. There were other speakers including Congressman Steve Cohen, wife Mary Lindsay, sons Luther and Cody. All in all it was a moving ceremony and we were able to visit with many an old friend and compadre. We were spiritually uplifted.


There was an impromptu jam session following the ceremony across the street at the Old Daisy. Jill and I played gigs and events with Jim and MudBoy and the Neutrons at both Daisys. Jim's 3 day 50th birthday celebration was at the New Daisy.





On the trip back to Playground, Jill made me stop in Jackson to visit the site of Ace Records where I grew some teeth in the record biz with Johnny Vincent back in the 70's. This is the Mississippi Blues Trail Marker that now stands in front of the old studio site. A special thanks to Jim O'Neal for including me on the sign.. I can send my grandchildren there sometime in the future

Lots of memories were remembered and experiences relived. A special thanks to the Turley's who hosted us in Memphis



Photo from the Mississippi Blues Trail Marker of a record I recorded for Johnny.
Ace 2028 Genuine Mississippi Blues.. I believe they are still available for purchase
Chief

With Sabres In Our Hands

http://soundcloud.com/playgroundrecording/with-sabres-in-our-hands

Excerpt from Robert Gordon to accompany the song
This was 1974, and the divergent forces in Memphis music came together that night at the post-Elvis studio built by the master around the corner from Sun. It was a session for Jerry McGill, whose Topcoats were the South Memphis hoods that East Memphis mamas were too scared to hire in the late 1950s. McGill's one released recording had been for Phillips some twenty-five years earlier. Jim Dickinson was producing the session, using demo money he'd wrangled from Warner Brothers. Those present included Danny Graflund, Campbell Kensinger, Marcia Hare, and another of the Mud Boy dancers. Impresario Jim Blake was there, as was writer Stanley Booth. Knox Phillips, Sam's elder son, was engineering the session.
Campbell sat in the control room drinking Wild Turkey from a fifth, bouncing the bottom of the glass bottle on the floor as he listened to other people tell stories. "You ever think of 'the Law' as a whole fucking table?" Campbell asked. And he picked up a coffee table, put the corner in his mouth, tried to bite it off.
Stanley Booth, who was practiced in the martial arts, leapt up and karate chopped a decorative wooden shingle into two pieces. Campbell was extremely unimpressed. Blake remembers Campbell saying, "These guys in my gang walk around with these guns and knives and shit and they think they're tough. I'll show you tough," and Campbell whipped his noonchuks from his back pocket and started hitting himself on the left side of the head. "About twenty times," says Blake, "stuff that would have not only disabled me or you, but would have given us permanent brain damage. And he said, 'Now that's tough.' Hey, nobody could disagree with that."
Knox and Dickinson, who was thinly slicing hog tranquilizer for sustenance, kept their attention on McGill, who was overdubbing the vocal. Knox remembers that he was singing "Desperados Waiting for a Train," but Dickinson believes it was a Civil War song called "With Sabres in My Hand." In the latter number, there is a line that upset McGill every time, a line at the end of the song in which the Southern narrator refers to "the lost cause." Dickinson leaned to Knox to confirm that he'd frisked McGill before the session.
"Yes," said Knox, "I got his gun."
"Gun?" said Dickinson. "Guns!"
At that moment, Eggleston was entering the studio floor with his video camera, and McGill's fuse lit. It was bad enough admitting defeat on audio tape, but to have it chronicled on video was too much. Eggleston crept closer as the song neared its climax. The camera was on top of McGill when he said the scurrilous words. The goddamn line sung, the final notes fading, McGill reached into his jacket and stated, "Lost cause my ass," unloading his six gun into the ceiling. Instinctively, everyone in the control room ducked. When Dickinson looked up, Knox was still at the board.
"What're you doing?" he hissed.
Stated the ace engineer, "The gun needs mo' echo."

Death Day...August 16 1977

Ok..33 years ago, Jill and I are living at 100 North Main in Memphis... Lowenstein Towers 20th floor over looking the Mighty Mississippi.

The previous night we had played and engagement with MudBoy at an old porn theatre on Madison that had been converted into a Rock and Roll Joint.. I believe it was called the Ritz... A couple of years earlier, I had seen "Behind the Green Door" there.


Knox Phillips on death day

Following the performance, Dickinson and I were talking to Herbie O'Mell. Herbie said that he had earlier heard from Joe Espsito at Graceland and Elvis had not come down from upstairs in 2 days or so and everyone was getting worried. We collect our fifty bucks or whatever and go on home. The following day is my birthday.. Jill and I are lounging around the apt.. I actually was on some pretty heavy pain meds at the time as Pat Rainer and I had been in a pretty serious auto accident over by the Pink Palace just a few days earlier.. so I had a big patch on my face where some glass had cut me during the accident.

Dickinson call up about 1:30pm and asks if we had heard the news. About 30 minutes later, while still on the phone the news flash came across the TV. Dickinson said he was headed into town. We all meet up at Phillips Recording... where the phone is ringing off the hook. Knox and Ricky were there. Robert Palmer calls at some point and says he'll be in Memphis in 3 hours. Robert, from the "Insect Trust" band had become a senior music writer at the NY Times
Robert Palmer and Randall Lyon Death Day 1977

Palmer arrives a few hours later via taxi (which cost him a fortune as there were few taxis available and hotel rooms were really hard to get). I end up driving Robert to Graceland. It was a madhouse. The picture below is Palmer outside the gates of Graceland on this day 33 years ago. I also took photos at the funeral a few days later. If you'll remember, there were at least two Elvis fans hanging outside the gate that were killed by passing motorists.

I thought it might be appropriate to publish these pictures, or let them escape on this day in 2010..
almost to the minute of when this saga began.

Other folks who showed up at Phillips during this 3 day period were Tav Falco, Charles Rateri, Randall Lyon, Pat Rainer and several of the Sun artists who had recorded concentrically with Elvis..



Robert Palmer NY Times at Graceland on Death Day

The Tucker Street Raid

Finley Duncan and Shelby Singleton at Playground site in Valparaiso

Flashback


So.. In Late 72 or so, on this same farm in Brentwood, I had a two track recording set-up. We had different musicians and songwriters in and out. It was adequate for song demos and the like. Jimmy Louis was a friend from Florida who ironically happened to record at Playground and had a record out on Shelby Singleton's Plantation label. He and his wife came to Nashville to visit us in a Lime Green 68 Caddy. Word got out that Shelby had a film projector and was going to have a showing of "Deep Throat" at his studio. (Gotta remember this was before VHS). So Louis and I attend the event and meet David Alan Coe, who was signed to Shelby also at the time but had cut his first LP down in Valparaiso which came out on Shelby's label called "Penitentiary Blues" that was co-produced by Teddy Paige.

Coe ends up coming back to the farm and staying 3 days.. we sang, wrote and recorded night and day for about 3 days.Within a month Coe had signed with Columbia and we went along as his backing band. The first album that he recorded for Colombia "The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy" was largely a result of the farm sessions. As Columbia, started promoting the Coe product.. we played gigs and did TV shows, even played the Ryman. However, we missed Memphis and would make regular trips on the weekend back to the Bluff City to hang with our rock and roll buds. Before Coe was signed to CBS he wrote for Pete Drake.. we did a lot of hangin out at Pete's Place on 17th Ave. There was a set of apartments across the street.,Dottie West had one, Linda Hargrove had one and McGill, for short time had 2. McGill would end up making alot of those weekend trips to Memphis with us. For a time perspective. this was during the time Eggelston was shooting "Stranded in Canton". As Coe started to gain recognition, different sidekicks, road managers etc. began to appear..



The Tucker Street Raid
The first manager made the mistake of giving me a ride from Nashville to Memphis in his little MG. We docked at Hal Newman's apt. behind Huey's on Madison Ave. Hal had a perpetual tab at Huey's and we could literally receive food and beer through the window.. Hal had a baby grand in the front room so there was always lots of songwriting and singing going on there. On the day of our arrival I stashed the road manager on Hal's sofa.. and we went about the task of making music in Memphis. Jerry was there speaking in rhyme. He had embodied the spirit of Confederate General Nathan Beauregard Forrest... he was toting around a homemade weapons bag that included swords, bows and arrows and knives, however every word he spoke was in rhyme.

site of the Tucker Street Raid

Campbell Kinsinger was the king of Midtown. Nothing happened in midtown that wasn't truly sanctioned by him and his crew. We did a lot of strange and bizarre stuff in Midtown in the 70's.. most of which couldn't have occurred if Campbell hadn't been in control of the streets. Campbell is another story worthy of recognition. .



So the road manager is asleep on Hal's sofa.. Campbell drops by a couple of times and tells us all that no one should leave.. goodies were arriving at 10:00pm. The cast of characters at the time included McGill, Halito, Scary Sherry (who eventually married Bernard), Judy Avanzi, Celia Yancey could have been there, I can't remember and possibly Pat and Sabue and a couple of Midtown stragglers.

At 10:00 pm sharp.. simultaneously the front door and the back door are kicked in. Through the back door came one of Campbell's trained gals swinging nun-chuks better than Bruce Lee and Whitey, one of Campbell's lieutenants. led the charge through the front door with a nickel plated nine millimeter.. both entree's were followed by other members of Campbell's crew.. We hear someone holler "Secure" and Campbell enters through the front door. When I see McGill hit the floor and crawl under Hal's piano, I also deem this to be a good idea.. The road manager is still on the sofa. Campbell orders the guy to stand, which he did.. Campbell begins to interrogate the guy and then rips off the guy's tee shirt to inspect a tattoo he had on his arm. Seems like this tat was not one you would want to wear into Campbell's territory. The manager makes an explanation that he had received the tattoo from a cell mate in a northern prison and had no idea what it meant. (at this point it should be noted that Campbell was the undisputed leader of a regional Bike club.. and David Alan Coe and/or his supposed brother Buddha was the chief of a rival club).

Neatly tucked under the piano, we all are a bit nervous. Campbell then orders me to stand. I stood. He asks me "Lancaster, can you speak for this guy?' After a short amount of thought, the truth was "No". There are some situations where a one word reply is more than adequate, any other words would have been an excuse or a lie.

After a bit more interrogation and roughin' up, It is deemed that this guy is ok for now and everyone should get off the floor and this party should resume. Which it did. The music continued, everyone in the room, including the bikers sang a rousing version of "Why You Been Gone So Lone". Campbell insists we move the party to Peanuts.. which we do. While Furry is playing. Campbell's guys repeatedly started torturing this road manager and eventually kick his ass totally.. smashed his glasses and trashed his MG..I still don't know how he got out of Memphis. At one point during the melee, feeling as small amount of sympathy for the guy who had given me the ride, I ask McGill at the bar if there was anything we could do... he just smiled and shook his head...

Needless to say, our time with Coe had come an abrupt and interesting conclusion.. There was a phone conversation on my behalf between Campbell and Coe. As far as I know Coe never played in Memphis until after Campbell's death.. could have just been a coincidence.

Turquoise and Leather

I was born in Memphis
Youngest brother out of three
raised down in Dixie
in the south of Tennessee
My Daddy was a hustler
Momma worked most every night
In the streets I learned to do the boogie
In the joints I learned to fight

Call Me Hootchie Cootchie Man
Jerry McGill



For those reading this soap opera who may not be familiar with McGill.. there are some things you should be made aware of. Jerry was friends with Waylon early.. long before the bigger records when Waylon was playing shows at the roadhouses in the American southwest. They were all buds with Duane Eddy who was Jessi Colter's first husband. In the mid 60's Waylon was just assembling the band that would eventually play on the "Honky Tonk Heroes and Me" album, which would be the first real breakaway album from the traditional Nashville method. On trips from the west coast to Nashville, McGill started bringing back turquoise and silver jewelry that he had acquired from his native American friends. Within a very short time every country music star in Nashville was wearing this type jewelry. Turquoise became a rage for a few years. McGill was singlehandedly responsible for this.

Jerry also acquired and was wearing leather clothes from the Indians before anyone else in Nashville. Country music didn't want leather clothes.. It didn't fit the mold in 1970. When Waylon put on leather clothes the "outlaw" movement became a reality.. or at least one that Nashville execs figured they had better package and promote like Wheaties. There were country music outlaws before the movement.. always had been.. just nobody called their names.

Now I can tell you this first hand... McGill has never compromised.. It's all or nothing, always has been. If you were to hang around Jerry.. you'll do more living in three hours than you would in your normal life in 3 years. Even now at 70 years old with diabetes and half a lung he can get more out of life than you can imagine.. It would make Keith Richards' eyes spin.





This is Jerry in May 2010 at Playground

Curtis Buck.. The Saga Continues

So.. We're gonna back up a few years before we continue with the present.

When I first met McGill he wanted to kill me. I didn't know this until later. I was eighteen or nineteen and we were staying on a farm in Brentwood when Jerry shows up with a band of criminals... mostly car dealers, politicians and drug dealers that hung out in Printer's Alley. We won't mention any names to protect the not so innocent. When these guys arrived at the farm.. they had a full unopened bottle of quaaludes.. which we were supposed to keep safe until it was disposed of. There was also a shitload of little green mescaline pills.. The drugs were deposed, however not in the manner that they intended.. In a fog.. some incidents occurred after which McGill and I had an altercation.. Jill and I ended up chasing him from Brentwood all the way to Dan Penn's carriage house studio behind Ira Sachs' house.. Jill and I had a new '72 Monte Carlo.. we side swiped a couple of tractor trailer rigs on the high speed chase. At Dan's, after some tense moments (I had too much testosterone for my own good) Jerry and I resolved our differences.

A couple of days later Dickinson calls up .. He says "Jerry calls me a week ago and asks me if I know you, he says he's gonna Kill you, because your an arrogant bastard. The following week he calls and says I got this new kid Lancaster, who is going to lead my band".

One of the cons talked us into trading the bruised unpaid for Monte Carlo for a pristine '47 chevy, even trade... Everyone on music row had Cadillacs.. the bad boys.. Waylon and them had Lincolns... I had the '47.. Stanley and Bernard totaled this car on the Mississippi Arkansas bridge a year or so later. Stanley's book was still not out at the time

More later
Future Episodes include:
The Tucker Street Raid
Fort Buck
Doctor Buck