Soul Inc plays "I Belong to Nobody " and Marvin Maxwell Remembers Travel with Dick Clark Caravan of Stars

Wayne Mcdonald is mentioned by Marvin as singing with Soul Inc . Marvin talks about playing with Lonnie Mack as well .

Wayne Young Interview Soul Inc

Jimmy Reed - My Bitter Seed inspired name of Louisville Band " The Bitter Seeds "

A Planted Seed Part I

A PLANTED SEED Part I

A history of the teenage rock and roll band The Bitter Seeds

By Mike Gossett, June 27, 2010

The Bitter Seeds Standing, left to right: Roger Pfeiffer, trumpet and background singer; George East, lead guitar; Mike Gossett, rhythm guitar; Jaybird, background singer; Eddie Huettig, background singer; Tim Hughes, saxophone; Wayne McDonald, lead singer; Eugene Roberts, piano; and seated, Steve Yeager, drummer.  

Introduction

First of all, many heartfelt thanks to Bill Grubb who recently started this internet blog with a primary theme of collecting stories, musings, photos, recollections, etc. of anything to do with early (circa late 1950’s early 1960’s, i.e. pre-Beatles) teenage rock and roll bands in Louisville, KY. How timely Bill, The Bitter Seeds were organized just about exactly 50 years ago, a half century to put it in perspective.

This is my first contribution to this cyberspace collection of memories about one such teenage rock and roll band, one that I started and was a member of, a group by the name of The Original Bitter Seeds, here after just referred to as The Bitter Seeds as the truth is I have no recollection as to what the “original” in the name meant in the first place. But as far as where the name Bitter Seeds came from, well that is the primary subject of this my first entry.  

Before turning to the story of the early beginnings of the Bitter Seeds a few things need be said.

The first being I am well aware of what a small and humble part I played in the organizing of this one of many teenage rock and roll bands and even more so, what a minor player The Bitter Seeds were as a band when compared to the more well known and popular groups of the time like The Sultans with Tom Cosdon (Cosmo their lead singer), The Carnations, The Trendells, The Monarchs. These groups went on to even cut records, something as a matter of Bitter Seed history that we never did. I once thought there existed an amateur recording of our group but if there was it never surfaced.   

Never the less, small as we may have been in the overall big scheme of Louisville teenage bands, The Bitter Seeds did indeed get to as they say “run with the big dogs” meaning we got paid to perform, we played a lot of major nightclubs and venues of the time, we got booked with the better named local groups, and even participated in a rock show that included nationally known rock and roll stars, and near the end of our run as a teenage band we were even under contract with the local Louisville well known talent booking agency known as SAMBO which was an acronym for Sanders, Allen, Martin Booking Organization (more to follow in future entries to the blog.) And that coupled with Bill’s request to include our story I suppose makes the telling of The Bitter Seed story relevant and hopefully interesting at least to a few people that lived during that wonderful and fun time we often nostalgically refer to as “the 50’ and early 60’s as it happened in our part of the world, Louisville, Kentucky.  

And finally, I need to say that because there is a lot to tell, even if we were not a major player I will not attempt to tell the story all in one writing but instead prefer to submit the history in parts and this being just Part I.

Pre-history

So what else needs to be said before embarking on telling of the humble beginnings of this particular teenage rock and roll band? Well a little pre-history can at least give insight as to how such small artistically musical enterprises come to be. It would not be a stretch to say that in at least some small way the history of The Bitter Seeds goes back as far as 1944 during World War II. That kind of bold claim of course deserves some explanation.

I was born in February 1944 during World War II. My father Charlie (Charles H.) Gossett was in the Navy during the war. As a sailor his service did include some time at sea but his 4 years in the Navy also included playing guitar in a Navy band for officer clubs in Norfolk, VA. His taste in music as a guitar player was solidly narrowly focused on the pop music of the 1940’s war years, that being The Big Band genre, e.g. Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and he idolized Frank Sinatra to drop just a few names.

Charlie Gossett (Guitar Player, seated middle row next to bass drum) U.S. Navy Band circa 1944

Although a guitar player, my father had no interest in country music, other than maybe a mild appreciation of Eddie Arnold an entertainer of what we would say as having cross over appeal, i.e. an artist with such wide appeal that their music is appreciated and purchased by people who generally would not otherwise buy that kind of music. But he certainly would never have played that kind of music.

And my father certainly had no love at all for rhythm and blues. The few if any black artist he liked would have been The Mills Brothers and Nat King Cole, black artist that remained solidly in the genre of 1940’s jazz swing Big Band sound.   

Never the less, the fact my father played guitar is at least the first link to how I, Mike Gossett, the infant son born to Charles and Dorothy Gossett, the newborn that slept in one of the drawers of a chest of drawers instead of a baby bed, the tyke  that got his weight gain progress as an infant measured not at a doctors office but rather by the butcher at Griffins Grocery Store on a meat scale, might indeed grow up to have some interest in the guitar as instrument of choice even if not imbued with the same taste in music as his father.

But there exist a more curious associated snippet of history here that will in some small way shape the future in terms of the formation of the teenage rock and roll band The Bitter Seeds. During that exact same time period, i.e. during World War II there was another man just 5 year younger than my father that was also drafted into the same branch of service, the Navy and coincidently he too was a guitar player. 

But this man was a black man and since the military would not be integrated until after World War II it was not likely my father ever would have met this guitar player that would help influence and change the music world forever. This black guitar player also sang and played the harmonica but unlike my father his preference in music was rhythm and blues. And he was but one of many other musical artist like himself that would help usher out the Big Band era and usher in really more of a tapestry of music tied to R&B that would be come known as rock and roll.

The black guitarist, singer, harmonica blues artist was one Mathis James Reed or better known as Jimmy Reed. So what does Jimmy Reed have to do with the teenage rock and roll band that I formed 15 years after these two Navy guitar player ships passed in the night?

Jimmy Reed

First understand there were many things, people, artist, and even places that would later shape my love of rock and roll music and eventually lead to the formation of The Bitter Seeds. But it is important to say that while no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together and that Chuck Berry is probably the one individual that most influenced me to play guitar and to play rock and roll guitar. And keep in mind he was only 7 years younger than my father. Before Chuck Berry, before any other influences of any kind my impression of the guitar was a negative one, it was to me a hillbilly instrument. This was odd since my father’s guitar playing was the more sophisticated jazz, swing, Big Band sound. But Reed and Berry, men almost the same age as my father changed my impression. These men were now playing the instrument with a hard driving thumping beat that spoke to me in a way no other instrument or music ever had and I was forever changed. I rushed to my father’s closet to dig out the Gibson guitar he used to play such magnificent smooth jazz sounds and I set to studying ways in which I could coax this fine instrument to now yield a raunchier, primitive thumping rock and roll sound that imitated these new black artist that swept up the hearts and minds of seemingly all American teens at the time.   

Chuck Berry

However, Mr. Berry while the strongest influence was not the only one and another influence was indeed Jimmy Reed. Jimmy while maybe not widely known by all teenagers at that time, he was certainly known well by white teenage guitar players like myself that worshiped at the alter of rock and roll and rhythm and blues. For those of you that may not remember him readily consider the following:

·         Elvis Presley recorded several of Reed's songs, scoring a 1967 hit with "Big Boss Man" and recording several performances of "Baby, What You Want Me to Do"

·         "Big Boss Man" was sung regularly by the Grateful Dead. 

·         "Baby What You Want Me to Do" was also frequently performed by Etta James.

·         The Rolling Stones have cited Reed as a major influence on their sound, and their early set lists included many of Reed's songs, including tracks like "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby".

·         The Yardbirds recorded a instrumental dedicated to him entitled "Like Jimmy Reed Again".

·         In 1991 Reed was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Reed's recordings of "Big Boss Man" and "Bright Lights, Big City" were both voted onto the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

In any event, I as a 15 year old white rock and roll guitar player loved old Jimmy’s stuff and in 1959, roughly the year that I began forming our teen rock band, Jimmy had an album out named “Rockin with Reed”. And on that album he had a song entitled “My Bitter Seed” thus was born the name of the band, The Bitter Seeds. I had the name for the group before I even had the band fully formed. As I recruited different guys to be in the band no one objected to the name or tried to change it. And so the name remained the same and as they say “now you know the rest of the story.”

In coming days/weeks I will follow up with additional parts to tell the rest of the Bitter Seeds Story. I hope to be talking with and getting input from some, in fact most of the old band members to help me with my fading memory and hopefully get them to inject their special memories and recollections.

Side One:
1. Going to New York
2. String to Your Heart
3. Ends and Odds
4. Caress Me Baby
5. Take Out Some Insurance
6. Moon Is Rising

Side Two:
7. Down in Virginia
8. I Know It's a Sin
9. Wanna Be Loved
10. Baby What's on Your Mind
11. My Bitter Seed
12. Rockin' With Reed

RNRHOF and Remembering When B B and Otis Played Lebanon

Couple of items here while we await the bands posting to the blog .
Here are 2 items :
1 ) The  March 2010 KY House Resolution For the RNRHOF to add Hyleme George and Obie Slater 

A RESOLUTION urging the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to enshrine Hyleme George and Obie Slater among its inductees.

WHEREAS, Hyleme George and Obie Slater were pioneers in the rock, blues, and jazz music and entertainment industry; and

WHEREAS, Mr. George was a native of Hamat, Lebanon, who immigrated with his family to the United States as a young child, and was known for his business acumen, timely wit, and penchant for El Producto cigars and black Cadillacs; and

WHEREAS, in the 1960s and 1970s, Mr. George owned two famous nightspots, Club Cherry and Club 68, in Lebanon, Kentucky, enlisting Mr. Slater to manage and handle the bookings for Club Cherry; and

WHEREAS, despite the clubs being in a small, rural town in central Kentucky, Mr. George and Mr. Slater had a major influence on the development of rock and roll, recognizing up-and-coming talent and giving many future stars the exposure needed to launch hall of fame careers; and

WHEREAS, more than 86 famous bands or entertainers passed through the doors of these two clubs during their heyday; and

WHEREAS, in the 1960s, Club Cherry became one of the most popular stopovers in the South for rock and roll stars and future hall of famers, hosting the likes of Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Little Richard, Clyde McPhatter, Bo Diddley, Jackie Wilson, the Supremes, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, and Chuck Berry. Other notable artists who made their way to Lebanon include Ike and Tina Turner, B.B. King, Etta James, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, Eddie Floyd, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Junior Parker, Joe Tex, Laverne Baker, the Coasters, the Shirelles, Bobby Blue Band, and Count Basie; and

WHEREAS, Club 68 opened in 1964 with hall of fame musician Lloyd Price, and quickly established itself as a sanctuary for rock and roll stars, welcoming such performers as Nat King Cole, Ike and Tina Turner, Little Richard, the Kingsmen, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, Sir Douglas Quintet, Jerry Lee Lewis, Rufus Thomas, Credence Clearwater Revival, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Steppenwolf, and the Platters; and

WHEREAS, Mr. George and Mr. Slater deserve immense recognition and praise for their many influences and contributions to the rock and roll music industry, and for the hard work, professionalism, and ingenuity required to develop a music mecca in a small town in the heart of Kentucky; and

WHEREAS, enshrining Mr. George and Mr. Slater would greatly enhance the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum experience with the addition of numerous stories and little-known anecdotes of the early days of these major stars; and

WHEREAS, Mr. George passed away in 2001, while Mr. Slater still lives in Lebanon, Kentucky;

NOW, THEREFORE,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:

âSection 1.   The House of Representatives respectfully urges the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to enshrine Hyleme George and Obie Slater in recognition of their many achievements and contributions to the rock and roll music industry.

âSection 2.   The Clerk of the House of Representatives is directed to transmit a copy of this Resolution to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, 1100 Rock and Roll Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44114.

2. Obie Slater remembers the Club Cherry from Kentucky.com

Pictures of the Club 68

T

Images of the Club 68 from the Facebook page " You Know You are From Lebanon KY when " , Posted by Jeri Stine

The Monarchs Mike Gibson "I Hear You Knockin" 1977

Lebanon KY

Here is a visitor note for Marion County Ham Days from the Lebanon Enterprise 
"Celebrating its 40th year, the theme for 2009 is “Rockin’ on 68 since 1969,” reminding visitors of Lebanon's unique entertainment heritage. Lebanon was once home of well-know venues such as Club 68, The Golden Horseshoe, Kitty Kat Club, Club Cherry, Jane Todd Inn, Bens’ Discotheque and The Plantation Club."

Who can tell us more about playing at these clubs or has some pictures ? The picture above is from the Lebanon Enterprise Summer 1998 .

Rex Reminisces :Variety Records , WINN , The Centaurs, The Cavaliers

I used to hang out at Variety Records on 4th street, and when they changed their interior I actually bought one of the listening booths (eventually it was tossed out with the other trash when I got married a few years later).  I remember when guys from the band ( The Monarchs ) came by with a box of those Regal 45's ( Lonely  blogger note -Regal 512 Look Homeward Angel b/w Guess Who ) and I think I bought a copy that day.

I graduated from Manual in 1964, began attending U of L and working on the GE assembly line at night getting married in 1965.
After I got married and left GE for a job as personnel clerk at Louisville Memorial Hospital I decided it was time to grow up and stop listening to R&R.  None of us ever listened to country.  WINN (which seemed to change formats frequently) played progressive jazz and that suited my new grown up attitude.  One Sunday morning WINN suddenly became a country station and I was instantly hooked on country.  After getting married I no longer collected or listened to records and upon my divorce I think my ex got rid of all of the old records.  So during this "grey period" I didn't question the connection.  When I got remarried in 1974 my new wife and I began collecting records and eventually I got back to collecting Louisville music.  In 1974 I reversed my grown up attitude, bought my first pair of jeans and have been regressing ever since.
While I like everyone else in Louisville at the time in high school was in a band all we ever did was practice (we may have had two gigs) and I never played with the Monarchs!  We loved the Centaurs who seemed to beat out the Cavaliers every week at the Whispering Hills Country Club and named our short lived group the Appollos in deference to the Centaurs who never made a record.  They used a lot of tape echo.

The Bitter Seeds and The Tokens

 I remember The Bitter Seeds opening for the Tokens at Manual auditorium. It was hot experience because I operated the carbon-arc follow spot from the projection booth. I had one of the better seats in the house but I had to stand for the whole show while intermittently wearing asbestos gloves to juggle spent carbon rods. 

Mr. Marv aka Marvin Morrison 

( Lonely  Blogger asks for comments and other memories please. There is a picture of the Bitter Seeds on the blog . Tim Hughes can be spotted in the Monarchs 1960 picture as well  )

Charles Farnsley Remembered by Rex Cornelison

Charles Farnsley (Mayor Charlie) was mayor of Louisville from 1948 to 1953 and lived just three blocks away from us on Confederate Place (now known as "Unity Place") near the Confederate Monument.  Farnsley was a true Southern politician donning the string tie even before we had fully embraced Colonel Sanders.  His son Burrel Farnsley went to Cochran grade school with me and we played together often at each other houses.  What started me thinking was a notation that Burrel is running for mayor this year.  It was always fun being around Burrel because his dad was a character and was well liked so that everywhere we went people would remark about or ask about his dad and still referred to him as Mayor even after he left office in 1953.  He went on to become a U.S. Representative in 1964, but among his accomplishments are the fact that he created Rebel Yell Bourbon marketed by his uncle Alex Farnsley at Stitzel-Weller Distillery which was to cash in on Southern nostalgia.  Until 1984 it was only sold south of the Mason-Dixon in limited production.  Farnsley was always eccentric and was a student of the philosophies of Thomas Jefferson as well as those of Confucious.  In 1949 he designed the Louisville city flag incorporating the fluer-de-lis for the first time.  In the 1960's Farnsley and then County Judge Marlow Cook purchased the steamboat known as the Avalon, bringing it back from Cincinnati and refurbishing and renaming it The Belle of Louisville.  The Belle of Louisville became a favorite for teen and college dances and the Louisville groups. ( note : blogger has faint memories of a fraternity dance The Monarchs played on the Belle. Recall includes sign that said " Put Out Or Swim" )

Cochran grade school was over 60 years old when we attended and the desks were the old fashioned wrought iron style permanently bolted to the floor in a row, with hinged angled desktops with a hole for an ink bottle.  Our teacher for 5th and 6th grades was Betsy Shoup, a confirmed old maid who always wore black dresses, black lace up shoes and kept her silver hair in a bun.  She was stern and reminded me of Miss Grundy of Archie Comic fame. Miss Shoup taught baseball great Pee Wee Reese who supposedly was assigned the same seat as I had.  Obviously Idid not absorb his greatness.  BTW, Burrel did get special attention as the son of the Mayor.  Miss Shoup was from Paducah and knew that my grandfather was Paducah City Judge at the time so i didn't fare badly either.

As I may have mentioned my neighborhood was a strange mix.
Rex

New Link Addition Nashville and Little Darlin

With all of the recording done in Nashville ( sure would like somebody to write about some of those sessions ) and remembering   WLAC coming to us at night on that little transistor radio  , we have added  a link to WLAC Radio complete with Randy's Record Shop , Ernie's and ads for Baby Chicks.

Don't forget Ernie Young's  Excello records ( subsidiary of Nashboro )  and the Gladiolas original version of Little Darlin and performing at Myrtle Beach September 2009
Looking to hear from you all

News & Updates | HullabaLOU Music Festival

News & Updates | HullabaLOU Music Festival

Tim Hughes Checks In

I remember garage and basement practice sessions, “My 3 Sons” on the tv,Mike’s mom feeding us, and , er, after that, it’s all kinda foggy.  :<) 

RnRF! 

Tim 

Wait a minute:  Powder blue blazers, followed by gold ones….Whispering Hills…whoa, just got a flashback!

Elvis Louisville Connections continued

Sent: Saturday, June 12, 2010 12:23 PM

I'd like to confirm the Pressley's (with 2 s's) abode in Louisville.  

Mr. Pressley bought my aunt and uncle's house on Beaver Street off Bluegrass Avenue in the south end--near Churchill Downs.  That was in the early 50's.  

My late mother-in-law, Vera Vonsick, was Mrs. Pressley's hair dresser until her death shortly after Elvis gave up the oxygen habit. 

Mrs. P shared many stories of her famous grandson's late nite visits....always secretive and seldom announced even to grandma and grandma.  Of course, owning one's own private jet and being only a few minutes from the airport made the visits easier than you might expect.

Interesting history

Geo

My uncle who owned the property that he sold to the Pressley's was Hubert Brent.  I was in that house many times as a youngster.

Geo

DuPont Manual , The Neighborhood and WLOU

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rex Cornelison <trpciii@me.com>
Date: Sun, May 30, 2010 at 9:00 AM


Manual High School occupied the two square blocks between Lee Street and Avery bounded by 1st and 2nd.  We were in the next block on 1st between Avery and Brandies with Brook Street the next one over.  At the end of the school field on Avery, all the guys who smoked congregated at lunch and breaks.  When the principal A.J. Ries made surprise visits (outside the wire fence), it was not to stop the smoking and congregating, it was to make us pick up the trash and butts and put them in a barrel magically situated for our use.  There was an unwritten pact-we smoked at the end of the field and the teachers smoked by the boiler room.

Around the corner from 1st on Brandies across from the Sharp's house there was a small brick office building where Honeywell had a local office.  At the intersection of Brook and Brandies there was Caldwell Tanks which manufactured giant steel tanks used for gasoline and chemical storage.  On the other corner was a large train repair shop.  The smoke and noise of these two facilities permeated the neighborhood at seemingly all hours lending a pungent aroma which combined with the smoke and soot of coal fired household furnaces to create a patina in the atmosphere.  On the other corner of Brook and Brandies was Schenk's Liquors, a small single story building with Perma Stone facing and the Schenk's new Cadillac parked outside.  The fathers in the neighborhood (black and white) made the regular trek to Schenk's for that magic potion to placate life's disappointments.  Mrs. Schenk was in her early fifties, had flaming red hair, wore tight pedal pushers, open back high heels and rhinestone encrusted cat's eye glasses.  Several times a day she ventured outside the store with her two sable color Pekinese Dogs on Rhinestone leashes. The dogs were a permanent fixture at the store and yapped loudly at the entrance of each new patron.  The guys in the neighborhood shopped elsewhere for fear of running into one's father.

Brook street was black as was the alley between 1st and Brook.  There was an 8 foot concrete block wall punctuated with locked wooden doors running the length of the street separating the 1st street houses from the alley and our black neighbors.  There were run down apartment type houses and shacks with aged bare wood, the paint long since peeled away facing the alley.  Symbolically the alley is where we put the trash for collection and where the coal truck would arrive to unload coal by wheelbarrow along the broken down brick pathway from the alley to the makeshift chute under the house.  In the daytime we vaulted the walls or opened the gates to play with the other kids but never visited each other's homes.  When Rock and Roll arrived we shared the music.  After dark we dared not venture beyond the wall for the alcohol and life of despair made it a rough place to be and only the drunks, gamblers and ladies of the evening boldly claimed it as their own.  Combined with the noise from the factories, nearby traintracks and eventually Interstate traffic from the newly constructed Interstate 65 there was an ever present din. Even today I can't stand silence.

There was also the white owned R&B radio station WLOU a few blocks away. ( See links for website ) Rumor has it the transmitter was built by engineering students at U of L, but in any event the signal leakage was so severe that even on our party line telephone we received a signal so that literally every conversation had WLOU in the background.  When I installed my 100 watt amp in the attic all I had to do was attach a ground wire and the signal was stronger than with a receiver.  The guys in the neighborhood (black and white) tried to copy the black DJ's patter-we thought the white guys sounded more black than the black guys (this was obviously before it was not PC to do so and even Moms Mabley and Redd Foxx later poked fun at blacks and whites alike).  One of our favorite pranks was to call girls and pretend to be from WLOU on a contest call.  I was only 12 years old in 1956 and 1957 but the records of Elvis and other rock and roll artists were at the top of the black charts in those early years, and it was the only place you could hear the real versions of R&B.  When we speak of the history of Rock and Roll radio in Louisville, no one ever mentions the black or "race" stations, but those are the type of stations where Elvis and early Rock and Roll stars heard the music.  It's just that you had to listen in secret, and certainly out of earshot of your parents.  This is what made WLOU and its invasion of the airwaves so ironic-the parents could not make us "turn off the radio" however faint the signal.
The neighborhood was indeed a conglomeration.
Rock On!

Elvis' Grandfather

Rex Cornelison
In doing research ,  I ran across some fascinating information about Elvis' grandfather who lived in Louisville.  During the 1950's I always heard the rumors about Elvis' grandmother living in Louisville and that Elvis would make secret visits.  My friend Kenny Presley lived around the corner in one of those three story wood frame apartment buildings with asphalt shingles on the walls and an outside porch and stairway.  The Presleys received phone calls at all hours trying to track down Elvis and his grandmother, and Kenny's older brother Ray was fond of answering the phone and pretending to be Elvis.  It was actually Elvis' grandfather J.D. and step grandmother Vera who lived in Louisville.  According to several sources  Elvis did visit J.D. on the job at the Pepsi Cola plant on November 25, 1956 and gave them a TV and 1957 Ford Fairlane.  (My sister Patti recalled that the Presleys actually lived down the street from her mother in law not far from Churchhill Downs).  The following site not only provides more detail that you'll ever want to know, but audio clips of J.D.'s recordings for Louisville's Legacy records as well as a video clip from J.D.'s appearance on "I've Got A Secret" along with a photo of J.D. and Vera with the 1957 Fairlane.  According to another source the car was sold in 1982 for $2,500 and sat in a Valley Station garage for years before being refurbished in 2006.
http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/biography/jessie_presley_elvis_presleys_grandfather.shtml
( In this web site , it states that Elvis stayed at the Seal Bark hotel for his Nov 25 , 1956 appearance at Freedom Hall . Most likely it was the Seelbach http://www.seelbachhilton.com/ )
Fortunately/unfortunately these writing researching exercises evoke the inevitable memories of the old neighborhood.  Our family's first place was a one bedroom apartment on the third floor of a subdivided mansion on 4th street (1629) next door to a seventh day adventist church. There was industry all around and railroad tracks crossing fourth street at the end of the block where trains constantly ran reminiscent of the scene from the Blues Brothers.  At that intersection there was a neighborhood tavern (appropriately named "The Tavern") frequented by my father on his way home from the office at Standard Oil.  There was also a bookie joint in back to satisfy one of Dad's other passions.  The circular building with lots of neon known as The Hollywood Steakhouse (later to become "Masterson's") was one block over on Third.  Around the corner from the Steakhouse was Pastori's Pizza (I believe, but can't verify the name), the best pizza in town.  It was dimly lit, had a concrete floor, wooden booths with numerous coats of industrial grey paint, neon signs and dingy walls with black and white photos of its proprietor who had been a boxer.  It was there at the tender age of 14 that a neighbor (who was 17 and already married) took me for a beer after getting off work at Walgreen's -no questions asked.  In 1953 after my youngest sister was born, the one bedroom was too small for the five of us and we moved to 1923 First Street, one block down from Manual to what had been a farmhouse 100 years before and still had the gas spickets for lighting in each room along with fireplaces and 12 foot ceilings and stained glass windows.  Our side of that house had two bedrooms and it had been subdivided during the war.  Across the street was a little gas station with two pumps, an outdoor lift and small shack for the office where all the guys in the neighborhood hung out drinking Dr. Pepper, pitching pennies, smoking and listening to rock and roll.  (One couldn't openly drink beer in the neighborhood, that pleasure was reserved for the bars and drive in theaters). Next door to our house was a large yellow brick house with terraced lawn and even an elevator. Next to that was a red brick 4 unit apartment building followed by various single family homes in stages of disrepair.  On our other side was a white neatly kept victorian where the Yates' sold antiques and had a black faced lawn jockey out front proudly holding their "Antiques" sign.  In the next block the sororities and fraternities had claimed many of the old homes giving a party atmosphere to the neighborhood.  One homecoming in particular Rock and Roll seemed to be the theme, and one featured a 30 Foot high moving Elvis blasting "Hound Dog" into the wee hours to the consternation of my father who openly hated Rock and Roll and to my everlasting delight.  So the neighborhood, like many in Louisville was a real hodgepodge.
In the aforementioned apartment building occupied by the Presleys, the Craigs lived on the 3rd floor, with a daughter who was not attractive, but was of relatively loose morals (she probably became a ravishing beauty later and married a minister).  Mrs. Craig worked at Kresgee's and used her discount to buy my first record, a 78 of Love Me Tender which I had to play in the basement next to the coal furnace on the kiddee record player to avoid the ire of my father (I would later build a 100 watt player in my room in the attic after I went to work at 14 and no longer needed an allowance or supervision and came and went as I pleased).  Ray Presley had a paper route and if you played your cards right Ray would let you sell his left over papers on the street corner and split the money (my first foray into sales).  Down the block from the Presleys lived the Sharps.  The father died in 1958 and had a used barrel business which Irvin inherited and dropped out of school to run.  He soon replaced his father's Sanford and Sons pickup with a semi and trailer and recruited kids in the neighborhood to heft the 55 gallon drums on and off the truck just for the privilege of being around Irvin.  Irvin was the coolest guy I ever met. He had money for clothes and records, had the biggest hi-fi i had seen (no stereo at the time) and even had a dirt track race car emblazoned with "Hell on Wheels".  His sister Jeannie was one year older than me, a real tease and the hottest girl in the neighborhood.  She was my first real love and the first girl I ever remember kissing and making out with.  We played 45's on Irvin's hi-fi and she tried to teach me to dance (it didn't take).  If Irvin liked you he wouldn't beat the hell out of you for kissing his sister.  I made sure I was liked.  Irvin eventually bought the first  Pontiac Grand Prix in Louisville - Candy Apple Red- and reportedly paid cash generated from his largely cash business.
All in all just a typical 50's neighborhood.
Rock On!

Memories of King Louie and the Knights

From: Rex Cornelison [mailto:trpciii@me.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2010 12:47 PM
Across from Dad's office at Standard Oil at 430 Bloom Street there were the usual mix of shotgun houses and wood frame apartment buildings.  One of the real characters in the neighborhood was a guy by the name of Louis Knight.  He was tall, had slicked back hair and looked the part of a rockabilly refuge.  Pink and black were his favorite colors.  He had a succession of older cars which he was fixing up (like everyone else in the neighborhood).  He was about three years older than most of us, and although he was still in school he worked as a dishwasher or any other job he could find until heformed a group called King Louie and the Knights.  Louis (he preferred Louis and not Louie)  attended Manual being by far the oldest student in the 11th grade.  He and his group performed in talent shows at school and theywere good but retreaded the same rockabilly which had faded by 1962.Nonetheless he remained in school as a way to pick up girls and continue to play his music.
Rock On!

Looking Forward to Hearing From You

This is the beginning of our Louisville Music blog . Recently we began a conversation and were looking for a picture of Bob Colglazer's Ranch House ( the one out by Iroquois Park ) - I'm a south end kid - and we found a wonderful web site with a lot of band information ,  that there are still copies of Louisville's Own available and had a great deal of conversation about the music and how much we still love it  .

Did not find a photo of the Ranch House. Anybody got one ??

If you want more information on the web site or the book , please email me williamgrubbster@gmail.com .
All of you all that were in bands or just have memories of the FOP , American Legion , VFW , all the teen dances , Lebanon Junction or just love the music , drop us a note and send pictures , we would love to hear from you . We expect to be hearing from many of the bands we remember so well and sharing places , music and memories . Please tell us also who you like to hear from and we will try to track them down .

Bill Grubb Manual '62 - In case you were wondering where I went to high school .