> > No we were not ALL rednecks. I was one of the long hairs
> you
> > went looking for and I was just around the corner! I went
> to
> > the Highland Strip every night and Overton Park on Sunday.
> I
> > dated a girl named “Nookie”! I was a hippie complete with
> > candles, incense, acid and a Jimi Hendrix poster (not to
> > forget the black light). You rednecks just had the dawgs
> > playing poker!...lol I went from Frayser to doing gaves at
>
> > FM100. We had over 2,000 albums in the control room and
> when
> > we played a song from one you sat it on the floor, it was
> > done for the day (except current albums). Then at midnight
>
> > everything was re-filed and the whole world was open
> again.
> > I think the format was something like Current Album,
> Catalog
> > Album, Catalog Album, Hit, Catalog Album, Catalog Album,
> > Current Album, etc. You could tell who was on the air just
>
> > by what was being played. That is when radio was fun, we
> had
> > people dropping by like Steve Cropper, Don Nix, and Knox
> > Phillips from the local music scene as well as Ted Nugent,
>
> > Mountain, Grand Funk, David Bowie, Jeff Beck, Wishbone
> Ash,
> > etc. I remember one night about 1 in the morning Don Nix
> > came by with George Harrison’s father, Harry and spent a
> few
> > hours talking and playing whatever we wanted to hear. When
>
> > Mountain came by I remember Felix telling us about his
> days
> > with Cream and how he got Clapton signed to RSO
> > Records...I’m drifting but anyway as I said…”I was NO
> > redneck!” A hippie redneck? Wouldn't that be like a
> > Jock/Speech Turd? No such animal. Peace Brother...and
> don't
> > Bogart the bong.
>
> Don Nix is my cousin. Last time I saw him was two years
> ago. He played two great shows with Larry Rasberry. One at
> The Beale Street Music Fest and then The Italian Fest. We
> saw him backstage at Beale Street where he gave my Dad his
> last cd Going Down. Talk about a toe tapper. My seventeen
> year old nephew Scott loved hearing some great Memphis
> music. He was disappointed because his favorite band at the
> time Evanescence had to cancel. They was supposed to go on
> after Don and Larry and he had a backstage pass. My parents
> have his old album Gone Too Long which he gave us. I found
> it on cd along with Skyrider. My Dad can talk your head off
> about stories of Don and his brother Larry. Days of Stax,
> Elvis, Booker T and the MG's, The Marques, Tommy Roane,
> George Klein...the good old days. My Dad went to Keegans
> Broadcasting School and sat in Johnny Cash's chair. Last
> time I saw Larry Nix, he was at Ardent Studios with his
> mastering lab. I heard a rumor he moved to Nashville
> recently. I love the stories and the music behind it.
>
> Oh, I grew up in Highland Heights and moved to Millington
> later in life. Like they say you can take the boy out of
> the city, but you can't take the city out of the boy.
> Frayser, Nutbush, Highland Heights are culture you cannot
> get anywhere else. The thing that amazes me is the way
> these areas are still as interesting today as they were
> years ago. IMO
Hey Big Steve,
I remember that, it was in 03 right? I saw your cousin a few days before Memphis in May started. We were in the studio at the Pig sty, I did about a two hour interview with him and he gave me the “Going Down” CD. We talked about the first interview we did at FM100. That was about the time Freddie King recorded “Going Down” and then I saw Jeff Beck recording at TMI with Cropper producing The Jeff Beck Album (the one with Cozy Powell and Max Middleton) and Beck recorded Don’s song. We also talked about his book and his days with Leon Russell and Shelter Records. George Klein, there’s a guy who doesn’t get enough credit. He is so much more than Elvis’ friend. He used to let me use the production studios at the “Q” to do fake airchecks and then would give me a ride back to Frayser (were I was a HIPPIE) and critique my tape. I was glad to see that special on channel 10 called “Playing for a Piece of the Door” about the garage bands in Memphis and how much George helped many of them. He also helped me get my first job at FM100. He thought I was good enough to get into radio, just not good enough for WHBQ! Does the name Sue Durham ring a bell with you?
Mitch
<P ID="signature">______________
Experience is a tough teacher; you have to fail the test before you can learn the lesson.</P>
