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 A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.

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BobW

BobW


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 7:01 am

scroll down this page and listen to the audio file.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-LAYMEN-Sometimes-I-think-about-SUMIT-3401-Orig-60s-GARAGE-45-Pensacola-FL-/321092479257

A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Laymen
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Eric

Eric


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 7:51 am

So, where is the link to listen to it?
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Surfnrg

Surfnrg


Posts : 432
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PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 8:07 am

The laymen

Suzie storm
Tommy ratchford
Jim roark

Who was the lead? Wonder when they are playing again joani maroni knows!

Would love to go again
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BobW

BobW


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 8:21 am

Eric wrote:
So, where is the link to listen to it?

There's an audio link on the page. Scroll down till you see "AUDIO" and start the music.

"Sometimes I Think About" is a cover of a Blues Magoos record.
You will notice that Bill Motley's hammond organ playing on the Laymen record is very close to the hammond organ
sound on the Animals' "House Of The Rising Sun".
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BobW

BobW


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 8:35 am

here's what they look like now...

A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. 552441_10150748961077594_1243266419_n



Last edited by BobW on Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:57 am; edited 1 time in total
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BobW

BobW


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 8:38 am

Here's a pic with Suzy in it.


A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. 500_Laymen_Adams_PW

That looks like Eydie Gorme. Musta been doing a gig with her at the time the pic was taken.
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BobW

BobW


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 8:52 am

My bad. whowherewhy is right. Jim Roark was playing organ on that record. Bill Motley played organ and keyboards for the Soul 7 which was another popular band back then which also had Ratchford as the lead singer for a time.

Here's Suzy in a photo taken later on when she was dating Joe Namath.
She was drop dead gorgeous.

A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Joe-namath-suzie-storm
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BobW

BobW


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PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 9:06 am

whowherewhy wrote:


Who was the lead?

If you mean who was the lead guitar, it was Guy Pinney (seen on the far left in the first post photo).
The band started out calling itself "Guy Pinney and the Laymen" but then later just The Laymen.
Pinney was also one of the vocalists.

For those reading this who are wondering what it's all about. When we boomers were in high school, this
band was a fixture on the local scene. They played often at the three live music venues which catered to us teenagers (Fireman's Hall, the National Guard Armory, and The Beacon) as well as many other functions.
Later on they played a lot of college gigs at colleges in the southeast.
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Surfnrg

Surfnrg


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PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 9:13 am

Yep you are right

On all counts what is the deal with the name suzie?

Every girl named suzie is drop dead......

drunken
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Eric

Eric


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PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 9:14 am

Don't forget "The Place" next to the Casino on Pensacola Beach.
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BobW

BobW


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PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 9:25 am

Eric wrote:
Don't forget "The Place" next to the Casino on Pensacola Beach.

True.
Also Floridatown near Pace in the Andrew Jackson hotel ballroom. Lots of "battles of the bands" in that joint.
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BobW

BobW


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 9:31 am

These bands also did gigs at the Municipal Auditorium, often being the opening bands for big name recording acts.

Here's Tommy Ratchford recounting some of that...
__________________________

When Herb Lance (owner of the Town and Country record shop and local concert promoter) brought James Brown to town to perform here in the spring of ’66, The Soul-7 set up their equipment on the tarmac at the airport and played ‘Out of Sight’ as J.B. came out of the airplane. His arrival had been widely publicized on radio and there was a crowd of a thousand or so people (mostly black) lining the fence and screaming their heads off. As J.B. stood in the door of the plane you could see a huge grin on his face and when we started the music he literally bounced down the ramp, did his patented one-foot James Brown shuffle across the red carpet that had been spread across the runway, danced and boogied his way to where I stood with the microphone, and at just the right moment in the song, he grabbed the mike and wailed, “Oooow! You got your high-heeled sneakers ooooonnn!” and the whole place exploded! It’s hard for me to recall all the details of what happened next as I was carried away by the adrenalin coursing through my body, and a lot of what happened is somewhat blurry, but J.B and I did that song as a duet, unrehearsed, right there on the runway for that exuberant crowd of wild, screaming folks. When the song ended, he waved and threw kisses to the crowd as he was taken away in a long white limo. As we were packing up our gear and trying not to float away on the currents of our emotions, one of J.B.’s bodyguards came over and told us that J.B. wanted to meet us and invited us to come down to the Municipal Auditorium and see him before his performance that night. We (that is the whole band) spent about two hours in the dressing room with the Godfather of Soul just shooting the breeze about music, playing one-night stands, the hassles of being on the road and a lot of other things. He seemed really interested in our band and somewhat amazed at the sound he heard from this group of wide-eyed teenaged white boys. He showered us with autographed pictures and cuff links and other souvenirs and gave us some genuine encouragement about our band. I recall that as one of the great days of my early life.

A couple of weeks after James Brown performed, Herb brought in The Otis Redding Revue for a one-night show, also at the municipal auditorium. Herb asked us if we would like to play a 30-minute set to open the show, and of course we jumped at the chance (we didn’t even ask about money, in fact, we would probably have paid Herb to play the gig). We practiced really hard in preparation and worked up a medley of about eight songs, the end of each segued into the beginning of the next. All the songs were R&B songs we knew already. What we worked on were unique and creative ways to tie each song to the next one, as they were all different tempos and not all in the same key. We also had to be careful in our choice of material, as we did not want to do anything that had been recorded by any artist appearing in the show. This posed a problem, as there were some of the most popular R&B artists of the time on the marquis. In addition to Otis Redding, the Revue contained Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, Barbara Lewis, Irma Thomas and Garnett Mims to name a few. We saved James Brown’s ‘Try Me’ and ‘Please Please Please’ for our finale and played them as a separate medley.

We were set up on the stage of the auditorium right behind the main curtain with about ten feet between it and the scrim. Behind the scrim was where Otis’ band was set up. We had bantered with them while we all set our gear up together, but Otis was not to be seen. He was resting, well ensconced in his dressing room (the same one James Brown had invited us into just a few weeks before) with a giant bodyguard stationed at the door.

At this time in my life, my best friend was a redheaded guy named Jerry Maygarden that was in my class at school. On nights when he didn’t have a date, he would tag along with me to the gigs and help us load, unload and set up the gear; and sometimes, if it felt right, he would add an extra voice as a backup singer now and then. He also played an important role in our James Brown routine. He became our first (and only) “roadie.” (He later became Mayor of Pensacola and then was elected to the Florida Legislature where he eventually became Speaker of the House and served his maximum term.)

One of James Brown’s trademark songs was ‘Please Please Please.’ In fact, on his Live at the Apollo album, he is introduced as “the hardest working man in show business, Mr. Please, Please himself………Mr….Jaaaammmes …..Brrrooowwwnnn!” Part of this trademark was the obvious, visible passion he showed anytime he sang it. He always delivered the finale from his knees. He would show utter exhaustion and would be helped from the stage, with his coat, previously discarded, draped about his shoulders by one of his minions, only to throw off his garment and return to the stage to sing just one more verse from his knees. Through many hours of painful practice, I had learned how to drop to my knees from a standing position (just like J.B.) without causing grievous injury to myself and I did that song the same way he did.

As we milled around backstage while the audience filed in I noticed that the eight of us (Jerry was there) were the only white faces behind the curtain, but we sure looked good in our burgundy tuxedos with our matching Vox amplifiers behind us. The auditorium held around 2,200 people including the balcony and Herb had told us that the tickets were sold out. I peeked at the audience through the curtain and noticed about 60 white faces out there. Obviously, we were about to face a very critical audience.

The time came for the show to start. The room lights were dimmed and the stage lights came on. The rustling sound of the crowd died down. I stayed off stage in the wings as the band began the intro into ‘Out of Sight’ as the curtain came up. After three or four bars, I came out on stage on one foot doing the J.B. shuffle, sidled up to the microphone, and as I did, the band reached the end of the intro and stopped, waiting for me to lead them back in after two beats with the first words. When they stopped, there was absolute dead silence in that auditorium. The silence was so overwhelming that I paused, longer than just two beats, and as the echo of the music faded, I looked around at the faces in that crowd, looking up at us in wonderment. After a moment sufficient for everyone to appreciate it, I launched into the first words. There was a murmur in the crowd after the first phrase, it got louder into the second phrase; it became a rumble by the third phrase and when the horns did the little solo duet at the end of the first verse, the crowd was clapping and moving in their seats.

We segued into the next song without stopping which was another up-tempo song and some of them stood up, still clapping. As we moved into the next song, more of them stood up and their murmuring became a roar. By the time we ended the eight-song medley, they were all on their feet and clapping and whistling and yelling and making all kind of racket. We stopped at the end of the medley, just to catch our breath. After all, we had been working really hard for the last few minutes. As the medley progressed, I had removed first my tie, then my coat, then rolled up my sleeves, and then unbuttoned the top buttons on my shirt. Bobby Bates, the drummer, had done the same and every other guy in the band had taken off his tie and loosened his collar. As we took this short respite, I told the audience that a man with the initials J.B made the next songs famous. They knew what I meant and this announcement was met with a loud response. With that, Boyd gave me a chord and we launched into ‘Try Me.’

Since we didn’t use backup vocals, the horns played the harmony notes that the backup singers did on the original. As it is, we didn’t need any backup singers as damn near everyone in the audience sang the backup lines for us. It was really cool having the audience performing a “duet” with us. As the horns played the final plaintive notes of ‘Try Me,’ the audience went wild and their screams got louder as Boyd gave me a chord and I immediately launched into ‘Please Please Please.’ Halfway through I dropped to my knees and as I hit the floor the music was nearly overpowered by the roar of the crowd. As we reached the end, Maygarden came out of the wings with the red cape and placed it on my shoulders, then reached for my arm and helped me rise from the floor. He held my arm as we slowly walked toward the wings, the band still playing. All this time there was bedlam in the crowd. As we reached the wings, I cast off the cape, ran back to the mike, grabbed it up, and sang another verse. We did this two or three times before the curtain came down. There was absolute pandemonium in the crowd.

I have been terribly nearsighted since childhood and have worn glasses all my life. I had removed my glasses before removing my coat so I was seeing things through a blur. I had noticed as Maygarden and I approached the wings the first time that there was a person standing there wearing a burgundy bathrobe watching what we were doing onstage. I didn’t think twice about it at the time, as I was pretty much involved in what I was doing, but when I came offstage for the last time and put my glasses on, I discovered that Otis Redding had been watching our performance. I have no idea how long he had been standing there. I stood there, sweating buckets and breathing hard from my exertions, and he came up to me smiling broadly. He stuck out his hand and said, “I want to congratulate you on your show, man. You’ve got more soul than any white boys I’ve ever seen.” I’ve always considered this as one of the greatest moments of my young life. Otis died less than a year later. We never played that eight-song medley again.
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Eric

Eric


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 10:24 am

Loved the Ratchford piece, bobarino.

The audio thing showed up on the laptop... but not on the iPad. Must be Flash-driven.

There was also a club just north of where I-10 and the Railroad trestle cross the bay. I went there a half of a dozen times, I guess. I just didn't feel comfortable there. It was torn down. I see that GE is storing wind turbine nacelles there now... before sending them to the port.

Anybody go to the old Paradise Beach Hotel where US98 crosses over to Alabama? They had a stage and more of a teen atmosphere there... sometime in the late 1960's. It is torn down too.
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BobW

BobW


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 11:06 am

Eric wrote:




There was also a club just north of where I-10 and the Railroad trestle cross the bay.

Something at that location rings a bell for me too. But ringing the bell is about all my failing memory gives me on it.
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Joanimaroni

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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 1:04 pm

BobW wrote:
whowherewhy wrote:


Who was the lead?

If you mean who was the lead guitar, it was Guy Pinney (seen on the far left in the first post photo).
The band started out calling itself "Guy Pinney and the Laymen" but then later just The Laymen.
Pinney was also one of the vocalists.

For those reading this who are wondering what it's all about. When we boomers were in high school, this
band was a fixture on the local scene. They played often at the three live music venues which catered to us teenagers (Fireman's Hall, the National Guard Armory, and The Beacon) as well as many other functions.
Later on they played a lot of college gigs at colleges in the southeast.



Bob the actress in the photo was Edie Adams. She was in town for the Fiesta. Lead guitar for the laymen was and has always been Forrest Higgins. The original male vocalist was Guy Pinney. Tommy was only with the Laymen temporarily (6-7 months) as male vocalist. Pinney left the Laymen and went with the 13th hourglass. He returned to the Laymen and Ratchford took his place with the 13th hourglass.

The 13th hourglass with Tommy Turner still do gigs.
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BobW

BobW


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 2:37 pm

I bow to you, Joani. Your memory is a WHOLE lots better than mine. lol
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BobW

BobW


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 2:48 pm

Have you seen this youtube, Joani?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv_xQShm5G8

and by the way, for anyone who listens to the music at the end of this video, don't judge it by the crappy audio on this recording. I've heard the new Laymen one time at the beach and they do sound very good in person.
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Joanimaroni

Joanimaroni


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 8:32 pm

Yes...the audio was terrible.
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Joanimaroni

Joanimaroni


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A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. Empty
PostSubject: Re: A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties.   A post for those who were in high school here in the sixties. EmptyTue Mar 19, 2013 9:47 pm

Forrest is playing guitar for Della. She is a local country singer...she has an album coming out soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctA8lmxs6Uo
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