Dancing On the Edge Journal

Dancing On The Edge Journal
Explorations in Beach and SShag
hag H
istor
Histor
istoryy
Volume 1, Issue 1
February 8, 2010
Jim Hannah, One of the Two Original
Beach Music Pioneers, 1920 - 2010
my toes at all times.
He was disarmingly soft-spoken.
But when he raised his head, and fixed
me with his smiling eyes, and said,
"What are you trying to get me to confess to, John, some kind of criminal activity?" That's when I realized he was
staying as far ahead in the interview as I
was trying to be to catch him offguard
in one of those reminiscences that reveal
more than the interviewee intends before they realize what's rolled off their
tongue. That's the art of interviewing,
but Jim had a few arts he'd picked up
along the way in his trick bag as well.
"Ah, go ahead and ask me anything.
Jim Hannah and Frances Carter just before
they were married July 24, 1948.
Jim Hannah rejoined Frances, the love of his
life, on January 20, 2010. He was 89.
To hear Jim tell it, he wouldn't have made it
that long if he hadn't made a major change when
he was young (60!).
"New Years Eve of my sixtieth year, I laid down
the cigarettes and the liquor, I'd been thinking,
'Man, I've gotta slow down.'"
From October 7, 1920 until that December
night in 1980, he may have been moving fast but
with a laid-back Carolina style all his own.
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POB 422
N. M
yr
tle B
each, SC 29597
Myr
yrtle
Beach,
Tel: 843-602-4475
www
.beachshag.com
www.beachshag.com
Jim grew up on a farm in North Mecklenburg
county, NC.
The few short years I had to spend with Jim
tracking his history -- and listening to a boatload of
R&B back in his playroom -- taught me to stay on
I'm too old for them to prosecute now
anyway. Matter of fact, all the people
who might have wanted to are dead by
now."
Yep, Jim Hannah had learned a few
verbal sparring moves on the Coastal
boardwalks that had armed him for just
about any conversation. Which woulda
been obvious if I'd known then that he'd
been an award-winning salesman for Oxford Chemical for over 50 years. If you're
in the sales game, or know a good one,
you know what I mean.
The fact is I think Jim had more fun
with those many interviews than I did.
He rarely volunteered anything.
He
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made me work for everything I learned, but it was
always worth it.
Looking through one of his photo albums I
spied a picture of him in a fine-looking suit in a
nightclub somewhere.
"I was 15 then, in a place in Knoxville."
Looking up he added, "Now I suppose you want
to know what a 15 year old was doing in a Knoxville
juke joint?"
You bet I did. And where did a po' farm boy get
the money for a suit like that? Did he ride the bus
there, drive, hitchhike? That was 1935, there weren't
that many people who had cars in those days, and driving across the Smoky Mountains at that time was not a
trivial road trip.
Closer to home, Jim occasionally dropped by Ma
Paxton's place in Charlotte in 1936. Ma served liquor by
the drink (including white liquor) a block from the courthouse. Things were different then, 16 year olds could get a
glass of moonshine in downtown Charlotte.
Ma Paxton didn't seem to have any trouble with the
police, and her daughters Virginia and Joy were popular
it was rationed like everything else. I had a friend, though,
who worked at a whiskey store in Wilmington and we
were able to get all the whiskey we wanted.”
“The Wilmington police chief was a friend of mine I
paid on the side and he warned us of potential raids.” (In
other words, this enterprising entrepreneur was ‘bootlegging’ legal, tax-paid whiskey).
“Otherwise, there was plenty of white liquor coming
out of the Traphill area up in Wilkes county, North Carolina. You didn’t go up there unless you knew somebody.
local beauty queens who later left for Hollywood and a handful of feature films.
That’s how Junior Johnson’s people up there made their
livelihood. There wasn’t nothing else to do, no jobs or industry and farmers couldn’t make a living off them rocks
Not to disappoint you, or me, but a lot of what I learned
from Jim Hannah will show up in what I think of as the
up there.
Jim opened the Tijuana Inn on the boardwalk in March
"Outlaw History of the Shag"--someday. I'll be changing a
lot of names; but the stories are priceless without everyone's
1945, at the same time helping build the northern extension pier, first pier built at Carolina Beach which opened
proper monikers.
Hannah played Class D baseball in Mooresville in 1938
in 1946, (Tijuana Inn was one of the two first "Beach
music" clubs in the Carolinas, i.e. clubs that offered Black
[“same as Class A today”]. Although it was only a farm
team, Jim had the opportunity to play two games against
music on jukeboxes in establishments serving a white clientele. See the Beach Music Guide Volume 1 for pic-
Ted Williams at the time.
Far away places called to Jim later that year and he left
tures and stories on both).
Jim’s bar and grill offered boardwalk cuisine and beer
for Norfolk to work in the shipyards in the maritime service..
without a name over the door. A few weeks later his friend
Chicken Hicks returned from a vacation that started in 1943
He was moved to Wilmington in 1939 after his superiors learned he was not only sharp in reading blueprints, he
with his friend Chuck Green. They hitchhiked to the West
Coast - Phoenix, Los Angeles, then down to Mexico. When
could lay a ship down from the keel all the way up to the
shakedown cruises.
Chicken returned in spring 1945, he suggested Jim call the
place the ‘Tijuana Inn’--he put its new name over the door
Mustering out in 1943, Jim kicked around the Carolina Beach area for a couple of years doing odd jobs, “Dur-
in May 1945. (Mexico also met the Carolinas in a big way
in 1950 when Alan Shafer opened a little roadside beer
ing the war you
couldn’t get whiskey,
stand in Dillon, SC just off I-95. He soon renamed it
“South of the Border.” Over the years it’s grown to a
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collection of 14 gift shops
where all the clerks and employees are called ‘Pedro’).
What Makes a Beach
ioneer?
Pioneer?
Music P
To say that Chicken and Jim
were “Beach Music” pioneers is
a gross understatement.
Consider that in 1945 there
were no white establishments
anywhere which carried black
music on their jukeboxes. Black
entertainment was almost
equally nonexistent with a few
notable, onetime exceptions in the
early 20th century.
Seabreeze Park survey map June 25, 1912 (lower right hand corner).
More accurately, white kids
weren’t allowed to listen to black music anywhere! So
one kind of wanderlust or another. Those two ingredi-
“Beach Music” didn’t exist in 1945 by name or by deed.
Rather than speculate on what made them so icono-
ents sometimes combine into the kind of rare fearlessness they exhibited in 1945.
clastic, let’s just review the facts.
Next door to the Hannah homestead in North
Mecklenburg county was a Brush Arbor -- an AfricanAmerican, open-sided church -- named Torrence Chapel
where Jim heard a powerful maelstrom of melancholic spirituals and uplifting, foot-stomping gospel like “Power In
the Blood,” “Down By the Riverside,” and “When the Saints
Go Marching In” every Sunday of his youth.
Judging from his stories he sought that sound in his
travels, “There was a great jukebox in a little joint in
Mooresville, North Carolina, that had the best selection of
old blues 78s around,” he once commented cryptically,
knowing I’d have a barrage of questions to launch while he
calmly sipped a glass of ice cold sweet tea.
Chicken grew up on what is sometimes euphemistically described as the wrong side of the tracks in Durham,
North Carolina. He was as likely to be running the streets
with black as well as white playmates. One of those was
Eugene Mumford, who years later would lead the Larks on
Apollo and Lloyds records, both out of New York.
Both Chicken and Jim came from working class backgrounds and they both were compelled to leave home by
Most of the juke joints were lined along the Seabreeze
Road horseshoe in the center of the map. Seabreeze was
part of a 5,000 acre homestead purchased by Bruce
Freeman’s father, R.B. Freeman, in the late 19th century.
Moonshine, F
en, and F
Frree M
Men,
Frreeman
Seabreeze was the black resort just up the coast across the
Intercoastal Waterway at Snow’s
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Cut. Bruce Freeman’s family owned it from the 1875
on. It was called Freeman’s Beach around the turn of the
century, eventually they renamed it Seabreeze, making a
living from the 1920s to the 50s serving black tourists
with sandwiches, beer, and plenty of room for family
picnics in the day and adult entertainment at night.
Chicken Hicks found his way to Seabreeze in the
early 40s, returning often for whitehot Carolina moonshine, and even hotter music on the piccolos (jukeboxes)
at places like the Ponca, The Big Apple, the Daley Breezey
Pavilion, Bruce’s, Ponca # 2, the Monte Carlo, and, as
Jim recalled, “a place called Big Mama’s. They played
all Race music, and it sounded like lightning struck. This
music had a Big Bite!”
After returning from Mexico and the naming of the
Tijuana, Chicken suggested they add some of the music
he’d heard over at Seabreeze.
That was the magical moment in which the fearlessness of both young men fused and the era of ‘Beach Music’
pioneership was born.
The Bostic Music Company in Wilmington owned and
The Palais Royal was built in 1937, burned in the 1940
boardwalk fire and was reborn 1941 as a two-story building, lasting until Hurricane Hazel, the fall of 1954.
serviced the piccolos for Seabreeze and all the other jukeboxes on the beach. Chicken and Jim talked to Parker
and Clyde who serviced the boxes for Bostic Music each
The Tijuana Inn was one of the ground floor shops of the Ocean Plaza hotel. The building across the boardwalk
left of the ‘OCEA...’ in Ocean was The Roof bowling alley, and across the
boardwalk in front of it was the two-story Palais Royal.
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week. Chicken sometimes rode with them over to Seabreeze
Beach and her picture and biography are on the walls with
to hear the new tunes they were adding. The ones he
liked they added to the Tijuana Inn jukebox.
more than 300 members of the Shaggers Hall of Fame at
the O.D. Beach and Golf Resort in North Myrtle Beach.
Jim remembered with pride, and probably a little
wistfulness, “Our music changed, our customers in-
The Tijuana Inn jukebox became a beacon on Janet’s voyage through life.
creased til they filled the place, and some had to dance
outside on the boardwalk--this was the first Black music
Along with the changes in music, the fas’ dancers of
Carolina Beach found other ways to express their newfound
played on the Beach.”
That was an historical moment profound in many
freedom.
Jim, like lots of Carolina boys from that era, lovingly
ways.
Tourists far from home were less inhibited in listen-
described the changes, “Mike Sawyer of Burlington had a
little shop in Wilmington on Front Street in ‘44 and ‘45.
ing to music that many were aware of, and secretly attracted to, but which they couldn’t openly enjoy. Tijuana
He made tailor-made clothes there. I had the first pair
of draped pants on the beach, 16” bottoms, 28” knees,
Inn was a multi-cultural threshold on what was then the
busiest working class beach between Wilmington and
half-inch open-welt seams on the sides, upflap pockets
on the back, quarter-cut pockets in the front, and the
Two views of ‘The Roof’ bowling alley which Jim Hannah transformed into Bop City. Sixty years later, former
teenagers who danced there unconsciously called it both The Roof and Bop City. On the left, The Roof is to the right
of the Ocean Plaza hotel with a ‘Dancing’ sign on the corner building. On the right you can see the yellow bowling
alley sign (of The Roof), down the center, two signs left of the tower in the distance.
Folly Beach in Charleston.
belt loops were dropped one inch from the top of the
Janet Morris, visiting Carolina Beach on a vacation
from New York City with her mother in the summer of
waistband.”
Outwardly, Carolina Beach’s structure changed little.
1946, said they were walking down the boardwalk when
she heard music coming from a cafe just ahead. When
Many of the buildings there since the early part of the century remained, although the names sometimes changed, and
they got to the door she could see the jukebox on the
right just inside the door and a tall thin blonde boy,
the cars in the streets changed as well.
But inside it’s structures, an undertow was building
wearing a brown suit, no shirt, and shoes without socks,
dancing with a girl in the middle of the floor.
that culminated in a sea change at the end of the decade.
Tijuana Inn’s jukebox was the first wave. Within the
She learned some years later that the boy was Chicken
Hicks. The dance and the music brought her back for count-
year, Jim and his good friend,
Carl Goble, leased the Palais
less summers afterward. Today Janet lives at North Myrtle
Royal Hotel. Carl and his part-
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ner Tommy Bell also had the pool hall across the boardwalk next to The Roof bowling alley.
The Hannah-Goble partnership ran the restaurant
on the first floor of the Palais and, “we rented rooms with
Cavallo, still doin’ it, Deerfield Beach, Florida, 2005.
drinks and ice, it was BYOB [bring your own booze] or
BYOD.”
“What was ‘BYOD’ Jim,” I’d never heard the term.
“Bring your own drugs,” he said.
NORTHERN & SOUTHERN REBELS MIXED WELL
AT CAROLINA BEACH -- You’re looking at the leader
of the First ‘Beach Music’ band in history. Jimmy Cavallo,
a Yankee from Syracuse, NY, at Bop City in ‘48. Jim
said the band looked more like Beach Bums. (No socks,
Jimmy fit right in with the Shaggers, Boppers, and Swing
Jitterbugs).
‘room service’ on the second floor,” Jim explained. Their
second-floor “hospitality service” consisted of moonshine
whiskey brought to the rooms by the friendliest hostesses on the beach.
“We had a colored boy we dressed up as a front man
that sold all the illegal whiskey on the boardwalk,” Jim
added.
In 1947 Jim took over The Roof across the boardwalk
from the Ocean Plaza Hotel, renovated it as a nightclub
and changed its name to Bop City. Naturally, he changed
the music on the jukebox as well.
“It was the baddest place on the boardwalk,” Jim exclaimed,” we only played R&B music on the jukes and the
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live bands.
We
served only cold soft
Casey Jones wasn’t the only one running Jump Joints.
Jim Hannah said their were two dance spots from 194044, Batson’s Bathhouse on the North end with a wooden
platform and jukebox on the sand next to the bathhouse.
On the south end was Graham Harwood’s Bell Ringer
(boardwalk game) with a pad and jukebox next to it.
Graham’s Jump Joint is pictured here.
“You mean marijuana?”
Cavallo and the House Rockers.’ I told them to unload,
“Yeah, there was some of that around.”
“Well, where’d you get the drugs?”
go park the jeep, set up, and ‘show me what you got.’”
“Well, well, well, this Italian boy Cavallo blew as
“At the drug store, John, where else do you get drugs,”
he answered with that deadpan face he’d put on when he
bad an alto horn as I had ever heard. They played
‘Drinkin’ Wine Spo Dee O De’ and ‘Good Rockin’ To-
wanted to get a rise out of me.
“What drugs could you legally get from a drug store?”
night.’ That was enough. I signed them as house band
for a month, starting them out in the Ocean Plaza ball-
As it turned out, in the 40s and 50s anyone could go
in and buy inhalers off the counter, crack ‘em open, take
room which I also
out the Benzedrine-soaked cotton and stick it inside their
cheek for an all-day buzz.
“I was looking for a good band to play our type of
music. I was told there was a group of Army brats in
Fayetteville that played R&B. I got in touch with them
[through legendary dancer Lacy Moore who had mustered
out at Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville and knew them] and they
came to Carolina Beach to see if we could work out a deal.”
After talking with them on Monday, Jim wasn’t sure
they’d really show up to audition.
Jimmy Rushing didn’t
just sing, he danced
up a storm onstage.
Born in Oklahoma
City in 1902, Rushing
studied violin as a
child, played piano in a
sporting house as a
teenager, and played
private parties with
Jelly Roll Morton in
Los Angeles 1924-25.
Rushing’s main fame
came with Kansas
City’s Bennie Moten
outfit, later the Count
Basie band..
Jack Teagarden, Barney Bigard, Sid Catlett, and Louis
Armstrong. Texan trombonist Teagarden was one of the
first white players to mix with the black New Orleans
bands. Legend has it that when Teagarden met Armstrong
he said, “Look, you’re a Spade and I’m an Ofay (a pejorative term for whites) let’s play together.”
“Friday evening, my future wife, Frances Carter came
up and said some boys were downstairs looking for me. I
went down to the street where their spokesman told me
who he was and I said, ‘uh huh’ -- they were in an old opentop Army surplus jeep, with an old wooden trailer behind - they really looked more like Beach Bums.”
“I asked whether they had a name, he said, ‘Jimmy
NOT YOUR TYPICAL SOUTHERN BELLE,
Frances Carter from Virginia, and her friend Helen
on the Carolina Beach boardwalk, summer 1948.
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leased beginning in ‘46, on the second floor of the Ocean
Plaza hotel. They were so hot I moved them next door to
Bop City and they stayed all summer; alto horn, drums,
bass fiddle, guitar, and piano. Later, one man left and
Cavallo added a tenor horn.”
Bop City’s live and jukebox musical fare was a heady
mix which cast a spell on tourists and the local hotdog
dancers as well.
Casey Jones, a well-known Carolina Beach dancer
had already converted three or four cement bowling alleys along the boardwalk into ‘jump joints.’ The conversion wasn’t too difficult, he’d put three or four benches
around a chained-down jukebox and the tourists and locals had a jump joint.
As soon as Tijuana Inn opened with Race music blaring from the jukebox, and the grill so full folks were dancing on the boardwalk outside, Casey Jones arranged to
add the hot Black tunes to his jump joint jukes.
Some of the later jump joints were wooden pads, 8’
x 10’ or 12’ x 12’, over the sand with a Wurlitzer juke
that held 20 records, playing for five cents a record, and
some stayed open 24 hours.
On Carolina Beach the fast dance of choice for the
locals was the ‘Swing Jitterbug,’ another name for the
Shag. Of course it looked different then. According to
Jim and Frances at Bop City. Jim said that judging by his
attitude in this picture, it must have been a BYOD kind of
night for him.
the first black bands on the beach, Earl Bostic, Paul Williams who headed up the Apollo house band in New
York, and trombonist Jack Teagarden (white, but he
played black).
Hannah loved to recount one of the nights when
Williams reigned on the Bop City stage. Near the end of
the night he stepped off the band dais still playing his
“I like music that has
the bite, with fins,
that'll stick yyou.
ou.
ou.””
sax, went out the door, down the stairs and onto the
boardwalk with the crowd following and dancing to the
hot guttural rhythm of his tenor sax.
Black bands at Bop City was not the only rebellious
fray set off by Hannah. One night Chicken, Jim, and
Frances “crashed” a Count Basie concert for blacks at the
Jim the pivot hadn’t yet been added as one of the fundamental steps of the fas’ dancers’ repertoires, by the time
it was, lotsa folks were calling it the Shag.
as well.
Caught up in the swing spirit, Chicken jumped up to
From B
lack M
usic to B
lack B
ands
Black
Music
Black
Bands
dance with the Count’s sister and Frances grabbed Jimmy
Rushing’s hand to cut up the hardboards too. The police
Hannah closed the Tijuana Inn after the ‘45 sum-
took all three of the white interlopers to jail.
In the summer of ‘48, Cavallo and his House Rockers
mer season, but maintained the Ocean Plaza, Palais Royal,
and Bop City.
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Armory in Wilmington. Jimmy Rushing was still Basie’s
main front singer, but Basie’s sister chimed in on a few songs
In the summer
of ‘47 he brought in
were back at Bop City as the house band until Jim closed it
after Labor Day in September. (Alan Freed put Cavallo
and his House Rockers into his movie hit, “Rock, Rock,
Rock”, in the 1950s and they went on to national and
international fame. However, in the 90s Jim still described the House Rockers as “Cavallo’s barefoot band in
dungarees.”)
There was another reason why Jim’s jukeboxes at
Tijuana Inn and Bop City were stuffed with nickels, as
Jim put it, “Now I can tell it. All the other joints with
jukeboxes split the proceeds with Bostic Music Co. 40%
/ 60% with 60% going to Bostic, but I had a little thing
goin’ they later called ‘payola.’ I got Bostic’s distribution boys, Clyde and Parker, not to put the good R&B
tunes on the other jukeboxes.”
Jim was making so much money the Bostic Company agreed to an unprecedented split of 60% to Jim
and 40% to the distributorship.
“The thing is, I was kicking back part of my 60% to
Clyde and Parker to give me exclusive exposure to the hot
R&B tunes and keep ‘em off the jump joint jukeboxes.”
That may have been another reason why Jim said he
liked “music that has the bite, with fins, that’ll stick you.”
Hannah had a soft spot for young Beach Bums. Three
of his favorites and who employed in his various enterprises
were Lacy Moore and Bunk Leach from Greensboro, and
Harry Driver from Dunn. All three were inducted into the
Shaggers Hall of Fame in the 1980s.
It was Lacy who spotted Jimmy Cavallo’s band playing
some of the dives outside Ft. Bragg’s main gate and told Jim
about them.
1949 on the boardwalk was a bad year from Jim
Hannah’s perspective. The polio scare was in full-force,
people were getting their families vaccinated as quickly as
In 1950, Carolina Beach elected a new major who
possible and staying away from public swimming pools and
beaches.
didn’t like long hair, bleached hair, draped pants, or dancers. He closed all the juke joints and dance halls smaller
Hannah continued his lease with the Ocean Plaza Ballroom offering a variety of music. In the daytime his Rockola
than the Ocean Plaza, so the kids under 18 had nowhere
to dance.
filled the dance floor with smooth steppers, jitterbugs, and
Shaggers.
“That’s when the boys like Harry Driver, Lacy
Moore, and Chick Hedrick left for Ocean Drive in South
By day folks danced in casual Beach clothes and shorts,
at night Jim required pants, dresses, or slacks, shirts, shoes,
Carolina (North Myrtle Beach today) and took the music with them,” Jim explained, “I don’t know why they
and served food and beer while patrons danced to The
Chick-Burris Carolinians from UNC Chapel Hill.
didn’t like it much in Wilmington [or Wrightsville
Beach].”
The F
irst SShaggers
haggers ‘M
igration
umbers
First
‘Migration
igration’’ B
Byy the N
Numbers
Jim and Frances left
soonafter with his friend Jack
Ritchie who owned the Ritchie
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apartments next to the Ocean Plaza. Jack was running
numbers for the Smith brothers and Jim followed him to
Jacksonville, Florida, “I didn’t realize what I was gettin’
into.”
He and Jack were counting money one night in their
place on St. John’s River outside Jacksonville when two fellas
came in with Tommy guns and pistols and said, “We don’t
want you boys down here in our territory.”
Jack stayed on and built a motel on U.S. 1. Jim left
for Orman Beach outside Daytona for awhile, then back
to Carolina Beach and eventually moved to Charlotte in
‘53.
Jim and Frances lived in Davidson with his parents
[kids were goin’ back home to their parents 60 years ago,
Jim was 33!] while he managed a clothing store and
Frances worked for IBM. In December, Jim went to work
for Center Chemical Company, later changed to Oxford
Chemical.
Frances wasn’t idle outside IBM. She starting teaching
at Arthur Murray studios from 1961 until she opened her
own dance studio in 1974. Like most dance studios she
sponsored, showcases and coming out parties for her students. At one of those she met Buddy and Penny Adler, an
elderly couple who danced a unique step she’d never seen originated in the Carolinas (although not the same Shag
as the one we know today).
before.
Frances and I discussed the changes in the Beach and
Buddy and Penny danced in a close position, with a 12-3 tap and then swung their feet back simultaneously (a Shag worlds from time to time. In the mid and late 80s
mirror step). Although elderly, they liked to perform when a few enterprising Beach DJs began altering the
speed of records to better fit the Shag crowds they played
When Frances asked the name of the dance, they said to, many people were vehemently opposed to the pracit was the ‘Shag’ which they’d been doing since the late 20s, tice.
When I asked Frances what she though, she said,
not only in the Carolinas but on trips to New York and
their dance to the really fast tunes.
Chicago. Frances had never seen their ‘Shag’ before, the “That’s not new. We were doing that in Arthur Murray’s
one she was familiar with was the Swing Jitterbug everyone in 1961 and dance studios did it all over the country.
danced at Carolina Beach--not to be confused with the Jit- Record speeds had to be changed according to how good
terbug danced by Northerners visiting the South in the the students were.” She added that when she opened
her studio in ‘74 one of the first things she bought was a
When I met her, Frances had as many or more ques- variable speed record player made especially for dance stutions for me as I did for her. Like a lot of dance instructors dios.
I had the honor to attend Frances’ last showcase in 1991
she was an historian as well as a teacher. She wanted to
40s and 50s.
know if I knew anything about the Shag of the Adlers and at the Idlewild Country Club in Charlotte, NC. She took
was surprised to the floor on one ballroom dance after another, but she
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learn that it also slipped to the side where Jim and I were holding a palaver
to say, “I’d sure like to Shag to a good number right now.”
Sand IIn
nM
hoes
Myy SShoes
I’m
song &
starts
why do
trying 2 download a
I can’t find it. It
with “lady, lady, lady
you holler”?
Shag and if so, which steps?
....Do you have a list of songs
or even better, a cd of songs
that are Shags?
[Whew! The answers to all these
questions warrant a book of their own.
Just thought you might find it interesting
how folks view the Shag elsewhere.]
[Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters,
“A Quiet Place,” although, the Embers
did a great version with Craig Woolard
on lead, as well.]
My name is Drew and I teach
ballroom dancing in the
Cleveland area in Ohio. I want
to start teaching my students
the Shag but at this time I
only know the basics of the
Shag. Are steps from the East
Coast, West Coast, Balboa, or
Lindy incorporated into the
Jim and Frances Hannah were two of the finest, gentlest souls I’ve ever known. Not only was Jim a career
salesman, but deacon, Sunday School teacher, and on
the Forest Hill Church Building Committee.
Given his life’s journey, it was always obvious to me
that Jim chose to dedicate his life to his church and community because he wanted to. He clearly was not a man
Can you tell me what the
name/artist of the song that
plays on the website
www.odpavillon.net/
LOVE IT!!!.
[That’s James Hunter’s “Carina.”]
Sandra and I are from Halifax
Nova Scotia and have attended
the SOS events for about the
last ten years;had great times
and have met many friendly
shaggers,and almost all agree
that you play the BEST and
ORIGINAL blues shag music,bar
none.
who could be compelled to do something he didn’t want,
and clearly did what he desired.
Jim Hannah gave to his community what he thought
that people wanted, from music to sandwiches, from the
beach to the church.
I am proud to have known them both.
--JH
If you’d like to dig deeper into the musical history of the
Tijuana Inn and Bop City, you’ll find charts of the songs which
played on their jukeboxes from 1945-49. Jim and I went over
thousands of songs which I thought might have played there.
To my surprise, many didn’t, while others I didn’t suspect,
played repeatedly.
Most other(s) through-out
the area don’t seem to hear
that beat or rhythm that is
necessary for dancing. It’s
like the dance bands who are
good musicians but just don’t
get it that some songs that
may be to their liking, is not
good dance music!
[Come back--there’s lots more!]
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From the B
andstands & the H
ar
dboar
ds
Bandstands
Har
ardboar
dboards
I remember the Castaways Club, Beach Club &
Donnie’s, the Swinging Bucket, The Pad. I played in
bands that worked in those places. I remember Bill
Pinckney, Joe Pope, Clovers, Coasters and on & on.
It’s just so much different now.
You’re right, then it was about the music, now
it’s about the dance. That pretty much says it all.
I still love what was called beach music then &
not so much what it has become now. I also love
good blues music. I’ll go back in my cave now.
--B
....the Rathskeller that I remember was located next
to the Just Inn and directly across from the present day
arcade. The club was down a flight of steps and had a
concrete floor. I used to carry out the morning garbage
and help clean up during my summer getaways to Myrtle.
Best paying job on the beach....cold draft beer all day
long!
I should also add that I stayed at the Just Inn (out
back in a converted garage) for $2 a night. Most times
I could cut the grass, trim the bushes or paint the
porch rockers for Mr. Lackey and avoid the
“outrageous” room rates.
--C
I have a sneaking suspicion that I may have had
a bit too much beer listening to you play. I have been
Anyone remember Shields Harvey, who was at
to many if not all of the places you mentioned way
back in the 60’s. Funny, I have a strange craving for Elon with us? He was quite the entrepreneur, with
Campus Cakes, The Null & Void, a bar in Durham,
a PBR and a Marlboro.
and he was also a promoter of Doug Clark and the
--T
Hot Nuts.
He formed a company, Gross Records, to
If so, that would have been a 25 cent PBR Draft.
Bill Griffin & Cecil Corbett, ah those were the produce their first album called “Nuts to You.”, I
gave him the idea for the album cover and Dan Seale
days.
Let’s not forget Williams Lake & Jokers 3 Club. did the artwork. It was a drawing of a lady sitting on
a bowl of peanuts, offering a nut to whoever was
--B
looking at the cover. I wonder whatever happened
Can we add The Keg in Salisbury, The Attic in to Shields?
--D
Burlington and The Coachman and Four in
Bennettsville and The Fiesta Club in Rock Hill and
Hey D,
maybe just one more....The Four Winds Club in
I didn’t know that; truly amazing. This is some
Greenville, SC....
pertinent music history from a primary source. You,
--S
Shields Harvey, Dan Seale and Don Miller should
You beat me to the punch S..... I was the be in an “Elon Music Hall of Fame”.
Oh—how I loved [the] “Duke University
keyboard (B3) player with the Four Winds from
Durham, NC with Archie Durham, Nelson Miller, Hangout”, The Null & Void; what wonderful times
and Jim Toddy. The club in Greenville was named we had over there. I tried to Google some background
after us and we played it frequently. I believe the history about The Null & Void but can find no
owner was Pat Riddle. And while we’re at it, how about mention of it.
--M
the Hayloft in Durham, and the Cat’s Eye in Raleigh.
--D
I haven’t thought about Maurice Williams in so
long. My roommate the first two years of college
was addicted to Maurice.
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The first two years I was underage, but had to go to
those clubs and so was “smuggled in” in the center of a
large group of my friends. Everyone all around me
shoved ID at the doormen and I got carried in by the
crowd.
I remember the “booze lockers” and the club
membership at Embers...at least I remember
it...maybe it wasn’t that way. Sometimes the mind
rearranges the facts a little bit.
--C
who refuse to let DISTANCE keep them from renewing
OLD and New friendships every year.
These are mostly people who grew up close enough
to the beach to get to the HANGOUT on a regular basis.
Many of these people now live in Birmingham, Ala and
Columbus, Ga., and many places in between. It is a joy
to be a part of this Group also.
C..... and I Shag and Bop and sometimes we do
what we have begun to call SHABOP, which is some
Triple, Triple, Double and some Double,
Triple,Triple basics. You need to experience this
Do you know how I can get a picture of the also!!! I am going to try to send you an article from
Boulevard grill when it was the “Playland Grill”?
the P.C. newspaper.
My uncle used to be the cook there years ago
--D
when I was very young,. He lived in the apartment
on top of the Pad. We used to come to the beach alot
I was born in 1943 and grew up in Fairmont, NC.
and stay with him there. I have alot of great memories It was a small town, but a big tobacco market town.
around the Grill, Pavilion and Pad.
I fondly recall the yearly street dance that was
I would love to get a picture of any of these. If held on Main St. Yes it was roped off. Fairmont
there is any possible you can help me, I would greatly was one of the towns in Robeson that had a tri-racial
appreciate it.
make-up. White, Black, and Indian (as in native
--CG
American).
In front of Fairmont Drug they brought in a large
My name is ......... and I wrote you some time flatbed trailer. It always featured a county-western
ago regarding pictures of Joe’s Beach in Lexington band from Florence, SC led by Slim Mims. This
North Carolina where people could go listen to beach section was for the white folks and square dancing
music and shag. I have continued to search for was done there.
pictures but have not been able to locate any. The
Main Street was intersected at that point by what
only info I have found is on the Beach Music History we called Bulldog Avenue. This section was for the
website and that it was in the 1945-1954 era. It also blacks. They brought out a jukebox from the black
mentioned Buttercup, a local show. I was checking pool room. The music was down and dirty rhythm
back with you to see if you had located any ......
and blues. A variety of dancing was taking place from
--D
the mashed potatoes to real dirty dancing that would
make the movie of that name look downright
My girlfriend and I have just returned from two prudish.
consecutive week-ends in Panama City, Fla. and I’m
My mother was partners in Fairmont Drug Co.
sorry you could not be there. The first week was and the Slim Mims flatbed was set up directly in front
Shag-A-Rama, put on by the Birmingham, Ala. Shag of it. A young black man in his late 20’s worked in
group. There were 575 shaggers in attendance. the drug store. His name was Benston Campbell.
Weather was beautiful and everyone survived Benston could sing, play a little blues harp and shoot
(barely). You are familiar with the wonderful beach some strong pool. He would take me into the black
setting on the Gulf of Mexico with it’s WHITE Sands. area to hear the music that he knew I loved and to
Next Year!!!!!!!!!!
watch the hot steamy dancing going on.
The following week-end was the 25th
The Indian section was next to the county music and
Anniversary Beach Bum’s Reunion. A great it seemed to be the music that they liked. They too did
celebration of BEACH BOP, more commonly called some square dancing and some
P.C. BOP, or just P.C. These people are mostly friends
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free style dancing that seemed to take over some who
might have had a taste of adult beverage.
Fun was had by all groups and there was no
friction of trouble of any kind. I am sorry that I didn’t
have an pictures of this event.
--B
I just got around to reading your site
………Loved it. I’m from Columbia S.C. and played
in a few bands in the mid sixties. We backed up
Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces, Wilson Pickett,
Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts, Epics, and many
more….BOY I loved it.
The main reason I’m writing is to say you mentioned Woody Windham in Columbia. I played keyboard for his band for about 5 months. Had to leave
because of the fact that you mentioned--Viet-Nam. I
still play the keyboard along with all my cds at home
almost everyday. LIKE I SAID! I love it still.
--M
Do you remember the “Driftwood Club” near
Hillsborough? It was at the intersection of I-85 &
Old US 70; (west of Durham) in the Hillsborough
area. A Giant building with lots of room.
We, The WEEJUNs, were the band and played
back-up for Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs many,
many times. Especially at the “Driftwood Club”.
They (MW&Z) were the first beach music/
rythmn & blues band to buy a Factory made Motor
Home. Remember the old Dodge Motorhome? It
was a giant fiberglass egg with wheels!!
You will probably see him (Maurice) at SOS, as
he is normally there for a day....
--D
I’ve never visited the “Driftwood Club”. In the
summers of (58 - 62), a group of us local area college
students worked at Ramseur Interlock
Knitting Company. The owner, Mr. Sam Rankin,
was one of those special progressive North Carolina
business men who supported his local community.
He gave college kids summer jobs at his mill,
and we got a week off for the 4th of July. We always
spent this special week down at Myrtle Beach and
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hung out at The Beach Club. I’ll never forget dancing
and cutting up with Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs.
The Beach Club (1960-1970)
Formerly located on Highway 17 N. (Restaurant
Row) across from Lake Arrowhead Rd. where
Bennett’s Calabash Seafood Restaurant now sits.
Before becoming one of the nations premier concert promoters, the late Cecil Corbett along with
brother Charlie, built the Grand Strand’s first indoor,
air-conditioned, all-concert venue known as The
Beach Club. The one-story, block building was basic, the entertainment, anything but. Running the
gamut from R&B, Rock ‘N Roll, to Regional Beach
Music favorites.
The Beach Club presented the cream of the crop:
Four Tops, The Intruders, Smokey Robinson and The
Miracles, Junior Walker and The All Stars, The Tams,
Billy Stewart, The Georgia Prophets, The Platters,
Fats Domino, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs,
Clifford Curry, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding and many,
many more.
--M
Someone I worked with years ago told me that
when he was a young man in the early 60’s he got to
know Maurice a bit, from meeting him at gigs in
Greensboro and other places.
He and a buddy went to see the Zodiacs in
Greensboro in the very early 60’s and Maurice invited the two of them to a club afterwards. Keep in
mind when this was, and that it was not the most
common thing for white guys to visit black clubs, or
vice-versa.
Anyway, they went along with Maurice and the
Zodiacs. The clientele did not recognize Maurice,
and all that many of them knew was that Jimmy and
his buddy were two white boys insinuating themselves in “their” place.
Jimmy and his buddy were sitting at a table with
the Zodiacs, and then the club owner asked everyone to welcome the special guests, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs. The crowd applauded, and
Maurice and the gang got out of their seats to acknowledge the crowd.
Maurice motioned for Jimmy and his friend to
rise up with them, so they did. The rest of the evening
the clientele were slapping them on the back, buying them beers, etc. As Jimmy told me: “For one
night in our lives, we were Zodiacs!!”
--F
Purchased your book and liked it very much.
Brought back some fine memories.
While I spent most summers at Cherry Grove
with family, I was well indoctrinated to the dance
scene and culture at an early age. My “Shag” era ran
effectively from 1946-47 to 1953, when I graduated
from Clemson and was forced to go into legitimate
society. My wife Anne, a “Beach Girl,” and I have
never stopped Shagging.
The Hall of Famers shown in your book are
mostly from my era and group of friends and well
deserving of the honor.
I am shown in the photo on page 38, 5th from
the left. Starting 2nd from left, Buster Mull, Al Munn,
Dick Fagan and myself are the four lifeguards. A
number of solid dancers in this group and some others
were instrumental in solidifying the Shag style as
we know it today.
A friend named “Big George” Lineberry was the
first to do steps that resemble today’s Shag style. Big
George, being big, had difficulty moving at a faster
pace, resorted to a style that allowed him to modify
his tempo to fit any speed music. We all started doing
the same as it allowed more style and innovation.
The rest is history.
I’m pleased that the dance has been kept alive by
the numerous people, you included, who have
followed. If you have the chance, please give a call
and lets’ discuss.
--HT
Friends,
................ left me a voice mail today to inform
me of the passing (and anticipated funeralization) of
one of our childhood heroes, the legendary, Sweet Bob
Rogers.
Sweet Bob was a DJ in Raleigh on WLLE, aka
“Wonderful Willie.” He was a rotund and vociferous
personality, full of life, and as cocky as a Spring
Turkey. He mesmerized us with his verbal gymnastics,
and charmed us with his wit.
His obit, carried in the News and Observer, lists
his survivors as “his wife of 39 years, Janice Rogers,
several children, grandchildren, brothers, and
sisters.” As his proclivities for the fair sex were well
known, OD and I feel that at least a few of his “several
children” might have been (shall we say) with other
women. Hey, I’m not judging the boy.
John once saw Sweet Bob perched on a
motorcycle going down Hillsborough Street (picture
a 300 pound man with a scooter wedged between
his butt cheeks going around the corner in front of
the NCSU Bell Tower).
Recognizing the rider immediately, OD yelled
out “Sweet Bob...how you doin’?” To which Bob
replied (in his inimitable lexicon) “Loukapoo,
Sugarpoo”.
So, it is with great affection that I sign off quoting
Sweet Bob Rogers and his nightly riff:
“Loukapoo, Sugarpoo...Sweet Bob is now on the
line. Sweet Bob, spelled BOB, backwards and
forwards...the only sugar-coated son of Mrs. Bobby
Rogers. Different ways for different days, different
sights for different nights, and different strokes for
different folks.
I was there when the Dead Sea was found dead...I
was there when the Red Sea was dyed red...I was in
Cuba when the ships came in, but they didn’t wave,
so I didn’t stay.
I’ll give you a word to the wise...and that’s to all
you guys...I’ll be out on the streets of Raleigh in about
“5”...and when I’m not near the girl I love, I gots to
love the girl I’m near. And another thing...Do me a
favor and don’t doublepark in front of the ABC Store,
‘cause I’ll be there soon.
Loukapoo Sugarpoo.”
Sweet Bob Rogers, RIP,
Blue Cheese...a sincere fan...and keeper of the riff
J,
As Sweet Bob would say
“It’s so nice to work with so many cosmopolitan
people in such a small metropolitan area...Look out
Raleigh. I gots the River Jordan in my pocket, and I
know all you girls just want to be baptized.
Rubalator, rubalator, bop shu bop shu bam. Sweet
Bob is now signing off the air.”
--B
There’s enough old Raleigh farts amongst this group
that some of you are sure to have the incredibly fond
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memories of Sweet Bob the great DJ as I do. Be sure
to scroll down and read his sign off.
One night a few years ago, Blucher and John
O’Donnell did it for me, and it was wonderful to
hear it again.
At some point, besides WLLE, Bob Rogers had
The All Night Flight Show on WKIX, and he’d spin
great R&B on that, too.
A true Raleigh icon.
Did Charlotte have a station and DJ like WLLE
and Sweet Bob?
--J
Oh, yes we did: Jack Gale on the morning show
at WAYS, which was the most popular rock n roll
station during the Motown and early Beatle days.
Of course, it was AM, and you listened to it
mostly on the car radio. Gale was like having Jonathan
Winters on the radio every morning; he had a cast of
voice characters who dropped by every day and he never
failed to crack us up on the way to school.
I especially remember his folk singer, “Lope” who
would come on to challenge the audience to name a
song title he couldn’t sing—of course, he always sang
the exact same song in reply and Gale would shout “I
think he’s got it!” and hang up on the caller—that would
reduce us to slobbering hyenas, for some reason.
Every now and then he’d play it straight and show
that he was a top-shelf, professional announcer—
and when he did, you would always wait for him to
slip in a curveball, which he usually did.
WAYS was the soundtrack to my high school
days.
--P
I thought the rope down the middle was used to
separate blacks and whites on the dance floor. My
Mom told me this was done in Garden City in the
40s. Garden City, birth place of the Shag for real.
--J
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Off the Char
ts
Charts
“Off the Charts” is a portal for the chart action of
Beach and Shag songs throughout the years prior to
each songs ((which began with
Beach songs charting as B
Beach
It Will Stand magazine in 1979).
If you were on the Beach in 1951, or would just
like to get an idea of what may have landed on the
jukeboxes that summer, The May 5th breakout chart
to the right is will give you an idea of what hit that
year.
Most notable of course is the Dominoes “Sixty
Minute Man.”
However, the May chart was loaded with others:
Dinah Washington and the Walter Buchanan
Orchestra’s “Fine Fine Daddy” was just right at 90 bpm
for the smooth steppers.
The fast steppers were right at home with Calvin
Boze’s “Slippin’ and Slidin’.” The super fast steppers
could have a ball with Tiny Bradshaw’s “Two Dry Bones
on the Pantry Shelf.”
Earl Bostic fans were able to hear an alternate version of his “September Song” with a vocal added by
Clyde Terrell.
From Richmond, California (home of the Club
Savoy), Jimmy McCracklin threw down a fine medium
groove on Swing Time records with “I’m Gonna Have
My Fun.”
Another hot boppin’ Swing Time tune, Lloyd
Glenn’s “Chica Boo” was hot in New Orleans.
Violet Hall’s “Six Foot Papa” was a great tune, although Mercury didn’t distribute widely nationally.
If you’ve got the time, there are several other gems
listed here.
On the next page over is R&B station WLOU,
1350 AM’s chart for February 25, 1967. Any
Beachdigger or Bopper listening to them would probably have been in Beach heaven most of the time:
“Jimmy Mack,” “The I Saw In You (Was Just A Mirage),” “With This Ring,” “Wish You Didn’t Have To
Go,” “Pucker Up Buttercup,” and more were on their
Top 40 that week.
Off the Char
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Charts
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In SSear
ear
ch of....
earch
Embers Memorabilia for a Book and
Documentary of their 50 + Years !
The F
iv
ays --Early E
mbers !
Fiv
ivee JJays
Embers
Long-time New Bern newspaper columnist and
author, Skip Crayton is writing and producing a book
and documentary with his colleague Bill Benners.
Skip’s other books includes one of my favorites,
Remember When, which includes a fabulous chapter
on the dances and bands of the 60s at the Faison, NC
Pickle warehouse. How many stories have you heard
about that place? If none, get the book. (If you have
some to add, send them to me for inclusion in the
Dancing On the Edge Journal).
Skip and Bill have already assembled a fabulous
array of memorabilia, but there’s always more needed,
especially to round out this long-needed project on
one of the premier bands in Beach Music.
If you or a friend have film footage from a birthday party, high school dance, anniversary, pig pickin’,
night club, skinny dippin’ get-together, or any other
celebration that included the Embers, please contact
Bill Benners at his e-mail address below.
Photos, ticket stubs, old fliers or playbills, court
summons, divorce papers, nude photos in the North
Carolina Farmers Co-operative, anything!
Additionally, old newspaper clippings, high school
or college annuals, rare recordings that Bobby and
Jackie never confessed to, all are wanted for this project.
Contact Bill Benners at this address:
[email protected]
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Freestylin
eestylin’’
This year’s 27th Annual National Shag Dance
Championships and 4th Annual Shagging with the
Stars started off, as we sometimes say in the dance
world, ‘on the wrong foot.’ Less than a month before
the event, Studebakers, home for the Nationals for
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most of its nearly three decades, and a bastion for revelers at the Beach even longer, closed its doors . Barry
Thigpen had an alternate venue within hours through
the good graces of Roger Davison and 2001.
Although the January 29th competition was only
the preliminaries, there were nervous first-timers as
well as nervous ‘repeat’ dancers who had been practic-
Freestylin
eestylin’’
Back row, l to r: Kristen Floyd, Kevin Cox, Michael Maely, Nikki Kontoulas, Corporal Bryan Murphy, Mandy Holt,
Dr. Dave DeCenzo, Donna Hosaflook, Sean Collins, Brittany Miller, Judge Cindy Graham Howe, and Matt Free.
Front row, l to r: Katy Morgan, Jeff Hargett, Michelle Love, William Greene, Jenifer Sweat, Grayson Smith, Julia
McBride, Rusty Hosaflook, Trae Anderson, Amie Lee.
ing for months--if not an entire year--in preparation.
And that’s not to mention the nouveau Shagging With
the Stars (SWS) participants.
As exciting as the Nationals have been in their
first 26 years, I think the addition of SWS is one of
the great experiments in dancing -- it has a way of
revealing the
soul of the Shag,
and the Shag
community, in
ways that aren’t
ordinarily seen.
Consider
this. How many
dozen times have
we witnessed
someone invited
to the dance
floor who said,
Michael Maely, WMBF News “Oh no, I don’t
Evening anchorman with partner Shag,” or, “No,
Nikki Kontoulas, 2005’s Overall
I’m just not good
National Shag Champion
enough”?
Dancing is supposed to be fun, isn’t it? Have you
ever heard someone say, “No, I’m not good enough at
having fun,” or “sorry, I don’t Have Fun.”
I’m kidding -- partially. The truth is, dancing reveals more than
one’s knowledge
of the steps in a
dance -- especially
the Shag.
SWS demonstrates more than
levels of Shag expertise, it mirrors
our social and personal concerns
about learning in
general.
Kevin Cox, An HTC Account ExFEAR # 1: ecutive and “Mr. Myrtle Beach”
Someone might and Kristen Floyd, three-time Junior Champion
learn that I’m not
already competent
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Freestylin
eestylin’’
in every conceivable human skill.
evident in news and politics, where
There are some who say this is
reporters and critics immediately go
a peculiarly American fear. I don’t
after personal histories from 10, 20,
know that for sure. But it does il30 or more years in the past and
lustrate one of our basic fears about
parade them in front of the public
learning -- someone might find out
as if they exhibit the core values of
that’s what we’re doing!
the person under scrutiny -- with
Fear # 2: People may have negathe assumed caveat that they are untive assessments about my level of exchangeable.
pertise.
Fear # 4: I’ll never be able to get
This is a fear we really don’t
a better job, show myself in public
Jenifer Sweat, F.S.A. Marketing places, or achieve peace and happiness
have to worry about, people will absolutely have opinions, some positive Director and Myrtle Beach Area in life if I am not perfect.
Chamber of Commerce’s “Young
and some negative. Some will even Professional of the Year” with
This is sometimes a spin-off fear
be inaccurate!
partner Grayson Smith, former from 1, 2, and 3 above. Like any emoFear # 3: All people, in all places, Junior now Pro competitor
tion, fear tends to pervade realms
may consider me to be a fool for all time!
other than the one under observation.
Somehow we sense that if we
Fear # 5: If I show a level of virtumake a ‘mistake’ every witness will tell their friends, osity less than masterful, I could lose my spouse, boyfriend,
family, and col- girlfriend, and friends in general.
leagues who
This is just anwill pass it
other possible
along to their paranoid spin-off
associates, and of fear in general.
on
down
Given these
through the and other potengenerations to
tial fears, Shagging
at least 2,350
in public is constiAD.
tuted by some of
This fear is the most horrible
also related to dangers imaginthe peculiar able, isn’t it?
human notion
Whether
that human bethey’re accurate or
ings, once they not, they go with
Rusty Hosaflook, Senior and Pro d e m o n s t r a t e
the territory of
competitor, and Julia Conn
their skill level,
public dancing.
McBride, RE/MAX Ocean ForSean Collins, Of the Myrtle Beach
can never im- That’s one of the
est realtor
Fire Department with partner Britprove or change.
reasons why SWS tany Miller, former Junior now
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is such an interest- Non-Pro competitor
22
Freestylin
eestylin’’
ing tableau of
spectators. Beemotions.
lieve me, it was a
By the way,
wildly excited
SWS demoncrowd.
strates more than
Time and
the expertise of
again, the dancers
the
nouveau
would execute a
Stars. It is also a
move, sometimes
study in the skills
subtle, sometimes
of their teachers.
over the top
Every stu(Michael Maely
dent and teacher
seemed to be
arrives to a learndancing almost
Dr. Dave DeCenzo, President of
ing situation with
entirely over the
Coastal Carolina University, with
top nearly every Amie Lee, the Myrtle Beach Area
partner Donna Hosaflook, Seniors any number of
Chamber of Commerce’s Direcand Pro competitor
preconceived nomoment). In ei- tor of Festivals and special events,
tions. The good
ther case, the and Trae Anderson, Pro, Non-Pro
news is that practice and learning can displace those
crowd was enor- and Junior runner-up
notions with experiences and feelings that are more
mously enthusiproductive and satisfying.
So, you should be saying by
astic and let it be known with
now, ‘what the heck happened?’
whistles, clapping, and excited cries
From the moment the first
of surprise and appreciation.
SWS couple stepped to the dance
All eleven couples pirouetted or
floor, spectator anticipation inmoved in tandem in combinations
creased in leaps of 10, 20, 50, to
that one and two year veterans would
150 degrees. I think that’s particube proud to have in their repertoires.
larly interesting when you consider
(Now that I think about it, I
that most of the spectators are acneed to get hold of emcee Diane
complished Shaggers.
Devaughn-Stokes and her husband
What could possibly be the atChuck, to get the video. There were
traction in watching 11 people
several steps I’d like to add to my
who’ve been practicing a couple of
trick bag of moves).
months at most? Would they even
At the end of each couple’s
be able to do a moderately good
dance, the four judges, Jason Cagle,
Basic? Would they stumble, flush
Susan Neal, Danny Johnson, and
red with embarrassment, leave the
Holly Cagle, all accomplished comMatt Free, former two-time Junfloor in a shower of tears? Not hardly! iors winner, and Judge Cindy GraI had the doubly exciting experi- ham Howe, South Carolina’s first
Volume 1, IIssue
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ence of watching the dancers and the Master-in-Equity judge
23
Freestylin
eestylin’’
100s of people, as beginners? Unthinkable!?
My hat is off to all the instructors. To achieve that level of emotional learning requires a high degree
of trust which they obviously inspired in their partners.
Some of the SWS stars were esuttin
tuff
sentially Str
truttin
uttin’’ Their SStuff
tuff.
Whew! Fearless, Carefree,
Fun-loving, Smiling, and Ready for
Anything -- they were Shagging!
It seemed that every couple
raised the bar for those which followed, and those who followed
Jeff Hargett, 2005’s Overall
National’s champion, and Katy
leapt right over the bar with their
Morgan, WMBF News morning
own unique repertoires and comfort
meteorologist
in dancing together.
At another level, the SWS collaboration between instructors and Stars demonstrates
That, and
the invisible influences inherent in learning from a mastheir observations
ter. Much of what is learned in the presence of a virabout the their
tuoso is never articulated or even thought of by the
obvious fun all 11
teacher. It is inherited via the experiences of the stucouples were havdent with the teacher.
ing on the floor.
There is a famous story about a man who wanted
Judging by the
to become a skillful chess player in the 1960s. He
scintillating and
wasn’t sure how to go about learning to play the game
genuine smiles on
in a higher sphere of competence so he made up a
the SWS Stars’
strategy. He bought some books which delineated evfaces, their inery move in dozens of the great competitions of the
structors taught
past and played them out by himself. Making each
them more than
William Greene, former three- the Basic steps, and
move just as they were made by the champions.
times Juniors champion and
We can assume that eventually he may have wonMichelle Love, a South Atlantic some extraordinarily
dered why a player had made a particular move, but
sophisticated moves
Bank vice president
that level of educated reflection couldn’t have come in
as well, they appeared
the beginning. There has to be a foundation of expeto have imbued their partners with courage, appreciarience on which to build reflections at that level. It
tion, and the out and out joy of Shagging. In front of
comes as no surprise that he eventually became a worldDancing O
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24
petition dancers and instructors, each
offered their upbeat perspectives on
the couples’ performance.
In one respect, their observations almost goes against the Fears
I enumerated earlier, especially the
inference that one shouldn’t waste
the moment concerned with the assessments of others. However, the
exception here is somewhat subtle.
Although the judges always reported the positive aspects of what
they saw, I think they reflected the
spectator’s opinions about something more fundamental -- the absolute fearlessness each couple personified.
Freestylin
eestylin’’
Judges l to r: Jason Cagle, Susan Neal, Danny Johnson, and Holly Cagle. The judges scored the couples for 2/3rds of
their final scores as well as offered their observations of the couple’s overall style after each dance. Amazingly, each
couple had only 12 hours of practice before the competition. The other 1/3rd of the final scores was determined by
audience applause.
What did he do? He simply
the Shag, the Bop, or Chicago-style
trusted himself to learn by followSteppin’. That’s improvisation. To
ing in the footsteps of masters bealigned in entrainment with freefore him. There are some fancy
style dancers, is to be aligned with
names for that phenomenon. Some
spontaneity. That kind of openness
call it ‘embodiment.’ Others call it
is inspiring to say the least. And I
‘enacted cognition,’ and others
think that’s what brought to crowd
would call what we saw at Shagging
cheering to their feet again and again
with the Stars a fabulous example
at 2001 on January 29th.
of ‘entrainment,’ with a caveat.
Even when a couple’s repertoire
Ordinarily entrainment de- Corporal Bryan Murphy, of the
is choreographed, experienced dancscribes an individual’s calm align- Myrtle Beach Police Department
ers and spectators sense whether
and
Mandy
Holt,
a
two-time
Nonment with his or her inner mood
they’re dancing in a mood of openPro Champion
and emotions. Sometimes it deness and spontaneity. We could feel
scribes an individual’s alignment
their joy, pride, and willingness to
with a rhythm they’re listening to outside themselves.
put it all out there on public display.
Shagging, however, takes that to another level.
In the end, the few American, free-style, couple
Entrainment while Shagging is alignment with one’s
dances like the Shag, Bop, and Steppin’ reveal many
mood, alignment with the rhythm of the music, and
aspects of the soul of the dancers--certainly their level
alignment with your partner’s mood, rhythmic alignof competence, but also their courage, playfulness, comment, lead (if your partner’s a male), and style.
fort inside their own skin, imSometimes there’s another element--especially with perviousness to potential critiVolume 1, IIssue
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Volume 1, Issue 1
25
Freestylin
eestylin’’
cism, spontaneity, carefreeness, and capacity to play.
I left ‘play’ until last. Recreation and play are generally put at the bottom of any list of life’s important
goals.
There are endless books written on virtue and ethics in today’s world. It doesn’t take long to note that
play is totally ignored.
Who really wants to spend their life around virtuous, non-playful people who haven’t the spontaneity
to enjoy Soul Shagging with the Stars?
In its first three years, SWS had one overall winner, those include Martha Hunn of WBTW Television (2007), now with Coastal Carolina University,
Scott Early, former Myrtle Beach High School Head
Football Coach (2008), and Melanie Bennett, charity
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organizer for “Collin’s Kids” (2009).
This was the first year in which there was both a
female and male winner. Congratulations to ...............
and Michelle Love of South Atlantic Bank.
This year’s contest sponsors were the Shaggers Hall
of Fame, WMBF, Kathryn and Eddie Monsour,
Fayetteville, North Carolina, Bruce and Camille Morgan of South Atlantic Bank and RE/MAX Ocean Forest.
The Fourth Annual “Shagging With the Stars”
coincided with the preliminaries for the 2010 National
Shag Championships. The venue and finals for the
championship will soon be announced.
Vintage G
Grroo
oovves
Terry Timmons
In the Grooves
1950--1953
Her first success in the Windy City was a romantic
involvement with Memphis Slim who, apparently smitten
by more than her charms, introduced her to the owners
of Premium Records, Lew Simpkins and Lee Egalnik,
which he was currently recording with.
In August of 1950, Terry signed a recording contract
with them while at night she alternated on lead vocals
There are conflicting stories about Terry’s birth. with Doctor Jo Jo as part of Memphis Slim’s
Some say she was born in West Virginia, however Houserockers at Ralph’s Club on Chicago’s West
the more accepted version is that she was born Teresa Madison street.
Walker, April 12, 1927 right after her parents and two
Terry’s first Premium record was released in late
older brothers moved to Cleveland from Charleston, 1950 on which she was backed by musicians from
West Virginia.
Eddie Chamblee and Floyd Hunt’s bands (which is
Terry gave her first public performances while
attending high school in Cleveland. Her first
professional appearances were at the Cafe Tia Juana
where she caught the ear of Paul Gayten out of New
Orleans (Paul had a good ear for strong female
vocalists. He had recorded several sides with Annie
Laurie, most notably for Shag fans, 1949’s “My
Rough and Ready Man” on Regal records).
(from master musicologist Robert Pruter’s collection)
Gayten hired Terry to replace Annie for a brief
period. With that experience in her repertoire, Terry
left to try the Chicago entertainment scene.
almost a cosmic coincidence considering that Eddie
Chamblee later married Dinah Washington, Terry’s
idol and whose style many music critics compared
hers with). Fas’ dancers will be most interested in
the quick side, “Your Key Won’t Fit In My Door.”
Her second record was released in the Spring of
‘51 just before poorly-capitalized Premium Records went
out of business in June. Premium’s Egalnick sold six of
her masters to RCA, along with a duet she had recorded
with Memphis Slim, while keeping her management
contract for himself.
(Terry’s May ‘51 release included another Bop/Shag
tune entitled “What You Bet.”)
Looking back, it would seem as if Terry would have
enjoyed great success with RCA
Victor. They were looking to
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break deeper into the R&B market at the time. They
picked up Savannah Churchill from Regal at the same
time. Savannah had already scored several hits with
Manor, Columbia, Arco, and Regal records. Neither of
the gals had any success with RCA.
Meanwhile, Terry and Memphis Slim, in the shadowy
tradition of moonlighting at the time, recorded sides for
Mercury and United records. The flip side of Terry and
Slim’s “The Question” on Mercury included a flipside
by Slim entitled “Tia Juana,” probably a reference to the
club where Terry was discovered in Cleveland.
Terry and Slim’s duet, “Drivin’ Me Mad,” also on
Mercury is a duet that steppers may find interesting.
RCA sent Terry to New York to record under the
direction of formidable R&B director Howard Biggs.
Her first four sessions included Joe Thomas, Budd
Johnson, and Willard Brown in the sax lineup.
The first RCA offering was released in early
September on RCA # 20-4228 - a re-release of “You
Foolish Thing” and a new flip side “It Ain’t Supposed
To Be Like That” (a fairly good Shag tune). Two
months later RCA repeated that strategy by including
a re-release of Timmons “Eating My Heart Out For
You” with a new flip side - “Worried Woman Blues”.
RCA started 1952 with the release of a new side
“I Got Nobody To Love” (another fair Shag tune)
and “I Shouldn’t Have To Cry Over You” which was
also the first Timmons record to be released in 45 rpm
(for truly avid collectors, though, you’ll find several of
Terry’s RCA 78s were put out on what are called “flex”
78s, made out of the same, flexible, polyvinyl chloride
material as 45s rather than the brittle, breakable shellac
that most 78s were
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made of from the early 50s back).
In May, RCA released one of Terry’s two best Shag
tunes, “My New Love” [“Mr. Low Love”]. Terry’s
records were not selling well. Fortunately, her association
with Memphis Slim kept her on the personal appearance
circuit especially in the Midwest.
Late that summer RCA issued another good Shag
tune entitled “All Night Long” then in March 1953
they released her other terrific fas’ dance record,
“He’s The Best In The Business.”
After her two-year contract expired in July of
1953, and RCA declines to renew it, she moved over
to United records in September.
Leonard Allen the surviving partner in United
(he started United with Lew Simpkins after he left
Premium) recorded four sides with Terry, two
unreleased.
Terry continued with club bookings despite the
her lack of record sales. She has a successful twoweek stint at Chicago’s Club Bagdad in October 1953
with the Four Blazes.
Her one United record came out in October 1953.
Terry never had another release, although she
continued to tour and perform on the Midwest and
Chicago R&B circuits for a short time.
New G
Grroo
oovves
Reverend Bubba D.
Liverance & The
Cornhole Prophets
Tell the truth, now, what did you think about the
first time you heard the name of this band? If you
er
ance
answered the movie Deliv
eliver
erance
ance, you’re honest, and
understood the romantic perspective of the movie. As
for whether that was the intent of the Rev, who knows?
They say that ‘Cornhole Prophets’ is the name of a
game in the U.K. Well, it’s the name of a game in the
U.S. as well, but we don’t talk about it.
“If You Can’t Shag (Get Your Ass Out of the Carolinas)” was their first, and somewhat controversial, release from their Let My Peoples Dance CD. Sam
Hankins and the Rev (picture, top right) were co-writers on it. Sam has co-written several songs as well as
helps put together background lineups for their tunes.
The Rev himself is a soul-singin’ boy originally
from Whiteville, North Carolina.
Their first CD also made some noise with “I’m
Fixin’ To,” as well as two other chart-toppers, “Mo’
Better” and “That’s What You Do,” both of which
Sam Hankins (lead guitar & co-songwriter) & ‘Reverend Bubba Jr.’ Tyler Hooks
clearly demonstrate the Reverend’s chops as a singer.
Although they did attend S.O.S. a year ago, they
don’t appear nearby, they’re headquartered in Alabama
and gas prices between here and there are....well, you
know what gas prices are like.
Also on their first CD is a high-octane tune that
may appeal to the jitterbugs, “My Baby’s A Seafood
Platter.” If not, it’s certainly satisfying for those with a
strong predilection for double entendre--Rusty
McHugh obviously had fun writing it.
Now the CHP have a brand new 4-song CD sampler out, spotlighting “Come Back Baby” and
“Shagland,” a tune inspired by a ride down a coastal
highway on the road which the Rev penned and recorded when he returned home.
Get a copy at their website listed below.
www.RevBubbaBand.com
Volume 1, IIssue
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29
From the Vaults...
Here is the front and back of the Spontanes’ rare
album from the 60s. Like many groups, their repertoire on record and on stage included Billy Stewart,
the Radiants, Willie Tee, the Four Tops, Wilson Pickett,
the Temptations, Little Anthony and the Imperials,
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and the Showmen.
The back cover liner notes have a wealth of information. Their personal manager, Claude Bailey, was
drummer Ronnie’s father.
Don Strawn was en engineer at Arthur Smith studios and later the chief engineer for Big WAYS radio
in Charlotte until his retirement in the 80s.
From the Vaults...
Monk Gantt, Bill Stewart, and James Bates conNote also that their LP was issued by the Snyder
tinued with the Spontanes well into the following de- album company--who you’ll be hearing lots more about
cades. Notable later additions were Ronnie Gittens in future editions of From the Vaults.
from Lowell, NC and George Parish -- Crazy George
There’s also an ad for their booking agency, Hit
-- who left the Spontanes to become the house DJ at Attractions, run by Ted Hall from the 60s to the 90s.
the newly opened 2001 Night Club in Myrtle Beach
from 1980 until his death in the 2000s.
Volume 1, IIssue
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Beach M
usic Top 40 Countdo
wn
Music
Countdown
The Beach Music Top 40
www.beachshag.com
24
1
1
WISH YOU WERE HERE
Wish You Were Here
2
Cash, J.D.
COME BACK WITH ME
2009
Hot Stuff
Ripete Records
2009
Title
Artist
4
26
21
TOUCHING IN THE DARK
BPM
(LP or CD)
Year
Record Co. & #
2010
3
37
22
McDaniel, Rhonda
SIGN YOUR NAME
Southern Soul Compil.
KHP Records
2009
Forevermore records
2009
24
23
Bolton, Michael & Neyo
FAR TOO LONELY
One World, One Love
10
Universal Intrntl
2009
SisBro
2009
23
24
Nulisch, Darrell
LOOK BUT DON’T TOUCH
Just For You
10
Ripete Records
2008
17
25
Robillard, Duke w Sunny Crownover
HOLD YOUR HEAD UP
Stomp the Blues Tonight
18
Stony Plain 1342
2009
Ain’t Bad Records
2009
20
26
Brooks, Danny & Rockin’ Revelators
THANK GOODNESS SHE CHEATED
Live at the Palais Royale
40
Soulsville III 004
2009
Forevermore
2009
27
27
Entertainers
IT’S THE SAME OLD SONG
I Know the Inside Story
9
New West
2008
30
28
Stewart, Rod
UPTOWN - DOWNTOWN
Soulbook
7
KHP 1059
2009
9
28
29
Mike Jones/Grand Strand Blues All Stars
YOUR LOVE IS AMAZING
5
29
30
Woolard, Craig Band
IT’S BAD YOU KNOW (shag edit)
Main Street People
2009
KHP
2009
39
31
Burnside, R.L.
ALL I DO IS DREAM OF YOU
Come On In
3
Fat Possum Records
2009
KHP 1078
2009
40
32
Buble, Michael
STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH
Crazy Love
2
143/Reprise 07332
2009
32
33
Helm, Levon
WHY DON’T WE JUST DANCE
Electric Dirt
7
Dirt Farm Music 79861
2009
5
33
34
Turner, Josh
STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART
Why Don’t We Just Dance
2008
Ultra Records
MCA Nashville
2009
4
34
35
Cobb, Johnny
LET’S WALK
Carolina Soul Collection
2009
Tobacco Road
2009
4
35
36
de Lone, Austin
I GOT TO KNOW
Soul Blues
2009
Banana Tree
Like A Flower
2007
Reggae
22
5
3
Proctor, Jay
DIRTY OL’ MAN
6
4
Hardway Connection
LEARNIN’ THE BLUES
Carolina Shag
19
3
5
Cash, J.D.
THAT’S WHAT YOU DO
Wish You Were Here
28
8
6
Liverance, Rev. Bubba D.
IT MAY BE WINTER OUTSIDE
Let My People’s Dance
8
19
4
7
Gore, Terri
WILLIE
7
8
McClinton, Delbert & Dick50
PIECE OF YOUR HEART
Acquired Taste
19
10
9
Manning, Taylor
I DON’T TRUST MYSELF
This Is It! Carolina’s Callin’ Me
19
12
10
Royal Scotsmen Band
GOT TO BE MELLOW
Royal Scotsmen Band
15
13
11
Entertainers
YOUR LOVE LOOKS GOOD ON ME
I Know the Inside Story
18
22
9
12
Castways w/ Bo Schronce
EYES ON YOU
10
15
13
5
16
14
ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY
Anastacia
16
14
15
HE AND SHE
Wallstreet
15
18
16
DRINKIN’ LIQUOR & TELLIN’ LIES
McNeill, Frankie & Counts
Old Dog, New Tricks
SWEETNESS OF YOUR LOVE
L.U.S.T.
4
36
37
Bohler, Kaye
DON’TCHA
Best of Lust
31
38
Pussycat Dolls
MY CHERIE AMOUR
Don’t Cha
2009 9
Between A Rock & the BluesStony Plain 1345
Universal Intrntl
2009
39
Stewart, Rod
SOME MORE OF THAT
Soulbook
38
Jive 30256
2010
Downchild Blues Band
SHAGLAND
I Need A Hat
40
32
11
17
Let’s Dance Again, I Can’t Get Enough
Hardway Connection
STOMP THE BLUES TONIGHT
Robillard, Duke Jumpin’ Blues Revue
Carolina Shag
Stomp the Blues Tonight
Just Dance
10
21
18
TELL ME WHY
Walker, Joe Louis
11
22
19
MORE LOVE, THAT’S WHAT WE NEED
Gospel Classics
Soulful Gospel Vocal Groups V 3
5
25
20
I LUV THAT GIRL
All-4-One
No Regrets
SisBro
2009
Stony Plain 1342
2009
Famous Groove Records
3
2009
Peak Records
1
Top Picks--Bubbling Under
ARE YOU REALLY READY
BABY YOU DON’T KNOW
BLACK CAT BLUES
DO ME RIGHT
EVERYDAY (I HAVE THE BLUES)
FINE BROWN FRAME
FRIES WITH THAT
GOT TO GIVE IT UP
HAVE A GOOD TIME
HEAVEN BOUND
HINDSIGHT
JESUS LOVES ME
JUKEBOX
KILL THE COFFEE
MISS GHOST
MONEY’S GETTING CHEAPER
NIGHT SHIFT
Motorcity Women & Detroit Express
Robillard, Duke Jumpin’ Blues Revue
Café R & B w/Roach
Robillard, Duke Jumpin’ Blues Revue
Bennett, Tony & Stevie Wonder
Thompson, Big John & Julie
Cadillac Kings
Marcels
Boogie House
Davidson, Dianne
Alabama Blues Machine
Turner, Ike
Holiday
Pugno, Maurizio w/ Sugar Ray Norcia
Henley, Don
Robillard, Duke Jumpin’ Blues Revue
O’Banion, Sammy
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See affiliate links at www.beachshag.com
February 6, 2010
Year
Record Co. & #
This
Week
This
Week
BPM
(LP or CD)
Last
Week
2
Title
Artist
No. of
weeks
25
Last
Week
No. of
weeks
To hear the Top 40 with Fessa John Hook
Severn 0047
2009
KHP
2009
Jive 30256
2009
Blues Flower Prodn
2009
Sisbro 2009
1998
2009
Kaye Bohler
2005
Linus Entrtnmnt 270112
2010
Rev. Bubba D. Liverance & CHP Rev. Bubba D. Liverance & CHP Ain’t Bad Records
NOBODY CAN TURN ME AROUND
PLEASE DON’T GO (CRY BABY)
SAY NO MORE
WHATEVER IT TAKES
YOU BELONG WITH ME (Shag mix)
YOU DON’T LOVE ME
Sojourners
Fiona, Melanie
Crivellaro, Enrico
Buble, Michael
Swift, Taylor
Downchild Blues Band
The Beach Music CD Top 10
25 1 1 WISH YOU WERE HERE
Cash, J.D.
10 2 2 STOMP THE BLUES TONIGHT
4 4 3 NO REGRETS
Robillard, Duke Jumpin’ Blues Revue Stony Plain 1342
All-4-One
Peak Records
Ripete Records
10 5 4 BETWEEN A ROCK & THE BLUES
8 6 5 SOULBOOK
Walker, Joe Louis
Stewart, Rod
19 10 6 LIVE AT THE PALAIS ROYALE
9 3 7 MAIN STREET PEOPLE
Brooks, Danny & Rockin’ Revelators Soulsville III 004
Woolard, Craig Band
Sisbro 2009
23 8 8 I KNOW THE INSIDE STORY
22 7 9 CAROLINA SHAG
Entertainers
various
KHP
SisBro
22 9 10 CAROLINA SOUL COLLECTION
various
Tobacco Road
Stony Plain 1345
Jive 30256
Beach M
usic Top 40 R
eviews
Music
Reviews
If you’re a fan of The Band
you’ve known Levon Helm since
the 60s.
He was born 1940 in Marvell,
Arkansas where he tuned his radio
to his favorite shows: the Grand
Ole Opry, and the R&B and Blues
of WLAC in Nashville.
Although he started out on guitar at the ripe old age of eight, he
switched to drums after he saw a
live performance of the F.S. Walcott
Rabbits Foot Minstrels (which
must have been one of the last of
the U.S. minstrel shows.)
Leon’s sister Linda accompanied him on washboard bass on his
first public performances until he
formed his first high school band,
the Jungle Bush Beaters.
After seeing Elvis in concert,
Leon focused on Rock and Roll (although his attention to early Elvis
and Bo Diddley was really a pursuit in R&B rather than the smaltzy
side of Rock and Roll).
Moving from Arkansas to
Memphis to get closer to the masters in the music, he sat in with
Conway Twitty and was eventually
discovered by rockabilly singer, and
fellow Arkansan, Ronnie Hawkins.
At 17, Leon joined Ronnie’s
band, The Hawks, who moved to
Toronto soonafter because they’d
heard there was a great music scene
there. (As it is today--it’s the home
of many great Blues groups, especially the Downchild Blues Band
who started there in 1969--see the
Roadhouse Blues & Boogie reviews).
Roulette records signed the
Hawks to a contract which lead to
Leon’s first appearance on the Beach
and Shag scene when Ronnie
Hawkins and the Hawks “Mary
Lou” became a hot record for steppers on the Myrtle Beach Pavilion
jukebox in 1959.
Fifty one years later, Leon’s latest, “Stuff You Gotta Watch,” is on
the latest Beach Music Top 40 chart.
Choreographer Robin Antin
formed the Pussycat Dolls inLos
Angeles in 1995 as a burlesque
troupe performing dance revues
with an evolving cast of guest celebrities including Christina
Aguilera, Pamela Anderson, Kelly
Osbourne, Pink, Britney Spears,
Carmen Electra, and Gwen Stefani
to name a few.
When they appeared in Charlie’s
Angels: Full Throttle in 2003, their
brand of eye-candy became ear
candy as well, hitting the music
charts as well as stage and cinema.
After Nicole Szerzinger left
Eden’s Crush and joined them as
lead singerin 2005, “Don’t Cha”
climbed the pop and dance charts
to numbers two and one, respectively. That was the X-rated version they released with Busta
Rhymes.
Since then, we’ve become the
beneficiaries of the milder, Shag and
Bop version, now climbing the
chart.
Soulbook marks Rod’s fourth
official revisit to many of his, and
our, favorite songs from the past.
Not only are two tunes currently on the Top 40, once again
Rod has invited a soul legend to join
him in a new interpretation of one
of his hits--Stevie Wonder on “My
Cherie
Amor.”
Volume 1, IIssue
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Roadhouse B
lues and B
oogie Top 40
Blues
Boogie
Roadhouse Blues & Boogie Top 40
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5
Year
Record Co. & #
1
STOMP THE BLUES TONIGHT
Stomp the Blues Tonight
2
Robillard, Duke Jumpin’ Blues Revue
I DON’T WANT NOBODY
Risin’ With the Blues
3
Turner, Ike
STILL CADILLACIN’
Still Cadillacin’
4
Johnny Guitar & Thousandaires
LET’S WALK
Soul Blues
5
de Lone, Austin
I GOT TO KNOW
Like A Flower
6
Bohler, Kaye
BLACK CAT BLUES
Kaye Bohler
1999
Black & White
7
Café R&B/Roach
TOO MUCH BUTT
It Works Music
2009
Havin’ the Last Word
8
Saffire - Uppity Blues Women
THAT AIN’T RIGHT
9
Dr. Wu and Friends
IT’S BAD YOU KNOW
Texas Blues Project 2 www.texasblues.org
1998
Come On In
10
Burnside, R.L.
SAY NO MORE
Mojo Zone
11
Crivellaro, Enrico
HIGHWAY 49 (2009)
The Dirty Dozen
12
Thorogood, George & Destroyers
TRIMMIN’ THE FAT
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
2009
Stony Plain 1342
2006
Zoho Roots 200611
2004
2009
1
Alligator 4927
2009
Fat Possum
2009
Capitol Records
2009
Alligator 4931
2009
Delta Groove 133
2009
Between A Rock & the BluesStony Plain 1345
FAR TOO LONELY
Nulisch, Darrell
Just For You
LOOK BUT DON’T TOUCH
Robillard, Duke / Sunny Crownover
Stomp the Blues Tonight
FRIES WITH THAT
Cadillac Kings
Trouble In Store
ARE YOU REALLY READY
Motorcity Women & Detroit Express
Ready
UHH!
Calabash Blues & Boogie Band
Driving Away the Blues
BubblingUnder
AN EYE FOR AN EYE
BABY YOU DON’T KNOW
Mayall, John
Robillard, Duke & JBR
7
3
TELL MY WHY
Walker, Joe Louis
UPTOWN-DOWNTOWN
Jones, Mike/Grand Strand Blues All Stars
10
Tuscon
2009
Electro-fi
2009
Castro, Tommy
Hard Believer
YOU CAN’T STOP ME FROM LOVING YOU
Kane, Candye
Superhero
6
11
14
17
21
1
3
30
1
2008
33Records
1
2009
FordCo
1
2009
Flyin’ Cloud 055
5
IT IS WHAT IT IS
Castro, Tommy
Hard Believer
24
EYES LIKE A CAT
Walker, Joe Louis
2009
Between A Rock & the BluesStony Plain 1345
25
STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH
Helm, Levon
Electric Dirt
HIGH TEMPERATURE
Nighthawks
Last Train to Bluesville
2010
Ripbang 003
DRINKIN’ LIQUOR & TELLIN’ LIES
McNeill, Frankie & Counts
Old Dog, New Tricks
2009
Banana Tree
I’LL GO CRAZY
Nighthawks
Last Train to Bluesville
2010
Ripbang 003
CRAZY ABOUT A MERCURY
SharBaby & Rhythm Blues Band
Chicago Blues: Alabama Style
SOME MORE OF THAT
Downchild Blues Band
I Need A Hat
WHAT’S UP WITH THAT
Salgado, Curtis
Clean Getaway
HINDSIGHT
Alabama Blues Machine
Must Be Love
TOLD THE TRUTH
Bar Kings
Sippin’ & A Slidin’
FIRST CLASS WOMAN
Tucker, Teeny
First Class Woman
HAVE A GOOD TIME
Boogie House
Just for Fun
NOBODY UNDERSTANDS
Bad News Blues Band
Live at Hot Licks
JANA LEA
Nighthawks
American Landscape
2009
Powerhouse
JESUS LOVES ME
Turner, Ike
Southern Soul Compil.
2010
KHP Records
SCRATCH THE KITTY
Greenson, Liz Mandeville
Red Top
COLD LOVE, HOT NIGHT
Ellis, Tinsley
Speak No Evil
23
27
33
1
2009
Blues Flower Prodn
Overcoming Hurdles
32
1
1
HIP SWINGIN’ BLUES
DieDra
22
31
1
34
35
36
37
38
39
16
40
FROM NORCIA TO GUBBIO Pugno, Maurizio w/ Sugar Ray
HALF PAST THE BLUES
HEY! TOUGHEN UP!
HOLD ON
HOLIDAY
Michelle Wilson
Kane, Candye
Brooks, Danny & Rockin’ Revelators
Hodge, Dallas
BARKIN’ UP THE WRONG TREE Chocolate Thunder/LRodney
BIG DANCE WOMAN
Blue Stew
HOMESTEAD BOOGIE
I LOVE ‘EM
CAROLINA
Brooks, Danny & Rockin’ Revelators
COME ON OVER TO MY BBQ Morvan, Laurie Band
I MUST BE CRAZY
JUKEBOX
Jones, Bobby & Mannish Boys
Holiday
DISSATISFIED
DO ME RIGHT
KILL THE COFFEE
MAKE IT GO
Pugno, Maurizio w/ Sugar Ray Norcia
Chambers, Sean
DOLLAR TO A DIME
Albasile
DON’T LOOK AT MY GIRL LIKE THAT Robillard, Duke & JBR
MOAN
MONDAY WOMAN
Rogers, Robin
Calabash Blues & Boogie Band
DON’T YOU WANT A MAN LIKE ME Blue Stew
EL STEW
Downchild Blues Band
MONEY’S GETTING CHEAPER Robillard, Duke & JBR
NINE BELOW ZERO
B, Johnny & the Goodes
FEET ON THE GROUND
FINE BROWN FRAME
NOBODY CAN TURN ME AROUND
Sojourners
ONE SCOTCH, ONE BOURBON, ONE BEER Littlefield, Little Willie
Crandall, Kurt
Robillard, Duke Jumpin’ Blues Revue
Holm, Dallas
Thompson, Big John & Julie
Year
Record Co. & #
Superhero
30
1
BPM
(LP or CD)
I LIKE ‘EM STACKED LIKE THAT
Kane, Candye & Mitch Kashmar
29
1
2009
Stony Plain 1342
21
28
1
1
Title
Artist
26
1
2009
Severn 0047
This
Week
1
BPM
(LP or CD)
No.
of
weeks
Last
Week
Week
3
This
Week
No.
of
weeks
Last
February 1, 2010
Title
Artist
Brooks, Danny & Rockin’ Revelators
Big James & Chicago Playboys
2009
Delta Groove 133
2008
Ruff Pro 00127
2009
Alligator 4931
2009
Dirt Farm Music 79861
2006
2010
Linus Entrtnmnt 270112
2008
Shanachie 9038
2009
ABM
2007
Full Moon
2003
Hot Rod Records
2009
Boogie House
2008
ARV
2008
Earwig
2009
Alligator 4932
PLAYFUL BABY
RENDEZVOUS
Robillard, Duke & JBR
Downchild Blues Band
SAVE OUR LOVE
SEE SEE RIDER
Benno, Mark
James, Elmore Jr.
SHAME
SHOES BLUES
Rodgers, Mighty Mo
Zito, Mike
SKINNY CHICKS
Morvan, Laurie Band
SUM OF SOMETHING, THE Mayall, John
TEND TO YOUR BUSINESS Mojo Blues Band
THAT’S WHAT LOVE WILL MAKE YOU DO Calabash Blues &....
THIS MUST BE LOVE
UBU
Downchild Blues Band
Estrin, Rick & Night Cats
WHY’D I DRINK SO MUCH Goudreau, Mike
YOU CAN’T LOSE WHAT YOU AIN’T GOT Dean, Roosevelt
YOU DON’T LOVE ME
YOU GOT ME RUNNIN’
Downchild Blues Band
Adams, Jim Blues Band
YOU UPSETS ME BABY
R&B Bombers
Fessa Hook's Roadhouse Blues and Boogie Top 40 is is compiled from full time listeners, fast dancers, and DJs with the National R&B DJ Association & the Association of
Dancing O
n the E
dge JJour
our
nal
On
Edge
ournal
34
Roadhouse B
lues and B
oogie R
eviews
Blues
Boogie
Reviews
Within two weeks of it’s release,
Duke Robillard’s new album was a
Grammy nominee. There were so
many great dance cuts on his CD, I
was too busy listening to notice he
may be headed for a major award.
It should be no surprise that this
lues Tonight is
man’s Stomp The B
Blues
busting out with one fine tune after another, the title track currently
holds the number one position on
the Roadhouse Top 40 and is moving up on the Beach Music Top 40.
Robillard has been on the Beach
charts and the hardboards in innumerable Shag contests since the
early 1980s.
He formed Roomful of Blues in
Westerly, Rhode Island in 1967,
knocking out one terrific album after another until 1979 when he left
to play rockabilly as lead guitarist
for Robert Gordon.
Two years later, he formed the
Duke Robillard Band which eventually became Duke Robillard and
the Pleasure Kings, signed a contract with Rounder records with
whom the Pleasure Kings’ first album put two hot tunes on the Shag
circuit right away.
The Duke’s artistic wanderlust
lead him to join the Fabulous
Thunderbirds in Texas in 1990,
while still touring and recording as
a solo act.
Duke switched to Stony Plain
records in 2002.
In between his Blues releases,
Duke recorded numerous jazz albums, some solo, two with Herb
Ellis, as well as several collaborations, one a tribute to T-Bone
Walker, another in which he teamed
up with J. Geils and Gerry
Beaudoin.
Duke and the band was supposed to have played for DJ
Throwdown at Ducks on March
4th this year, but apparently his new
album is so hot he was booked extensively on a European tour and
unable to appear at North Myrtle
Beach.
Johnny Blommer is a tough fellow to keep up with, he keeps busy
and movin’ a little like Robillard.
He started the Bad News Blues
Band in Tuscon, Arizona in the 90s,
releasing four albums: Cruisin
uisin’’ F
For
or
AB
luesin
ews IIndeed
ndeed
Bluesin
luesin’’ 1996, Bad N
News
1998, Knockout 2001, and Liv
ivee at
Hot L
icks in 2008.
Licks
Johnny recorded this album
with the Thousandaires in 2004,
which put the title track on this
week’s Top 40 at # 3.
Donnie “Mr. Downchild”
Walsh’s band was formed in 1969
and holds the exclusive distinction
as the premier band of the blues in
Canada.
Headquartered in Toronto,
they’ve traveled the world extensively, including a night at Roger
Davison’s then-extant blues club at
Broadway at the Beach in 2002
(thank goodness I was able to be
there!).
Walsh and band derive their
name from the original Mr.
Downchild,
Sonny
Boy
Williamson.
Their new album filled to the
brim with great jump tunes for every kind of
Volume 1, IIssue
ssue 1
fas’ stepper.
35
Beach M
usic Top 40 Countdo
wn Char
ts
Music
Countdown
Charts
2007 Year-End Beach Music Top 40
www.beachshag.com
42
42
36
36
34
30
37
39
32
35
33
29
BPM
(LP or CD)
1
BEGIN THE BEGUINE
113
2
Ross, Billy & Donny Trexler
PRIVATE NUMBER
Measure of Blues
116
3
Scott, Billy & Cindy Floyd
ONE STEP CLOSER
9 am-12 noon EST at www.beachshag.com
December 29, 2007
Year
Record Co. & #
This
Week
Title
Artist
No.
of
weeks
Last
Week
This
Week
Week
No.
of
weeks
Last
Hear the Top 40 Live with Fessa Hook Saturdays
Title
Artist
BPM
(LP or CD)
Year
Record Co. & #
2006
31
21
Beach Bag 2411
2006
A WONDERFUL WASTE OF TIME
Fantastic Shakers
117
Let’s Dance USA Vol III
29
22
I Don’t Do Duets
114
Flip Side 0013
2006
SWEET ESCAPE, THE
Stefani, Gwen & Akon
120
The Sweet Escape
26
23
Something Smooth
119
One20Inc 2042
2005
I KNOW THE INSIDE STORY
Entertainers
104
Keep On Shaggin’
2006
Ripete/KHP
4
Strickland, Rick
STUCK ON YOU
24
24
Identity
123
Fonky 75055
2007
PUT YOUR RECORDS ON
Rae, Corrine Bailey
96
Corrine Bailey Rae
2006
Capitol 66361
5
3T
GIRL THEY WON’T BELIEVE IT
26
25
Introducing Joss Stone
108
Virgin/EMI 76268
2001
TIME TO GO
108
Peterson, James & Lucky w/ Mary Taylor If You Can’t Fix It
6
Stone, Joss
IF LOVE IS BLIND
26
26
Planet Pop
106
Uptown/Universal 013572
2006
LOVE BE WITH YOU
116
Catalinas
Locals Too: A Little Meat On the Side
7
ATC
I MISS YOU
31
27
Something Smooth
106
One20Inc 2042
2006
MY BABY LOVES ME
Mason, Barbara
109
2007
Tale of Two CitiesSoul Renaissance 453858
8
Strickland, Rick
THAT’S YOUR MISTAKE
28
28
9
Keep On Shaggin’
119
Ripete 2361
2007
I LOVE ONLY YOU
Henry, Ed, The Nickels & 3 Pennies
116
SFB
TOO MUCH TOO LATE
26
29
Music Is Our Way of Life
108
Dome 77
2007
LOVE IS HERE & NOW YOU’RE GONE 2007
Holiday Band
Locals Too: A Little Meat On the Side
10
Johnson, Dee & Full Flava
ANOTHER DAY IN THE BREEZE
21
30
I Can Dance All Night II
119
Ripete 2362
2006
118
Where Memories Are Made
11
Second Nature
NEW BREED KINDA WOMAN
COME GET TO THIS
Woolard, Craig Band
20
31
Let’s Dance USA Vol III
120
Ripete 2347
2006
CRAZY
Barkley, Gnarls
111
St Elsewhere
12
Sand Band
EMPEROR OF MY BABY’S HEART
29
32
LIFE IS A ROLLER COASTER
Keating, Ronan
121
Life is A Rollercoaster V 1
26
33
IT’S ALRIGHT
Neville, Aaron
2006
Interscope 0008099
2004
JSP 100
2007
KHP 1053
1963
Nu-Sound 180
KHP 1053
2006
one20inc 2043
2006
Downtown
2000
Polydor 561935
Craver, Paul
Keep On Shaggin’
RHYTHM
120
Inmen featuring Impressions GAD Music Presents...Carolinas Best
Ripete 2361
2006
GAD 2002
2006
Ripete 2347
20
34
MY BIG SISTER’S RADIO
Schermer Band, Mighty Mike
113
More Soul 4
2005
One20Inc 2040
2007
KHP 1053
21
35
RIO DE JANEIRO BLUE
Crawford, Randy & Joe Sample
111
Velvet Jazz
2002
Warner Jazz 3442
1986
Hot Productions 19
28
36
A LITTLE MEAT ON THE SIDE
Sea Cruz
124
Locals Too
2007
KHP 1053
2004
T-Ray Records
24
37
(SO LONG) SINCE I FELT THIS WAY
Thompkins, Russell Jr
107
2007
Forevermore CDDJ 07
2007
BHR
30
13
36
14
BIG TIME LOVER
Sugarbees
32
15
WHAT’S A MATTER BABY
117
Shaggie Maggie w/ Pam Russell Locals Too: A Little Meat On the Side
26
16
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND
Brown, Miquel
110
Best of Miquel Brown
28
17
FIRST FLOOR GIRL
Love Dogs
128
Live & On Fire
38
18
SHE’S THE ONE I LOVE
Godfrey, Rickey
129
Once In A Lifetime Love
2006
Mossland
22
38
LET IT BE ME
108
O’Banion, Sammy/Linda Little/Mardi Gras
24
19
I’VE GOT A FEELING
Woolard, Craig Band
111
Makin’ Waves
2005
One20Inc
20
39
SAVE ROOM (FOR MY LOVE)
Legend, John
113
Once Again
26
20
SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW/WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD 106
2006
Richard, Cliff Healing Love (Songs of Inspiration)
Music Mill 71023
18
40
WHAT’S GOING ON
O’Banion, Sammy & Mardi Gras
106
Let’s Dance USA Vol III
Dancing O
n the E
dge JJour
our
nal
On
Edge
ournal
36
2006
Ripete 2347
129
Let’s Dance USA Vol III
112
Bring It On Home-The Soul Classics
2006
Burgundy 85489
2006
G.O.O.D./Sony 80323
2006
Ripete 2347
Nabs and N
ews
News
Win this 4’ x 2’ foot Limited Edition vinyl banner !
A small number of these were made four
years ago, now they go for well over $100
apiece.
It’s Roberts Pavilion at O.D. sitting where
the current O.D. Pavilion stands until
Hurricane Hazel took it away in the fall of
1954.
Across the top of the banner is a rainbow
of the R&B stars of the jukeboxes, upstairs,
and in the dance areas in the back.
The contest is a simple subscription
contest. Let your friends know about the
Dancing On the Edge Journal. If they’re
interested, and subscribe, have them put your
name in the “Notes” section at the bottom of
the order form.
The individual with the most subscriptions
will soon have this exclusively limited edition
banner hanging in their den, rec room, or
wherever they like.
If this little contest goes well, we’ll have
many many more. Trivia contests, treasure
hunts, etc. and prizes equivalent to this banner
to go with them.
One week only!
Let your friends know right away. They
can visit my website at www.beachshag.com
to see a sample page or two.
This contest is really for folks who’re
interested in our Beach and Shag heritage, in
its many aspects, known and unknown.
Dancing On the Edge Journal Future
Let me give you a sense of what there is
to come and how you can guide some of the
journal’s trajectory into the future.
There are a thousand and one Beach
Music, Shag, and Bop stories, and those are
just the ones I know.
I invite your commentary, criticisms,
suggestions, and your personal stories.
This first edition is
larger than the weeklies
Volume 1, IIssue
ssue 1
will be, generally 20-25
37
Nabs and N
ews
News
pages. However, when I start writing it’s hard
to stop. If I get overloaded with stories and
pictures you want to share, however small or
large, I’ll likely do a bonus edition now and
then.
This issue offers some but not all of the
columns I have planned. Some will be in
alternate issues. Some, such as the charts,
reviews, vintage and new grooves, dance
contests, Shag and Band news, will be in
every issue. As I said, though, if you have
suggestions for other columns, news and
stories you’d like to see, let me know and I’ll
get on it.
If you have ideas for contests you’d like
to see, shoot me an e-mail about those as well.
I have many planned, but I’m open to others.
Expect to see expanded columns on
reviews and new music news. There’s plenty
of room for news about the Association of
Beach and Shag Club DJs, Shag Clubs,
National Association of R&B DJs, Shag
contests, Band changes, recordings, and
histories, as well as webcasters and
broadcasters who still present weekly or daily
Beach shows.
Speaking of those, I currently offer two
and am adding another. All three are
syndicated to radio stations and carried at the
www.cashboxmagazine.com site where you
can listen to them any time day or night. Just
click on ‘Radio’ and go to the ‘Beach Music
countdowns’ page. You’ll find the weekly
Beach Music Top 40, the weekly Yearly
Beach Music countdowns of the top hits
every year from 1945 to 2009 as well as
special editions
which will cover
Dancing On the Edge Journal
On
Edge
ournal
Dancing O
n the E
dge JJour
our
nal
38
specific sub-genres in Beach and Shag.
In case you haven’t thought of it already,
you may want to get a nice big three-ring
binder in which to put your printed-out
Dancing On the Edge Journal each week.
I’ll be doing a minimum of 20-25 pages
weekly which means that you’ll accumulate
520 + pages of full-color and rare
photographs and stories in six months.
Many of these stories will be included in
my eventual Dancing On the Edge series of
eight books, likely in some different form,
however most won’t.
For those of you who want to explore
some of the grittier side of Beach and Shag
history, I’ll be offering the Outlaw Beach and
Shag History supplements from time to time.
Along the way, I’ll be answering questions
that have been around a long time, such as,
“When did the Shag really start?”
“Where?” “Where else has it traveled?”
“What’s happening with the Beach Music
culture?” “Where can I find Beach Music?”
And more.
For the first couple of weeks we’ll be
working out the bugs in making sure that
everyone receives their weekly DOTEJ pdf
file without problems.
I think the simplest delivery system will
be to provide subscribers with a link from
which you’ll be able to download the journal
PDF, rather than try to send thru e-mail.
If you like the DOTEJ, subscribe for six
months at $3000 or $5000 for a year.
Remind your friends to put your name in
the Notes section at the bottom of the order
form--you may win the banner.
Order at the Dancing on the Edge Journal
link at www.beachshag.com
Scrapbook
I really want to hear this combo. There’s nothing like a band
with two saxophones, one played by a kneewalker.
Volume 1, IIssue
ssue 1
39