The Brigands, The Blue Stars, The Club Four, Ed Sones and his Rhythm Five, The Niteshades, The Sones Collection, Sounds Familiar (we had to change that to The Martin Davies Quartet to get a tour of USAF bases in Europe), The Peanuts, Ovation, Double Tempo and nowadays Britz.

Some gems in there, eh?

I would join a working 50's band in a heartbeat...No other music reaches the memories of so many people....You would have to be pretty bad not to exceed playing the 50's stuff..

My trio is close..a third of our material are from the fifties..

If we want to bring back the fifties music, let's do it..we have a nucleus right here at SZ...we can all quit our day jobs and apply our attention to bringing back the 5o's...we don't have to have a lot of money, or eat a lot...we can do it!!

Now I have to call a lead about a 5 th year High School reunion....let's see what music is their era.....oh no ...I don't want to do this stuff!!!

BTW, my first working band were the "Hi-Five" as in Stereo talk not booze and drugs[early 60's]

[This message has been edited by Fran Carango (edited 01-29-2005).]

Like DonM I turned 13 in 1956, what perfect timing - a new teenager synching with the new music. First record I bought was Bill Haley & The Comets' "Hook, Line and Sinker"/"Goofin Around".

Skiffle, a kind of acoustic American folk music, was the starting point in the UK. Early hits by Lonnie Donegan (Puttin' On The Style, Cumberland Gap), Nancy Whisky (Freight Train), etc. had everyone pestering their parents for a cheap guitar.

Then things got electrified and the rock acts came along, Elvis copies for the most part: Marty Wilde, Cliff Richard, Terry Dene, Billy Fury. Groups were springing up everywhere doing covers of American R&B acts like The Orlons, The Exciters, The Drifters, etc.

Great days, indeed. If I'd had the choice, I don't think I'd have chosen any other era in which to grow up.

Yeah, a 12-ounce Pepsi-cola was a nickel, and you could fill up the gas tank for $4.00. By the time I got out of college with an Advertising degree, my weekend band job was paying more than my full-time position as Circulation manager for "The Oil and Gas Journal."
DonM

"In 1960, I was playing in a club called Brocks in Lexington with Little Enis and the Fabulous Tabletoppers. Enis played an L-5 left-handed without reversing the strings."

When I was a child, I used to see Little Enis (Carlos Toadvine) at the old State theater in Danville Ky. Yes, his guitar playing style was quite unique. As you said, he was left handed, and played backwards and upside down. He picked or strummed from the bottom up with his left hand, and chorded from over the top of the neck with his right hand. We lost Carlos much to soon in 1976 at only 40 years old. I have put up a tribute page on my site to Little Enis. I only have six of his songs, and am looking for more. I am also looking for some pictures of this obscure but legendary rockabilly singer. Any help would be appreciated.

Gary

Little Enis Tribute Page http://www.geocities.com/garycountry/enis.html

My bands were - The Four Dimensions, Musicians Extraordinaire, Music Express, Me2 and Token. I've toyed with the One2Many, but haven't had the chance to use it.

Gary...how interesting...I had no idea that
there was such interest in Enis.

A well-known local writer...Ed McLannahan, wrote an article for Playboy magazine in 75 or 76 that won him a major award. It was called "The world's best left-handed guitar player", or something like that. Ed comes to the Merrick Inn in the summers (where I play on the patio). He is as close to an Enis historian as anybody. He actually dated the owner of the Merrick Inn, Libby Murray, while in college. You can probably search the Playboy archives, and Ed is still a resident of Lexington. I looked in the local directory...I think his number is (859) 231-8322. His address is 204 Walton Ave. 40505 (?) not sure about the Zip.

After the Playboy article, Enis had a brief resergence of his career (75-early 76). He played several times in Vegas and in Lexington. He would show up in early 1976 at the Sportsman Lounge on Winchester Road. I played in the band upstairs with his old drummer from Brocks, Jerry Musselman, who still lives in Lexington, and then after hours downstairs in the dining room. By that time, he was so weak, we had to carry him upstairs. He sat on a chair and sang his ass off.

Enis was born in a little town in Lincoln County, Kentucky,where my family is from. He had rhumatic fever as a child and learned to play on a guitar my uncles had. My grandmother, who lives in St Clound, Florida
still has the guitar (she's 102 years old).

The L-5 Gibson guitar he had in the 60's was bought by a guy named Dusty Paling, who teachess guitar at Carls Music Center (don't know if he still has it).

The Herald/Leader had feature articles about Enis over the years, and a magazine called ACE (a Lexington publication) has had several relatively recent articles about Enis written by McLannahan. The Herald-Leader has a photo archive and sells repros of old photos and articles(100 Midland Ave...Lexington, Ky 40505-Phone # 1-800-274-7355).

The only recording I'm aware of is "I Kept the Wine and Threw away the Roses". This Album was a classic...Enis in his pink Cadillac on a country Road...don't know the year, but I could find out. The Trimble brothers played organ and drums in the Tabletoppers. One brother died and the
other moved out of state. Besides Jerry, there is a saxophone player named Bucky Sallee still here in Lexington. He is the trumpet player for Keeneland (before each race) and a State retiree.

Enis had a daughter named Donna Fay, who had a budding career here in Lexington and moved to Nashville in the early 80's.She was featured in a recent special on the Country music cable channel. He also had an ex wife who worked a a waitress at the Sportsman in 1975-6, but I've lost track of her.His brother was alive and living in Lexington in the mid-90's and may still be alive. there is a Joey Toadvine listed in the local directory (502) 867-4808, who is probably a relative.

I went to Enis' funeral with Raymond Comer, who was Enis' mentor. Comers was a local club, and Enis played there and next door at Boots Bar until he got too weak to work.
Raymond gave Enis a place to live and gave him money and took care of his medical and funeral expenses for the last 10 years or so of his life. Sadly, Mr. Comer (a close friend) died last year. I have a framed photo taken by a local Photographer, Guy Mendez,which was included in the Playboy article. Guy shot many photos of Enis
over the years. He recently retired, but Ed will know if he is still in the area.

Ed's your main source of "all things Enis".
If I can help you in any way, email me at MCCI@prodigy.net or call me at 1-859-253-0390. By the time I was playing with Enis, he had mostly swiched to rock-a-billy, was fairly "out of it" most of the time (1961-62), and becoming weak from such a hard life. I was called in when the Tabletoppers backed out-of-town acts and would go to Club 68 in Lebanon on many Saturday nights to work with them.

Just a few leads...let me know if I can help in any other way.


Regards,

Russ Lay

I'm just gonna throw this one out there. If I could ever lay my hands ona reproduction, that would be amazing.
"Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus and his Pumpin' Piano / flip side "Dig".
I used to have this on 78, and at the time, it was an amazing piece.
"Toolin' down the highway doin' 79"
"I'm a twin pipe poppa an' I'm feelin' fine"Hey Man...Dig that..was that a red stop sign?"
"Transfusion..transfusion, Oh doc pardon me for this crazy intrusion"
"I'm a never never never gonna speed again...."
"Pour the crimson in me Jimzun!"
Very close to Jerry Lee in style.
Okay...I'll go now....

------------------
...shboom
Ta-Dah...I found it on Limewire.

[This message has been edited by shboom (edited 03-18-2005).]