Our Monthly Club Meeting will be Sunday, February 14th at the Homewood Public Library. 2:00 PM

*****Next club meeting will be March 14th, 2010, the second Sunday******

We lost a beloved member of our BRC family on January 17th, 2010. Bill Taylor, 68, a charter member of the Birmingham Record Collectors, recently had a heart attack and while recovering at home was readmitted into the hospital where he passed away.

Bill is survived by his loving wife Pat, two daughters, one son, one sister, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, many friends, and an extended family of record-collecting and music enthusiasts.

Music, especially oldies, meant more to Bill than just about anyone. Bill enjoyed collecting records, but more than that he enjoyed creating CD’s of artists that never got their claim to fame. He exemplified BRC’s motto of preserving music by making available to the public these important contributions in music. Bill was a world-renowned expert in remastering a record – he could hear fine imperfections that no one else could; and Bill – the perfectionist that he was – would spent extensive hours making a recording absolutely perfect. Bill did remastering work with doowop, rockabilly, local artists, etc., but his true love was teeners – music directed at the teenage generation of the late 50’s and 60’s that dealt with their life situations – from school, cars, music, parents, and most of all love. Most of this genre of music is upbeat, happy, positive, sincere, and heartwarming – which deep down summed up Bill’s family life – especially his love for Pat. Yes, Bill loved music – and he loved sharing the sound and sharing the pleasant feeling he got when he heard it. If you ever went to Bill’s house, you would understand. He would keep saying “Let me play just this one more for you. It’s a great one!” until you had been there for hours and hours. If you saw Bill’s music room, you would realize just how much he loved his music.

Bill was a quiet man. He had a dry sense of humor that would keep you hanging on his every word. Bill was a smart man. Graduating from Tarrant High School here in Birmingham in 1960, Bill ended up becoming a computer hardware expert for many years with a long career at Texas Instruments and then Hewlett Packard – after serving in the Air Force and running his own television repair shop for a few years. Bill was a caring man. Most do not know that Bill was a Mason and a Shriner – serving as a Keystone Kop in parades and events for kids. Bill was a humble man always putting others first and enjoying the simple pleasures of life. Bill was a friend who many saw only the second Sunday of every month for many years. He will be missed – but always remembered - by all of us dear friends of his here in the Birmingham Record Collectors.

THANKS TO SAMMY SALVO
I WANT TO THANK SAMMY SALVO FOR BEING OUR SPECIAL GUEST AT LAST MONTH’S MEETING. HE EDUCATED US ON HIS EARLY YEARS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS AND GAVE A LIST OF WHO’S WHO THAT HE WORKED WITH OVER THE YEARS. HE’S EVEN GOT PEOPLE STILL CALLING HIM AND TELLING HIM HOW MUCH THEY APPRECIATE HIS MUSIC AND HOW A SONG OF HIS IS THEIR FAVORITE. THANKS AGAIN, SAMMY NOT ONLY FOR DROPPING BY BUT FOR ALL THE MUSIC HE RECORDED FOR US TO ENJOY EVEN TILL THIS DAY.
DID YOU KNOW THAT SAMMY GAVE HAYES HOPPER, WHO LATER WAS A MEMBER OF THE TIKIS, HIS FIRST JOB IN A BAND? HAYES DROPPED BY TO SAY HELLO TO HIS FRIEND AND FELLOW MUSICIAN. THAT WAS A SPECIAL TREAT TO SEE THEM TOGETHER.

BOOGIE MCCAIN ARTICLE FROM MATTHEW MARTIN – GADSDEN TIMES: Blues harmonica player McCain to get due royalties

Jerry “Boogie” McCain answered the phone with his usual, trademark response to “Hello.” He’s got arthritis, bursitis and a whole litany of ailments.

The legendary blues harmonica player will soon have the best medicine for his condition — a payday.
Music Reports is attempting to collect Boogie’s discography to put on Microsoft’s new music service. McCain received notification of this via mail Tuesday, and he mailed it back Wednesday.

“I already mailed it today,” McCain said. “I don’t want to be late. I want everything to be on time, except dying.”

For one of the first times in his career, McCain is handling everything himself — no lawyers, no managers, no producers. “Boogie’s doing all this on his own, no lawyers and no vultures,” McCain said. The result of doing it all by himself is McBlues Music, McCain’s record/publishing company he runs.

He currently has an account on CD Baby online, which is handled by Terry Jennings, owner of Little Faces Doll Shop. The next thing on his calendar is recording a new album. The record will be recorded in Huntsville by co-producer Artie Dean. But before he can do that he must follow his doctor’s orders and rest his vocal cords after a polyp was removed. For the rest of the month, he can’t sing or play his harmonica. There was two weeks where he was not to talk, but that lasted about seven or so days, he joked.

Still, McCain is happy it is not worse. At least he still will be around to sing, dance and most importantly, play his mouth harp. “Thankfully, it wasn’t throat cancer,” McCain said.

For years, bluesmen like McCain were cheated out of their royalties by record labels and managers who got rich off the records they recorded. Those “vultures” preyed on McCain and other bluesmen, but he said he is done with that. “If I had known how the music business would’ve turned out, I would have been a preacher,” McCain joked. “That way I would have gotten paid every Sunday.”

After 60 years of baring his soul on stage and in the studio, McCain might finally get his due — and he couldn’t be more excited. For those who have met him, or seen him perform, you understand where McCain got his nickname. With some stateside recognition coming his way, Boogie finally has a reason to jump up and down and dance and play like a man possessed.

Congratulations to this year’s inductees in to the Alabama Music Hall Of Fame:

1. Blind Boys Of Alabama: Gospel group formed at the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind
2. Eddie Levert: From Bessemer. Lead singer of the O’Jays.
3. Buddy Buie: Writer/producer from Dothan.
4. Jerry Carrigan: Guitarist/session man from Florence
5. Paul Hornsby: Record producer from Elba.
6. Terry Thompson: Part of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section
7. Bobby Denton: State Senator from Cherokee. “The singing senator”

Award winners:
MEDIA AWARD: Alan Hunter: Birmingham native. Original MTV video DJ.
SAM PHILLIPS AWARD INNOVATOR’S: Tony Ruffino: Birmingham native. Concert promoter.
ARTHUR ALEXANDER SONGWRITERS AWARD: Mac McAnally: From Red Bay. Singer/songwriter.
RISING ALABAMA STAR AWARD: Jamey Johnson: From Enterprise. Rising start as a Country singer/ songwriter.
JERRY WEXLER AWARD: Mac Davis: Country singer and TV variety show host.
MUSIC INDUSTRY AWARD: Michael Coleman: From Mobile. Chief executive at Integrity Inc., Christian music publisher.
GOVERNOR’S AWARD: B. A. Nugent: From Point Clear. A member of the music hall’s board of directors.

GENRES OF MUSIC
WE STARTED LISTING THE DIFFERENT GENRES OF MUSIC WE HEAR OF IN TODAY’S WORLD OF MUSIC. EIGHT TYPES WERE LISTED LAST MONTH TO GET US STARTED. I’VE ADDED 2 MORE THIS MONTH. SEND ME ONE THAT IS NOT ON THE LIST AND MAYBE NOT IN OUR VOCABULARY. BE SURE TO INCLUDE A DEFINITION.

1. Doo Wop
2. Rockabilly
3. Blues
4. Jazz
5. Country
6. Pop
7. Soul
8. R&B
9. BLUEGRASS: A form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of country music. It has roots in Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English traditional music. Bluegrass was inspired by the music of immigrants from the United Kingdom and Ireland (particularly the Scots-Irish immigrants in Appalachia), and African-Americans, particularly through genres such as jazz and blues. In bluegrass, as in some forms of jazz, one or more instruments each takes its turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others perform accompaniment; this is especially typified in tunes called breakdowns. This is in contrast to old-time music, in which all instruments play the melody together or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others provide accompaniment. Traditional bluegrass is typically based around a small set of acoustic stringed instruments including mandolin, acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, resonator guitar and upright bass, with or without vocals.

10. GIRL GROUP: A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonize together. Emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production values and backing by top studio musicians.

Following is a description of a Reed 45 found on EBay. Note the 3rd line down.
• This is a REPRO record, done in the mid-70s
• US Pressing
• Reed Records (from Birmingham ALA, home of the friendliest record show I've ever been to)
• RR1049
• NM condition
• US & Canadian Customers please wait until I contact you before paying or you will be billed for the wrong amount of shipping by eBay. Please review our shipping rates below if you wish to bid. Thank you!

“Free For All” at this month’s meeting
At this month’s meeting Tom Spitzley will be bringing 400 LP’s & 78’s for members and guests to look through and take whatever they want. Don’t miss this opportunity to get something free from Tom.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

MARCH: WE ARE PLANNING ON ANOTHER IN-HOUSE RECORD SHOW. GET YOUR ITEMS READY.

APRIL, MAY, & JUNE: Special guests are being lined up. Stay tuned for more info as it develops.

THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING GOING ON AT THE MEETINGS SO BE SURE TO MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND DROP BY FOR FOOD, FUN, MUSIC AND FELLOWSHIP.

SEE YA,
CHARLIE