At a mere 13 years-old, I was playing with a horn band called "American Renaissance" and we covered several Showmen tunes. I always hung out and worked with older musicians because I started playing at age 4 and taking professional lessons by the time I was 8, so I had about 5 years of "playing out" under my belt and 9 years total (more than many 19 -21 year-olds) and I played in the Va Beach Civic Orchestra, so I could read music and which was rare for a drummer in those days. I was pretty good, could sight read the charts, but was too young to work in most of the bars and Beach Clubs without some special dispensation. However, Norman and Danny Woods heard me play at The "Little Miss Virginia Beach" Pageant in 1967 and he invited me to sit in with The Showman at an Atlantic Avenue Street Concert in the spring of '68 and by summer he was getting me into "The Peppermint Beach Club" to sit in. It was a huge thrill for me, but unfortunately after the Summer of '68 The Showmen broke up and Norman went to Detroit where he worked with Motown legends Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland (Holland-Dozier-Holland) and ended up fronting Chairmen of The Board. The Chairmen toured the Beach towns along the east coast and in the 70s our paths often crossed at the Peppermint, Rogues Gallery and Peabody's Warehouse in VA Beach, at The Pavilion, Fat Harold's and the Spanish Galleon in Myrtle Beach and The Embers Club at Atlantic Beach. I played my fair share of "beach music" and often shagged the night away with "the General". I love his unique voice and the way he would sometimes roll his Rs (hear Everrrrrrything's Tuesday). He even taught me to roll my tongue on the roof of my mouth like that and I had the best machine gun sound in my neighborhood.
The songs he wrote still transport me back to when I was a wee lad. (He wrote "Honey Cone" and won a Grammy for writing "Patches" for Clarence Carter, as well as “Want Ads”, “Stick Up,” and “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show.” Norman was my first brush with the big time and I loved it. He had started out singing in church and was an upright Christian influence on me in a decade when things were going to pot and I was honored to be his little white-boy friend.
It Will Stand
~ The Showmen ~
39-21-46
~ The Showmen ~
A Little Bit Of Your Love
~ The Showmen ~
Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy
~ The Showmen ~
Our Love Will Grow
~ The Showmen ~
The Wrong Girl
~ The Showmen ~
Everything's Tuesday
~ Chairmen Of The Board ~
All We Need Is Understanding
~ Chairmen Of The Board ~
Pay To The Piper
~ Chairmen Of The Board ~
Carolina Girls
~ Chairmen Of The Board ~
You Got Me Dangling On A String
~ Chairmen Of The Board ~
Bless Your Heart
~ General Johnson ~
Shaggin' the Night Away
~ General Johnson ~
I'm On My Way To A Better Place
~ General Norman Johnson ~
