Wayne Logiudice and the Kommotions

Thanks to Jeff Lemlich for sending the images above. Of particular interest is the notes made by Jere Real on the record sleeve. Our research on Wayne Logiudice continues. A former band member with Wayne, Rick Bear, has furnished a great deal of information as noted below. For the latest posting , scroll to the bottom of this posting. Rick provided us the lineup of the musicians backing Wayne Logiudice at Atlantic City in 1966. It would be one of the last times the Kommotions would play together as a band. Those on stage that night sounds like an all star band, read more below:



Note: We have been very interested in finding out about an Atlanta based band of the 60s called Wayne Logiudice and Kommotion . Initially our interest started when someone in South Carolina suggested that we seek out a Georgia band called Wayne Lacadece and Commotion. That led nowhere mostly because of the spelling. If we had used the spelling that we found in conjunction with a Emory Gordy bio (Wayne Lochadisi and the Kommotions ) we would not have gotten any closer. It was only after the glowing comments we got from musicians of that era did we see the need to keep trying. We did at least find the correct spelling (WAYNE LOGIUDICE and Kommotions ) but the only thing we could find was information about the recording session that produced (Ow Bugaloo)

But just recently we hit pay dirt, we found a blog that included the name of not only a member of his band, Kommotions, but one of the band founders..

Our email/blog interview with Rick Bear



Rick,

Found your name and email address in a blog and you reference being in a band with WAYNE LOGIUDICE. I have been trying to locate him or at least find a little more about his 60s band , same band in which Barry Bailey was the guitar player. Can you help me with this ?

Thanks,


Greg Haynes

www.heybabydays.com


Yes, I can. Wayne is living in Tenn near Nashville. He is remarried and has 2 boys.

I started the band "The Kommotions" in 1962 with Emory Gordy Jr and Jimmy Calloway. Wayne joined us in about 1963 when we were playing at a place called "Ray Lee's White Dot" on Ponce De Leon Ave.

Jimmy left the band and John Ivey (who is still playing in Atlanta) began playing with us. In mid to late 1964, Barry Bailey started with the band. Emory and Barry swapped back and forth between guitar and bass. Tenor saxophonist Ray Jarrell played with us and was later replaced by Al Shepperd. Harry Hagan played trombone (one of the best 'bone players that I have ever heard) in the band.
I could go on and on, but I suppose what you wanted to know was how to reach Wayne.

I will call him and see if it is OK with him to give his number out.
If you are interested in more about the Kommotions, let me know.

Rick Bear


Rick,

We published a book in 2006 called “The Heeey Baby Days of Beach Music” and we tried to make contact with Wayne at that time. We came up empty on all our tries. Until I saw something that you wrote in a blog that gave me your email address, I would be no closer than I was four years ago. You’ll get more insight into the book’s theme by going to www.heybabydays.com. Wayne is mentioned by several people in the book as being as much “the White James Brown” as Wayne Cochran. We quoted three different people who saw Wayne Logiudice perform back in the day and they said he was quite a show and that he was as good or better than Wayne C. They include: Benny Deer, drummer for the Billy Stewart band and later the Johnnie Taylor band, Johnny Bee, promoter and producer, and Rufus Cromer who played trumpet with the Tams’ band, the Metros and later Liberation. Those are solid opinions. Since we recently started a blog, we thought that we might be able to obtain more information about Wayne and perhaps obtain some photos from the era. We are sold out of the book except for musician copies. If you’ll respond with your address as well as Wayne’s , I ll be pleased to send you a copy.

Regards,


Greg Haynes

Greg

I remember Johnny Bee (I am pretty sure). We played often with the Tams and I knew Joseph "Bit" Pope well. We did a lot of shows at the Royal Peacock on Auburn Ave. in Atlanta. I had many friends in the black entertainment community.
Wayne was a much better performer that W Cochran, but he never made it as big. Wayne L was the first one that I ever heard referred to as "The Blue Eyed Soul Brother". James Brown came to the Apollo Theatre to see us perform. Wayne had the whole theatre on its feet. A lot to say for a little white boy from GA in 1965. We did a vidoe at the Apollo in 1965. I have no idea what happened to it.
Technically, we probably predated the Beach Music scene. We played a lot of black clubs and theatres. Although we did appear with The Beach Boys, Lovin Spoonful, Young Rascals, Paul Revere, Gentrys and many other white groups. We were on the tour with the Yardbirds on their first American tour where we recorded with them at American Studios (Chips Moman) in Memphis.
In early 1966, Al Shepperd and me were both drafted, Barry and Emory started touring with Roy Orbison and Billy Joe Royal. Emory began producing and writing and moved to LA by the end of the 60's.

Wayne toured with Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions until around 1970. He had a band called the Winston's. They had a hit named "Color Him Father". Emory produced this record at Bill Lowery's Studio (where the Tams recorded).
my address is: R G Bear
PO Box 81
Sinks Grove, WV 24976
I have many stories that I could tell of music in the south through the 60's. Let me know if you are interested. I have thought of documenting much of it, but I did not know how to proceed. Rick,

Rick,

I am very much interested in continuing this discussion because it is very apparent you have excellent insight for the time period I am most interested (1962-1969). I think the reason that Johnny Bee pops into your head is that he actually was the producer of “Color Him Father” which he did about the time he was with the Hugh Rogers agency. He talks about the time Richard Spencer came into the office looking for someone to record his song, “Color Him Father.” Was Wayne L. in a bill with Curtis Mayfield ? Benny Deer , drummer for the Billy Stewart band talks about the time he first saw Wayne at the Winter Garden in Atlantic City, New Jersey, “He was the blued eyed James Brown. He came closer to James Brown than anybody… black or white… he was dangerous on his feet…he could hold an audience…he wasn’t no joke. UPDATE: You were absolutely right about Emory Gordy Jr. producing "Color Him Father," It was engineered by Rodney Mills who was in a band that we have in the book, the Bushmen, a very popular South Georgia band in the 60s that Johnny Bee managed. Looking back at Bee's quotes in the book, he apparently had publishing rights to "Color Him Father" while Gordy did the production work which is outstanding. Mills went on to do incredible work with ARS and others. I may have misunderstood your comment about Wayne L. and the Winstons; was he involved with them ? It looks like the core of the Kommotions got drafted or otherwise left in 1966. There is reference on the internet regarding Wayne's recording of "Ow, Bugaloo" but not much more. I ordered the 45 from some place in the U.K. The Brits came over here in the late 60s and early 70s and cleaned out all the old 45 soul records. Now we have to buy them back at huge prices.

Do you have any photos of the Kommotions ?

Regards,


Greg






Greg,

I just read this, I was giving a long winded reply to your last letter and my computer crashed. Emory and I went to high school and college together. He is an old friend. I played with a band in the 80's with Sonny Pekrol who was the co leader of the Winstons and I remember him specifically saying that Emory produced Color Him Father. There were a number of hits (minor, I suppose) that came from Lowery's (and Studio One) that the real producer/composer did not get credit for. I am pretty sure that Emory wrote and produced Stormy that the Classics Four recorded. I believe Buddy Buie got credit for that.

I played on the show in Atlantic City. I had forgotten that Billy Stewart was on the bill. Another great band that was there was the Jimmy Castor Bunch out of NYC. They were very popular at the time. That was about the last job that the Kommotions played together. Emory, Barry, Charlie Dechant (who has been with Hall & Oates for about 25 years now), Fielder Floyd and Marcus Belgrave (from the old Ray Charles band) and me.

The Winstons became Wayne's band after the Atlantic City gig. He toured with them and Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions for about the next 2 years.

As far as I know, the Kommotions was one of the first white bands to play in the Peacock. This was in 1963, before I had met Wayne. The band was Emory, Jimmy Calloway, and a tenor player named Nylas Foster. Nylas was a local black sax player, so I suppose we were technically not a "white band".We played there opposite a group from Ashvellie, NC whom I had never heard of, it was Ronnie Milsap. At that time he was singing R&B and sounded just like Ray Charles. I think that that was his first gig in Atlanta. He and I became friends and Emory and I did a few shows with him over the years.

I remember The Bushmen, I played with a group called the James Gang with Wilbur Walton Jr in the late 60's. They had a local hit called Georgia Pines. It was a good band. We played A LOT in South GA.

I worked with a lot of the Lowery entertainers, Joe South Billy Joe Royal, The Tams etc. That was the only game in town outside of the black community then.

Rick

Rick,

You were right on about "Color Him Father." It is clearly listed as produced by Emory Gordy Jr. One of the many great photos that we have in the book includes one made in the Master Sound studio of the Classics IV ( minus Dennis Yost) with Mike Clark, Buddy Buie, J.R. Cobb and Emory Gordy Jr. I knew that Emory Gordy was very involved with the Classics IV playing on most sessions and according to Buddy Buie co wrote “Traces.” It may be “Traces” that you mean instead of “Stormy.” One of the most unusual stories in the book is the one about my single one off promotion with the Classics IV. Rather than recant it here, read it and you’ll understand why.

The Winstons is certainly a new twist in the evolving story of Wayne Logiudice. Half of the spellings we see has the i before the u and vice versa.

Do you remember the date of the show in Atlantic City. Sounds like around 1965-66 ?

Regarding Nylas Foster, he is still around playing with the Tams’ band. At least I am pretty sure it’s Nylas Foster. I only call him Nylas; never heard his last name. There have been some good musicians that have played in the bands that have backed the Tams’ over the years including Archie Jordan who wrote some songs for them but hit it big writing for Ronnie Milsap. Milsap is legendary for his R&B roots.

Regards,

Greg

Greg

The Atlantic City date was probably May, 1966 (maybe early June)
Wayne spelled his name Logiudice. The first time that we went to NYC, he looked in the phone book and there was about a page of them. He had never met any in the south. He's originally from the Chattonooga area.

You're correct, I do believe that I was thinking of Traces.
The last time that I was in Atlanta, I heard that Nylas was still around.

I remember Mike Clark well, I replaced him as the drummer in B J Royal's band. He wanted to be an agent and quit the road.
When Mike was playing with BJ, Emory also played in the band. When I started, the band was Wayne Sudderth (bass), Ricky Littlefield (guitar), Ray Jarrell (reeds), Ted Stovall (trombone), John Watson (trumpet),Wayne McNatt (aka Wayne Famous, B3 organ), and me. That was one of the best bands that I ever worked with. The band was called The Royal Blues and recorded one instrumental album.

Richard G Bear

Rick,

The band you metioned above must have really been something.I would love to hear that album you reference. Regarding the band members you reference as backing Wayne L. at Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1966, it appears to have also been a band of all-stars. All appear to have had great careers. Information about each is readily available on the internet. I had a little more trouble finding information related to Fielder Floyd except for his session work in Memphis.

Otherwise, the members of the band that night other than you, Wayne and Fielder Floyd:

Saxophone: Charlie DeChants ( has been with Hall & Oates for a long time ... still performing and has a great web site)

Trumpet: Marcus Belgrave ( Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder etc...also still performing... great reviews from S. Wonder)

Bass: Emory Gordy Jr. ( long distinguished career as performer, writer, producer )

Guitar: Barry Bailey ( long time and highly touted guitarist for the Atlanta Rhythmn Section)

Sounds like the draft had a major effect on the Kommotions as it did with many great bands of the era.














To be continued …….