Thursday, January 8, 2009

Live from The Old Hickory in P.C. Along Came Jones



Illustration by Perrin Gleaton






And then... and then... and then... along came Jones ... slow talking Jones



Steve Caldwell holds Perrin Gleaton...Freddy Pugh with sax
a packed chockablock Old Hickory crowd looks on



Hi Greg,

While surfing the Internet for beach music I discovered your book, which I ordered
along with all the additional CD's. I just love what I've read about your book so far and loved the downloads of the music and radio ads. I'm one of those "beach
babies" and remember going to the Old Hickory in PC Beach for a
Swingin' Medallions jam session. My high school sorority hired the
James Gang and Wilbur Walton and the Webs for our dances, and I think
we might have hired the Rockin' Gibraltas also. The Debonaires always
had house parties for spring and summer break , and we "hung out" at
the hang out in Panama City Beach.


Aloha,
Ann


Dear Ann,

When you get the book, go immediately to Chapter 14, “The Party at P.C.” For you and all those that remember the band parties at the Old Hickory and the Old Dutch, that’s a great starting place. Chapter 9 has quite a bit about Wilbur Walton, the James Gang and the Webs.

The Swingin’ Medallion jam sessions at P.C. are very famous. Drummer Joe Morris talks about them in the book. Do you remember the “Along Came Jones” skit the Medallions did at many of their shows? That’s probably one of the funniest things I remember from back in the day.

We have some artwork and photos from the Old Hickory (courtesy of the Medallion Guitarist in 1964-1965, Perrin Gleaton) that we are going to post to the blog over the next few days. If any of your friends from high school or college have memories or photos of the P.C. scene of the mid 60s, ask them to share them with us at the blog. There were many great bands that played the P.C. strip and I am sure there are some great tales to be told. The book has many in chapter 14 but I am sure there are plenty more.

Also, was one of those Beach Babes you ran around with named Charlena?

Regards,


Greg Haynes



2 comments:

alohabyana said...

Hi Greg,
I just joined your blog. Tonight I sent you a fairly long email before I figured out how to join your blog. If you want, you can edit it and then post it.

No, I don't remember the "Along Came Jones" act that the Swingin' Medallions sometimes did. All I remember is how fantastic they sounded singing "Double Shot of My Baby's Love" "live" at the Old Hickory and how excited we Debonaires were to go see them during one of our house parties. A few years ago I was doing a wedding (I'm a retired wedding planner.) on the Eastern shore of Mobile Bay (before we moved to Hawaii) and one of the bridesmaids was the daughter of one of the Swingin' Medallions. I can't remember her name.

No, I didn't hang out with another "beach babe" named Charlene
at PC Beach. Was she your girlfriend?

I'll close for now. I can't wait to get "the book".

Fond Aloha,
Ann

heybabydays said...

Hi Ann,

I did get your email and have already prepared a response but if you will, please copy it and paste it the comments to the blog as you have this note. It has some great discussion points especially related to some of the differences between Northern Soul and Beach Music. You will understand a bit more about Charlena when you get the book. Hopefully a few more will pick up on the Old Hickory at P.C. and share some of their memories. Thanks for sharing your comments.

Regards,

Greg