Carl's Scrapbook: The 80s: Southern Honey: Newspaper Article

- November 1982

This songwriter wants to record

For a fellow who really isn't crazy about writing songs, Carl Chambers is doing pretty well for himself.

One of his songs, "Close Enough to Perfect," is currently riding the top of the country music charts. Performed by the award-winning group Alabama, it hit the charts at No. 77, shot up to No. 4 in a hurry, and recently reached No. 1.

A dream come true maybe? Not so, says Chambers, an Auburndale-bred singercomposer whose ultimate goal is to one day land a contract with a major recording company.

"My goal is to one day get a contract and record " he said "That's where my love lies." Chambers is working toward that objective by making a name for himself and his band, Auburndale-based Southern Honey.

The group, with Chambers singing lead and playing rhythm guitar, Chamber's wife Nancy on bass, Joe Spann on lead guitar, Joni Canova on drums and Cindy Cromeans on piano, has become a popular attraction among the state's music fans. Two of the band's most recent performances came two weeks ago when it played at the Walesfest celebration in Lake Wales and appeared with Top 10 recording star Terri Gibbs at Winter Haven Speedway.

"We've started doing a lot more concert work, but that's what we've really geared ourselves to do," Chambers said. "Very seldom do we take a six-night-a-week job. Generally we try to do shows or show situations."

The songs Southern Honey perform are mostly those written or selected by the members of the band. a fact they are proud of, but that still doesn't mean being a songwriter is a decision Chambers made consciously.

"An artist, I guess, is what I always wanted to be," he said. "Songwriting just kind of came along. It really wasn't what I was looking for."

As much as he'd rather be singing and recording, though, you won't hear Chambers complain too much about the royalties he's earning from "Close Enough to Perfect" and other tunes he's composed. The royalties coming in are, in his words, "like having a weight off your shoulders."

"With a wife, four kids and a mother-in-law, the money doesn't hurt," he said, adding that royalties from his songs are also being used to get his recording career off the ground.

"I use the song-writing career to subsidize the artist career until we can get it off the ground," said Chambers. "Songwriting doesn't have any overhead, but it costs a tremendous amount to have a band."

One of, the projects Chambers is working on right now is a solo album, one which he hopes will eventually be heard and bought by a major company. If that happens, it might mean a move to Nashville, Tenn., the home of the Grand Ole Opry and the country music industry, or elsewhere.

His career hasn't taken Chambers far from his hometown of Auburndale, so he already knows he's going to miss the place when and wherever he leaves.

"I like this town and I always have," he said. "That's probably why I never left.

"I may have to move for business purposes, but my heart will always be here.


 

 


'Perfect' is among quick, good songs

There have been popular songs that took forever to write and there have been others that were written in a snap.

Ask Carl Chambers and he'll tell you the best songs are generally those composed in a few moments.

"It's been my experience that the best ones are the ones that come quickly - the ones that fall right out," said Chambers, an Auburndale resident and a man who ought to know a little about what he's talking about.

Chambers' song "Close Enough to Perfect," the one the award-winning group Alabama took to the top of the country music charts, was developed in just a short time.

"I wrote it in '79, actually when I was on the road playing lead guitar with the Bellamy (Brothers)," he said. "But I got the idea for it right here at home.

"My wife (Nancy) and I were putting up panelling in our home one day and she kept fussing about it. So I said, 'It's close enough to perfect for me.'

"I hurried up and wrote it down because I thought it was catchy and would make a good title for a song."

The rest, so they say, is history.

Chambers had the song published, and it eventually fell into the hands of a person close to Alabama, a group that has skyrocketed to fame in just a very short time.

"They're probably the hottest thing in country music right now," Chambers said. "They used to be a bar band in Myrtle Beach, S.C., doing that -six-nights-a-week thing, and now they're Entertainers of the Year."

Chambers said Alabama listened to his song one day and "just liked it." "They put it on hold for a while, and then when they started recording their 'Mountain Music' album they decided to put it on it. "

The album, released in February 1981, has sold two million units, making it a "double platinum" effort.

Chambers' wife Nancy said her husband's song is beginning to make progress on the rock 'n roll charts and has even begun to sell well overseas."It's been on the charts for eight weeks now, and with every chart it crosses it makes more money," she said.

Not bad for an idea and a couple of hours of work.

"I bet I wrote this song in a couple of hours," Chambers said. "I once took six months to write another and it wasn't quite as good."