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Carl's Scrapbook: My 80's Bands: Southern Honey #5 (1982) |
L->R: Joni
Canova - Joe Spann - Carl Chambers - Nancy Chambers - Perley Curtis |
One of the shorter lived versions of Southern Honey, version 5 lasted about a month and a half from mid-November until New Year's Eve, 1982.
Perley Curtis was a fine steel guitarist from Maine, that had taken to spending his winters in Florida. Perley was an accomplished bluegrass picker and had played dobro on Joe Spann's "Joe Spann & The Joe Spann Band" album as well as served a stint with the house band at the Sunshine Opry during it's short duration just outside of Auburndale. Joe had given us his phone number in Maine, and since he was planning to be in the area anyway, he agreed to join up with Southern Honey. This was the first major sound change in the group since it's inception and we spent a couple of hard weeks in rehearsal. It was also about this time-frame when Rick Whitehead started running the sound and helping in the roadie department.
Southern Honey Date Book (late 1982)
• Nov 20 - Florida Star Discovery Modeling Competition - Cypress Gardens, FL
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L->R: Nancy Chambers - Carl Chambers
- Joe Spann - Alan Hale - Rick Whitehead - Perley Curtis - Joni Canova - Rodney Price |
The first job we played with Perley, was not a strict "Southern Honey" gig. Joni Canova had been hired as the female MC for the "Florida Star Discovery Modeling Competition" (a beauty contest), that was being held at Cypress Gardens on November 20, 1982. The male half of the MC team was Alan Hale, who was best known as the "Skipper" on Gilligan's Island. The remainder of Southern Honey was hired as the pit band to back up the various musical presentations including several tunes Joni performed. Rodney Price sat in on the drums and I believe the music director (leader) was the pianist, whose name I do not remember. It was a memorable evening and a rather unusual gig for the types of jobs we were accustomed to.
• Nov 26-27 - Lake Placid Holiday Inn - Perley Curtis' first official Southern Honey performance. Unusual in that he chose that evening to have his first date with Mary Jane and spent most of the first set smiling at his steel instead of playing it.
Dec
3 - News Chief "Focus" article [click
here]
• Dec 6 - "The Barn", Sanford
• Dec 11 - Cypress Gardens Pepsi Party
• Dec 12-19 - "The Barn", Sanford - Perley had encounters with some of
the clientel (it was a strange room , especially on Thursday nights)
which didn't go over very well with him.
• Dec 31 - New Year's Eve - Winter
Haven Holiday Inn - Perley's last gig
with Southern Honey.
Perley left the group at the end of the year. For some reason I, the band, and Perley never seemed to get on the same page and it just didn't work out. Too bad too, because Perley would have been a great asset to the group if circumstances had been somewhat different. And then... there were four....
[On a side note] Perley Curtis was the steel player for country music legend Lorretta Lynn in 2001.