In 1980, Nancy (seeing the need) asked if
I thought she could learn to play bass. She knew two or three
chords on the guitar and not wanting to hurt her feelings, I
said "of course". "You put this finger here,
that's the 1 chord, count up the scale to 4 and that's the 4
chord, up two more frets, that's the 5 chord, and now go play
with Daddy and Uncle Boots until you can feel and make those
changes". It was probably no more than six weeks before
she was out playing old-time country music with the Dizzy Ramblers.
Maybe not yet the most technical of players, but as far as keeping
time she was great. She was even managing to go with them when
they'd only put 3 beats or maybe do 5 beats in a measure (the
old timers thought nothing of jumping time and seldom did anything
the same way twice). I couldn't believe it. She started to play
along with me when I'd practice some of my original songs and
as long as I took the time to show her the moves she would usually
be able to do them from then on and almost always with an extarordinary
sense of timing. I was starting to see a glimmer of hope.
"There
ain't, no sugar sweet as a,
Southern Honey"
Writing and recording some
new songs had helped me start to climb out of the dark pit
of depression I had inhabited
for about a year. We had recorded the single, "Take Me Home
With You" and it was due for release at around the end of
February 1981. By this time, it was becoming increasingly obvious
that in order to present my music to the listening public, I
was gonna need a band. We talked it over and decided that there
might be some marketing advantage to my fronting an all girl "country" band.
I was not familiar with any such groups locally, and only one
or two nationally. The women's movement had not yet had time
to permeate the country music field in the early eighties, so
it was a timely idea.
But I wasn't interested
in just being another bar band. Sure, we knew we'd have to
play some lounges in order to
get by financially -- but I wanted to do shows, fairs, concerts,
etc.. I wanted to perform my original material for crowds that
wanted to listen - not just a bunch of dancers who were gettin'
drunker by the minute. I was a "wannabe" star.
I've always contended that with a solid foundation
of bass, drums and rhythm- everything else is just icing on the
cake. While playing with the makeshift Dizzy Rambler Band at
the Hartridge, we heard Joni Canova (...can't seem to remember
the exact circumstances) and were impressed with the way she
was able to emulate Rodney's drum style. Joni was young and pretty
and had been a professional entertainer since she was old enough
to hold a microphone. She was a member of Auburndale's Canova
dynasty of entertainers that had worked in the area for decades.
Problem was -- we didn't know a good (or bad) female
guitarist. Joni was interested, Nancy was becoming more and more
proficient on the bass, and we had a great young singer in Denise
Helms. We also had contact with Cindy Cromeans who was also a
singer and played Fender Rhodes piano. But no guitarist.
All right...., so we'll have two guys, and four
girls -- that's close enough. In May Nancy and I had played back-up
on the second Orange Blossom Jamboree show for Duke Burr, an
extremely talented ex-rock and roller, who was one of the finest
musicians in the area. Duke was a great vocalist and played any
style of guitar, killer harmonica, mandolin, plus any other instrument
you'd give him a few minutes with. And, he was interested in
pickin' with us. So... OK, let's do it!
This site was created and is maintained by Carl Chambers for Dizzy Rambler Productions
.
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Carl's Scrapbook: My 80s Bands: Southern Honey
Preface