Tag: Jerry Williams

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Jimmy Hart Keeps on Dancing

Treadwell students Jerry Williams, Jimmy Hart, and Jerry Lawler at what is now Treadwell Middle School. (Photo: Michael Donahue)

Jimmy Hart has worn many hats during his career, but he prefers one type of jacket. Something from Lansky Bros. in Memphis.

Hart wore jackets from the legendary men’s store over the years as a  wrestling manager for Jerry Lawler, Hulk Hogan, and others.

But he wore his first Lansky jacket (along with Beatle boots) when his band, The Gentrys, performed on TV’s Ted Mack & The Original Amateur Hour.

Hart will wear a special Lansky Bros. jacket tonight, September 27th, when The Gentrys are inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts.

Hart talked about the origin of The Gentrys, whose song “Keep on Dancing” sold a million copies worldwide and rose to number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965.

“It’s hard to kill a memory,” Hart says.

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Hart grew up around music. His mother, Sadie Hart, who wrote under the name “Sadie Sallas,” penned “Enclosed, One Broken Heart,” for singer Eddy Arnold in the 1950s. 

Col. Tom Parker, Elvis’ manager, also managed Arnold. Parker asked Hart’s mother if Arnold could record it.

Hart was a student at Treadwell High School when he got a call from Larry Raspberry, who told him he was putting a band together and was looking for some singers. “I went over and I auditioned and that’s it.”

The group, which was known at first as The Gents, originally included Raspberry on guitar, Bruce Bowles and Hart on vocals, Larry Wall on drums, Pat Neal on bass, and Bobby Fisher and Jimmy Johnson on keyboards and horns.

They played at sock hops and other gigs for “spending money” at local spots. “Bruce Bowles kind of looked like John Lennon. We had that Beatles effect back then.”

Things began taking off after they met TV/radio personality George Klein at the old Berretta’s BBQ Drive In. Klein, who was host of the local TV show Talent Party, told them record producer Chips Moman was opening a brand-new studio, American Recording Studio, in Memphis. “He said, ‘Look. If you guys want to, Chips will, absolutely free, let you go to the studio and cut a little song. And I’ll put you on Talent Party.’”

Hart and his band mates cut a cover of the Rolling Stones song, “Time is On My Side.” “The next thing you know, everything took off. It was crazy.”

They entered and came in first place in the Mid-South Fair Youth Talent Contest. As the winner, the band got to audition for Ted Mack’s national TV show in Miami, Florida. “We get on the show and he introduces us, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Memphis, Tennessee’s answer to the Beatles.”

Hart and his band performed “Do You Love Me.” Their Lansky Bros. outfit included jackets with a “little bitty” checkered print and velour lapels and pockets. “We had the little Beatle boots and tight black pants and the turtle neck sweaters.” 

And, he says, “Mr. Lansky gave us such a great deal since we were a struggling little group from Treadwell.”

They ended up winning round one of the show, which meant they could compete in round two.

The group returned to Miami and performed on the show. “Guess what? We won again.”

That meant they were eligible to perform on the third show. But in the meantime, the group cut “Keep on Dancing,” which became a “smash hit” after getting airplay on radio stations across the country. 

That disqualified them from competing on the third Ted Mack show because they were now professionals. But the band still got to appear on the show.

They didn’t write “Keep on Dancing,” Hart says. It was another band’s song. But, Hart says, “They did it real slow. We just took it and speeded it up.”

Life suddenly changed for Hart and his fellow band members. “We’re in high school with a big hit record.”

They put out three albums on the MGM Records label. Their songs included “Spread It on Thick” and “Everyday I Have To Cry.” And, later on, The Gentrys recorded two chart toppers — “Why Should I Cry” and “Cinnamon Girl” — at Sun Records. “Cinnamon Girl” was written by Neil Young, who will also be at the Memphis Music Hall of Fame ceremony.

“We did tours with The Beach Boys, Chicago, and Steppenwolf, The Grass Roots, and Jerry Lee Lewis.”

They toured with Dick Clark’s “Caravan of Stars” and appeared on TV’s American Bandstand, Hullabaloo, Shindig, and Where the Action Is.

The band was in the 1967 beach movie It’s a Bikini World, which starred Deborah Walley and Tommy Kirk.

Hart got into wrestling when Lawler called him and asked him to help him with a “wrestling album” with vocals by Lawler. Hart then spent six years as Lawler’s manager.

His big break, he says, was when former WWE CEO Vince McMahon called him. Hart, who says DJ Ron Olson gave him the nickname “Mouth of the South,” began managing WWE wrestlers and, along with Cyndi Lauper and David Wolff, began writing entrance themes for wrestlers.

Former Memphian and photographer Pat Rainer will introduce The Gentrys at the Memphis Music Hall of Fame ceremony. “Pat Rainer was president of our fan club back then.”

Rainer, who put the fan club together, made sure the members came to their shows and voted for them, Hart says. “Pat Rainer was our secret weapon.”

Describing his Lansky’s jacket for the Memphis Music Hall of Fame ceremony, Hart says, “Lansky made that for me special.”

The jacket is “kind of a grayish blackish color, but it’s got little skulls on it. The inside of the jacket has pictures of my past in there. Me and The Gentrys. Me and Hulk Hogan. Me and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler. All kinds of different pictures.”

Jerry Williams, founder/owner of Trans Maximus Studios and TMI Records, was the business manager and organizer of another teen band, The Guilloteens, during the time Hart’s band was performing. The Gentrys were “doing rock-and-roll at that time in a very unique way,” Williams says. “Their sound and their playability and their approach was just different.”

Also, he says, “They were all good-looking kids. You knew they were a band. They were built to be a band.”

In addition to being talented, The Gentrys also acted like professionals. “When they got on stage, they were dressed like a band. And it was always neat and they put on a fabulous show.”

A lot led up to The Gentrys receiving the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. “We were just in high school having fun going to class. And all of a sudden we’re playing sock hops around Memphis and then on the road with Dick Clark.”

And now Hart will be on stage in his Lansky Bros. jacket as The Gentrys are inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. “We’ve been so blessed.”

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Elvis is Everywhere!

CREDIT: Amanda Smith

Amanda Smith

I kicked off Elvis Week by eating a Doughburger and sitting in the ‘Elvis’ booth at Johnnie’s Drive-In in Tupelo. The restaurant, apparently, was one of the King’s haunts.

My first 45 rpm record was “Don’t Be Cruel” by Elvis. I got it when it came out in 1956. I saw his first movie, Love Me Tender on the big screen when it was released the same year. I saw Elvis in 1957 on stage at Russwood Park.

But I never ate at Johnnie’s Drive-In in Tupelo until a few days ago.

Johnnie’s, apparently, was one of Elvis’s haunts. A photograph of the King in one of Johnnie’s wooden booths hangs above a booth, which, supposedly, is the one Elvis was photographed in.

Christi Wade’s parents – Don and Barbara Knight – bought Johnnie’s in 1981, she says. “I’m just managing,” she says. “Whenever they retire, I’m buying it from them.”

John and Margaret Chism were the original owners of Johnnie’s, which opened October 17, 1945, White says. It’s billed as “Tupelo’s Oldest Restaurant.”

I overheard a customer order the “Johnnie Burger.” He told me it was the Doughburger, which White says is their best seller. Doughburgers “started during the Depression when they added flour into the meat because meat was being rationed. To make it go further. Oh, my gosh. We cook so many of those a day. That’s one of our most popular items.”

It’s especially popular during Elvis tributes, she says. “The week of his birth and the week Tupelo does its Elvis festival in June and in August when people are making a pilgrimage to Tupelo and back to Memphis to commemorate his death.”

People want to eat Doughburgers because Elvis supposedly ate them, White says. “We have to rely on what we are told from his friends that are still with us.”

Paul Cramer, who was a traveling salesman, took the photo in the mid 1950s. According to his account, Cramer heard a teenager scream, “Elvis is next door!” He didn’t know who Elvis was, but he found the King at Johnnie’s and asked if he could take his photo. Cramer didn’t think any more about the photo until he discovered it in a photo album in 1997.

White and her family also have to rely on Elvis’ friends, who told them the booth in the photo is the same booth beneath the photograph, she says. “We just have to go by what we’re told. We don’t really have 100 percent proof.”

People like to have their photograph taken in the “Elvis” booth.

Johnnie’s was packed the week I visited the restaurant with my sister. People kept walking through the door. When we left, we saw a long line of people who traveled by bus waiting to get in. “It’s a crazy week, but we love it,” White says.

And Johnnie’s is an actual drive-in; you can order from a carhop. “We try our best to stay a lot like we were in 1945.”

They added items to the menu, but, White says, “We don’t accept credit cards or debit cards. Cash only.”

They like to “stay with the feel of old school” at Johnnie’s, White says.

The prices seem old school, too. The Doughburger sells for $1.35. You also can get an “All-Meat Burger” for just $2.50.

MIchael Donahue

Kelly Laing, Pat Kerr Tigrett, and T. G. Sheppard at ‘Moonshine at Sunset.’

Pat Kerr Tigrett helped kick off Elvis Week with her “Moonshine at Sunset” soiree, which was held August 9th at her downtown penthouse.

The party celebrated T. G. Sheppard’s birthday. He and his wife, Kelly Laing, were among the star-studded group who attended.

Sheppard and Laing performed at the “George Klein Tribute Show,” which was held August 11th at Lafayette’s Music Room. Merrilee Rush and William Bell, who performed at the show, were among the guests at Tigrett’s party.

Jerry Williams, who attended with Cindy Bailey, put the Klein show together. Williams and Klein were friends for 71 years.

Days later, Williams shared his thoughts about the tribute show, which also featured Carla Thomas, Joyce Cobb, Wendy Moten, Ronnie McDowell, Jason D. Williams, and the Royal Blues Band. “The Sunday show probably is one of those shows that Memphis won’t see again for a long, long time,” he says.

Ten performers “all appearing and all doing what they felt for George. It was incredible.”

The show was sold out, Williams says. “Then we had Lafayette’s decide to do a standing room only. It was jam packed. People were standing outside in a line. Everybody who came had to love George.”

What struck him the most were “the people who came to Memphis to perform for George and the love they all showed for him.”

And, he says, “Those 10 acts that were there, those were the people George would have called. He had a history of love and affection for every one of them. He was integral to everyone of them early in their careers.”

What would Klein have thought about the show? “He would have turned his head and probably cried. He was so humble. It would be hard for him to grasp that these people were there for him.”


Michael Donahue

William Bell and Lawrence ‘Boo’ Mitchell at ‘Moonshine at Sunset.’

Michael Donahue

Cindy Bailey, Jerry Williams, Larry Moss. and Merrilee Rush at ‘Moonshine at Sunset.’

                                       WE SAW YOU AROUND TOWN

MIchael Donahue

Mary Pat Van Epps. Lydia Cox, and Gina Dear at Gibson’s Donuts.

Michael Donahue

Eldrick Wilkins, Moriah Oliver, and Nature Hendricks at Crosstown Concourse.

Michael Donahue

Darnell Henderson and Cameron Bethany at Blind Bear


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Music Music Blog

“The George Klein Tribute Show” to be Held August 11th

Jerry Williams and George Klein

George Klein will be honored at “The George Klein Tribute Show” on August 11th at 4 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

It’s fitting that Klein will be honored during “Elvis Week.” He and The King were close friends from the 1950s until Elvis’ death in 1977.

Klein, who died February 5th at the age of 83, was a radio and TV personality. He was a deejay, had his own TV shows, made personal appearances seemingly everywhere, and was in Elvis movies, including “Jailhouse Rock.”

Jerry Williams, a friend of Klein’s for 71 years, put the show together. “He’s a Memphis icon,” Williams says. “He deserves it.”

The lineup includes Carla Thomas, Joyce Cobb, Merrilee Rush, T. G. Sheppard, Ronnie McDowell, Kelly Laing, Wendy Moten, William Bell, Royal Blues Band, and Jason D. Williams. “I didn’t get one ‘no.’ When I would call them, literally every one of them had their stories about George and what he meant to their career – from playing their first record to putting them on the TV show. No conversation was without tears.”

Williams says he could have had 100 people perform, but he stopped at 10.

He specifically picked the date for the show. “It’s on August 11th, the first Sunday of Elvis Week. And, you remember, George always had his events on the first Sunday of Elvis Week. That was sort of George’s day.”

Klein did 37 “George Klein and the Elvis Mafia” shows and 42 “George Klein Christmas Charity Shows,” Williams says.

Williams met Klein in the spring of 1948 “because of the Memphis Chicks baseball team.”

Klein was 11 and Williams was 8. “When the Chicks would start spring practice for the season, we would make 30, 35 cents a day. We would shag balls. We were batboys. We got to know all the guys.”

Their friendship continued after Williams moved to California in 1964 to manage Paul Revere & the Raiders.

And it continued after Williams returned to Memphis. “I came back in ‘69 and built Trans Maximus (TMI) Studios. And from that we had TMI Records.”

TMI was a success. “We stayed on charts at TMI for seven years without coming off. Steve Cropper was in charge of production.”

They cut records for Poco and Charlie Rich, among others. They also cut Jeff Beck’s Going Down album, which was Beck’s signature album with the title song written by Don Nix.

Klein played those albums on his radio show, Williams said. “Absolutely. He played every one of them. George was fabulous about playing anybody local. Anything recorded by local artists and by international artists who recorded in Memphis.”

He and Klein would talk daily after Williams permanently moved back to Memphis in 1971, Williams says.

“Somebody asked me, ‘What do you miss most about George Klein?’ I said, ‘George Klein.’ The reason is very simple. He was always a what-you-see-what-you-get kind of guy. No airs to George Klein.”

Klein “didn’t really know he was important to the world-wide music industry. Did you know he was the first person with a live broadcast show to put an African-American on live in Memphis? Fats Domino.”

He also invited African-American couples to dance along with the white couples on his TV show, Williams says.

“George Klein was a special guy because he did things he thought were right at the time that the world thought was wrong. And he went across the grain.”

Williams will host the “The George Klein Tribute Show,” which will be a first for him. “This is not a wailing wall kind of thing. This is entertainment.”

And, he says, “This is not a sad occasion. This is 10 acts who loved George.”

Tickets to “The George Klein Tribute Show” are $50. VIP tickets, which includes a “swag bag,” are $100. Tickets may be purchased at Lafayette’s Music Room. For more information, call (901) 207-5097 or go to lafayettes.com/mwmphs/event-tickets/