Bill Lowery, Studio One & The Atlanta Rhythm Section

Studio One was a key locale during the 1960s-70s advent of Southern music. The production facility was enabled by the support of Bill Lowery, aka "Mr Atlanta Music." Lowery is most remembered as a prominent music publisher, but his career spanned many aspects of the industry. Born in Louisiana in 1924, he became a disc jockey while a teenager in Tennessee. In 1945, Lowery became the youngest radio station manager in the nation. While still in radio, he relocated to Atlanta, and added program host to his credits, showcasing local and regional talent. In 1951, he founded Lowery Music Company, his publishing company which achieved significant success in multiple genres of music.

Bill Lowery (right) with (L-R) Ray Stevens,
Jerry Reed, and Little Jimmy Dempsey

Lowery expanded his business to include management and recording services in addition to publishing, and named it collectively the Lowery Group. From the 1960s into the 70s, major hits were achieved by Ray Stevens, Gene Vincent, Jerry Reed, Tommy Roe, The Tams, The Classics IV, and Joe South. The Beatles covered "Mr Moonlight," one of the company's songs by Roy Lee Johnson. Billy Joe Royal, Lynn Anderson, Deep Purple, Mac Davis, and others extended the company's winning streak. The Lowery Music site provides an extensive list of affiliated artists and songs.

Studio One in the northeast Atlanta suburb of Doraville was the creation of audio engineer Rodney Mills. Bill Lowery backed the project and made Mills' vision possible, along with producer/songwriter/manager Buddy Buie and musician/songwriter J.R. Cobb. The facility opened in 1970 and attracted a diverse roster of clientele, including: Al Kooper, Mose Jones, Lynyrd Skynryd, .38 Special, Joe South, Billy Joe Royal, Bonnie Bramlett, Dickey Betts, Journey, Stillwater, B.J. Thomas, and The Outlaws. The studio's in-house musicians were former members of Dennis Yost's Classics IV [songwriter Buddy Buie and guitarist J.R. Cobb] and Roy Orbison's Candymen [singer Rodney Justo, keyboardist Dean Daughtry, and drummer Robert Nix.] Local bassist Paul Goddard and guitarist Barry Bailey also joined the crew.

The Atlanta Rhythm Section
(L-R) Dean Daughtry, Ronnie Hammond, Barry Bailey,
Paul Goddard, Robert Nix, and J.R. Cobb
"New York's fine, but it ain't Doraville."

Between sessions the studio musicians literally banded together to create their own music, and thus was born The Atlanta Rhythm Section [ARS]. They secured a record deal with MCA/Decca and released their eponymous first album in November 1971. When lead singer Rodney Justo left to pursue a solo career, Ronnie Hammond took his place. (Hammond was already onsite at Studio One as assistant engineer to Rodney Mills. He was skilled on various instruments, and it was discovered that he also had a remarkable singing voice.) It wasn't until 1973, after the release of their second LP Back Up Against The Wall, that ARS could leave the studio to tour in support of their albums. Their next record, Third Annual Pipe Dream, finally expanded their regional base, began to climb the charts, and the single "Doraville" became their first Top Forty hit.
ARS continued to record and garner extensive popular success through the rest of the 1970s. They navigated a softer pop ascension parallel and, perhaps, in contrast to the grittier, bluesier rock paths of the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynryd during the same period. Like their musical brethren, the Atlanta Rhythm Section survived loss and change, and continues to tour and honor their roots.

Sources:

Bill Lowery (1924-2004), by Laura McCarty, New Georgia Encyclopedia, September 8, 2006

Atlanta Rhythm Section, www.atlantarhythmsection.com

Donnie McCormick & Eric Quincy Tate

Eric Quincy Tate was the first band I saw perform in a club when I was old enough for admission. But before ever hearing Eric Quincy Tate [EQT], I visited Donnie McCormick's Atlanta apartment on Greenwood with my cousin, his friend. Entering Donnie's home was a total immersion in artwork. Creations and found objects adorned each and every wall and surface. Central to the living room was a large wooden cable spool used as a coffee table. It was not uncommon in its use as furniture, but in Donnie's case the central spool had a few slats removed and electricity was wired into the inside space created. (I wish I'd photographed it.) The small interior was furnished as a tiny room with an overhead light. In the center was a old crone doll seated in a little rocking chair. In her lap was a miniature airplane liquor bottle. She was The Whiskey Woman.

Donnie McCormick's Greenwood Avenue apartment in Atlanta;
the undersea mural (below, right) covered all walls of a bedroom;
other two photos are living room walls. [personal photos]

Donnie commandeered the living room from an antique wooden wheelchair. Pabst Blue Ribbon was the beverage of choice. When it was time for another he wheeled into the kitchen to fetch a fresh cold one. When EQT's 1972 Capricorn Records LP Drinking Man's Friend was released, the music fit perfectly in context with Donnie's visual art. "Whiskey Woman Blues" was storytelling with an insider twist.

Eric Quincy Tate
(clockwise from bottom left) Joe Rogers, Donnie McCormick, 

Wayne "Bear" Sauls, Tommy Carlisle, David Cantonwine

A simple Google search leads to much online documentation about Donnie McCormick and Eric Quincy Tate. Capricorn Records producer Paul Hornsby said:

"Donnie was a star waiting to happen in the '70s. Eric Quincy Tate was the greatest bar band I ever heard. Donnie blew me away every time, as a drummer and as a singer."

Like too many posts, this one also closes with a passing. Donnie's health failed over a long period of time. He succumbed to chronic pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure on January 11, 2009, at age 64. He was loved by many and lived a life of art and music all his days (and nights.) The mold was broken.

Sources:
"Donnie McCormick: Soul Survivor Beats to a Different Drum," by Candice Dyer, GeorgiaMusic.org, July 29, 2005
"Donald Eugene 'Donnie' McCormick," by Holly Crenshaw, The Atlanta Constitution, January 18, 2009