Stonehenge, Mose Jones & Al Kooper

I kept crossing paths with Jimmy O'Neill over a twenty year period. The last time I saw him he was handling sound for a small independent film we were both working on in Atlanta. That was around 1994-95. Before then, while I still worked for Turner, we'd run into each other in the TBS studio. (I believe he was freelancing, probably sound engineering.) He worked on a CNN project I was art directing, a VHS series on Desert Storm, the first Gulf War (1991.) It was always a treat to see Jimmy. He was talented, funny, and unfailingly had something good to say. He excelled at many things, but first and foremost, he was a superb musician.

(L-R) Bryan Cole, Jimmy O'Neill, Randy Lewis, Clay Watkins

During 1972, I met Jimmy when he was guitarist for Stonehenge, a popular rock band originally from Florida that had moved to Atlanta in 1970. [Stonehenge lineup: Bryan Cole/drums/vocals, Jimmy O'Neill/guitar/vocals, Randy Lewis/bass/vocals, Clay Watkins/keyboards.] I first heard them play live at Funochio's. They maintained a faithful following in the city, were well-respected by their peers, and clubs were always packed when they played. Funochio's was also where producer/musician Al Kooper met the band. As covered in earlier posts, Kooper descended upon Atlanta in summer 1972, scouting bands to launch his Sounds of the South label. (He had secured a distribution deal with MCA Records.) In late July, he extended a contract offer to Lynyrd Skynyrd after his Funochio's encounter with them. During his lengthy wait for a response from Skynyrd's manager, Kooper latched on to Stonehenge during their week at the same club in August. The band changed their name to Mose Jones (in honor of Mose Allison and a family dog) and signed with Kooper, making their group the first on his new label. They were also the first into the studio (i.e., Studio One in Doraville), and theirs was the first album released on Sounds of the South. While Mose Jones was working on Get Right, that first album, keyboardist Clay Watkins left and was replaced by the band's longtime friend Steve McRay, who had just completed a tour-of-duty with the US Army in Vietnam.

Mose Jones with Al Kooper and friends, 1973
(Jimmy O'Neill, far left; Bryan Cole, center, in jacket, kneeling; 
Al Kooper fourth from right, in white jacket;
 Steve McRay, second from right; Randy Lewis, far right)

The "firsts" continued. Atlanta rock club Richards opened its doors February 1, 1973, and Mose Jones was the first band to anoint the room with live music. They opened for Elephant's Memory, John Lennon's backup band at the time. Get Right dropped in May, while Skynryd's first LP was in the pipeline for an August release. Kooper hosted his Sounds of the South launch party at Richards July 29, 1973, showcasing the two bands to radio and music industry honchos, along with the press.
Sheer luck and timing landed Lynyrd Skynyrd the opening slot on The Who's 1973 American tour. Mose Jones traveled extensively, playing gigs such as Max's Kansas City in NYC. Their second album Mose Knows was released in 1974. Large-scale success was elusive. The band's career fell into the shadow of Lynyrd Skynyrd's trajectory, and by 1975 Mose Jones splintered, then disbanded.
I had left Atlanta by the time a second incarnation of Mose Jones was formed in 1977. Randy and Steve reunited and brought in two new players. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Bryan had moved to Nashville to work as songwriters for a music publisher. They subsequently joined the Vassar Clements Band, recording and touring. Google reveals much more about the various paths of the original Mose Jones members. My own research discovered the sad passings of Randy, Jimmy, and Bryan since the turn of the century, all way too young.

IMHO:
It's sometimes hard to pinpoint why one talent soars while another falters. There are a multitude of factors. With Mose Jones, online recollections of their Sounds of the South studio sessions reflect some dissatisfaction with the experience. Al Kooper had a "product" in mind which perhaps did not reflect the true musical goals of the band. Like most stories there are two or more sides to consider. With Kooper, too, it may have been a matter of focus. He traveled on The Who tour (1973) to mix sound for Skynyrd, perhaps micromanaging while other label members fell off his personal radar. Sounds of the South signed only two other groups: Elijah, a horn band from (technically Southern) California, and Kooper's early band The Blues Project, from nowhere near the South. In 1974, Kooper moved from Atlanta and relocated to Los Angeles. After Skynyrd's second album (recorded at the Record Plant in LA) was released, Kooper's relationship with MCA began disintegrating. MCA Records ultimately absorbed Sounds of the South. It ended badly and is a story well told in Kooper's aptly titled autobiography Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards. Supremely talented, visionary, and productive, Al Kooper might these days be diagnosed with ADD. Just a guess. He left an extraordinary trail of projects in midstream (e.g., The Blues Project; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Sounds of the South) some which continued to thrive, some not so much. Nevertheless, he remained a savvy businessman, always on the prowl for the next new thing, and resolute about doing things his way. No disrespect.

Sources:
Remembering Mose Jones, www.java-monkey.com
In Memoriam: Bryan Cole, by Scott Freeman, www.artsatl.com, January 11, 2013
Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, by Al Kooper, published by Billboard Books, 1998, and Backbeat Books, 2008
Mose Jones Interview with Bryan Cole, by Luc Brunot, Sweet Home Music, www.sweethomemusic.fr

Lynyrd Skynyrd & Sounds of the South

"Along come Mister Yankee Slicker, sayin', 'Maybe you're what I want.'"
-- Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Workin' for MCA," Second Helping

(follow-up to 12/31/14 post)
In Summer 1972, Al Kooper was working with his back-up band Frankie & Johnny at Studio One in Doraville, just outside Atlanta. Session-work during the day, downtown club scene at Funochio's into the night. (A fellow childhood summercamper ran the place.) First week of his visit, Boot was playing. Kooper sat in. The second week, July 17-22, a band from Jacksonville FL was booked. They were a familiar presence at Funochio's, having already played week-long gigs there in March and May that year.

Lynyrd Skynyrd at Funochio's, 1972, Atlanta GA,
view from the upstairs bar;
photo by Carter Tomassi

Kooper's initial encounter with the no-nonsense music of Lynyrd Skynyrd in the edgy, volatile* environment of Funochio's was a pivotal moment. He'd been on the prowl for "three-chord" bands to fill what he perceived as a void in the prog-rock-laden music environment of the early 70s. At the same time, he was well aware that Phil Walden was onto something, and that Walden, at the time, pretty much had a monopoly on the emerging genre of Southern Rock. In his autobiography, Kooper recalls:

"My business plan was thus: No record company but Phil Walden's Capricorn Records based in Macon, Georgia, understood that something was going on in the South. If Capricorn turned a band down, they were pretty much doomed, because no other label understood this phenomenon. I decided I would start my own label as an alternative to Capricorn and base it out of Atlanta." 

By the end of that week, Al Kooper was sitting in with Lynyrd Skynryd at the club. On Saturday night he offered them a recording deal which included him as producer. Without any commitments in place, he then managed to convince MCA Records in LA to distribute his yet-to-be-launched "Sounds of the South" label. Kooper settled into his new home in Sandy Springs, another suburb of Atlanta's sprawl. At last, Lynyrd Skynyrd's manager contacted him. Small world, their manager was none other than Alan Walden, Phil's younger brother. Capricorn had already passed on signing the band. It took a couple of months, but a deal was eventually hammered out. In the meantime, Al Kooper signed his first band for Sounds of the South: Mose Jones, a popular, well-respected, extremely talented Atlanta group. (They changed their name from Stonehenge in 1972.) Kooper had a plan:

"In my mind, stylistically speaking, Mose Jones were my Beatles, and Skynyrd were my Stones." 

Mose Jones was first in the studio, and first released. (Another post will discuss their story.) On July 29, 1973, Al Kooper hosted his Sounds of the South launch party at Richards, Atlanta's famed club-of-the-moment. The label's first two signings were showcased to radio, press, and industry honchos. Lynyrd Skynyrd's first album (Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd), produced at Studio One in Doraville, was released two weeks later on August 13, 1973. "Free Bird" was the closing track.

For Skynyrd, timing and luck intervened when Kooper ran into Pete Townshend and The Who's manager Peter Rudge at MCA. Kooper sold them on Lynyrd Skynyrd as opening act for their upcoming North American tour promoting Quadrophenia. It was a huge leap of faith for all involved, being Lynyrd Skynyrd's first experience in such enormous venues. Kooper stepped in to mix their sound in the quirky context of The Who's unusual set-up. The band and crew were fine with that, and everyone rose to the occasion. According to Kooper:

"Somehow it all fell into place, and Skynyrd began to do what no opening band for The Who had ever done–they got encores!"

Previous bookings for small venues were cancelled as the band's popularity and record sales surged. The Atlanta club scene became a receding image in Lynyrd Skynyrd's rearview mirror. The rest, as they say, is history. Enormous success was commingled with enormous tragedy, a story well-documented elsewhere. 

*Business as usual included a couple of stabbings, a couple of shootings, open drug use, rivalrous drug dealers, and drunken bad behavior of all sorts. I once witnessed a drag queen at the downstairs bar beating up a guy with a shoe.

Sources:
The Morton Report, "New Music for Old People: Rarities From the Sounds of the South Label," by Al Kooper, September 14, 2012
Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, by Al Kooper, published by Billboard Books, 1998, and Backbeat Books, 2008
Rolling Stone, 100 Greatest Artists, 95/Lynyrd Skynyrd, by Al Kooper

Al Kooper in Atlanta

By the early 1970s Al Kooper was well known in the music business not only for his musicianship and songwriting talents, but also as a skilled, influential producer. He had been a founding member of The Blues Project and Blood, Sweat & Tears. He released solo projects as well, but Kooper was perhaps most revered for his collaborations with Mike Bloomfield, Stephen Stills, and Shuggie Otis, along with a goldmine of backup players. (Famed illustrator Norman Rockwell notably created the double portrait for 1969's "Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper," a personal favorite.) Atop all these credentials, Kooper is cemented in music history for not only having played organ on Bob Dylan's pivotal "Like A Rolling Stone," but for presenting Lynyrd Skynryd to the world along with eternal chants for "Free Bird."

The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper
Columbia Records, 1969

In March 1972, Al Kooper was in Atlanta for performances at The Music Connection in Underground Atlanta. He caught up with friends there, musicians who had been members of Roy Orbison's back-up band The Candymen. The group, known and respected for their quality session work, had recently stepped out front to present their own music as the Atlanta Rhythm Section [ARS]. They worked out of Studio One, their own recording facility in Doraville, an Atlanta suburb they would make famous in song. Kooper sat in with ARS one night at the studio and, suitably impressed, booked a month's time at the facility that summer to record his own backup band Frankie & Johnny. In a 2014 interview with Huffington Post he recalled:

"In 1972, I had been in the studio in Atlanta for several weeks with another band, working really hard during the day and then going out with the guys at night to unwind... We were going out pretty regularly to this place called Funochio's and there was this band there."

"This band" was Lynyrd Skynryd. 

I was already immersed in the Atlanta music community by the time Al Kooper showed up at Funochio's. Admittedly, I was a fangirl. The Blues Project had played the Christmas dance my sophomore year in high school. I'd been collecting his albums ever since, so when I saw him at the upstairs bar in Funochio's, I walked right over and asked how his sister Alice was doing. I deserved the unamused smirk in return. In the last week of his Studio One session work, Kooper decided to stay in Atlanta. He sent for his things in NYC and began steps toward launching his own label to compete with Phil Walden's burgeoning, only-game-in-town, Capricorn Records. [Will write more about Sounds of the South in another post.] Time passed. Goals were accomplished. In 1974, Al Kooper pulled up roots again, this time headed for LA. I was happy to attend the small going-away party that Richards' management threw for him. As a parting gift, they gave him the latest hi-tech toy of the time: a slimline pop-up Polaroid camera with leather details. 
Then *poof*, Kooper was gone.  

Sources: 

www.huffingtonpost.com/billrobinson/backstage-pass-two-stones_b_4324840.html

Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, by Al Kooper, published by Billboard Books, 1998, and Backbeat Books, 2008

The Headrest

• 114 Ponce de Leon Avenue (at Juniper), Atlanta GA
• Opened: August 1972
• Closed: February 1973
• Note: The Headrest opened under the management of Gary Rothman, who had previously been running Funochio's nearby on Peachtree Street. In summer of 1972 Georgia's drinking age was lowered to 18, the first change since being set at age 21 post-Prohibition. In this context, still a teenager, I worked at Funochio's for a couple of weeks before being tapped to be part of the team to open The Headrest. An artist, I was enlisted to paint a series of large murals for the club, particularly the floor-to-ceiling portraits of rock musicians which lined the front entrance hall. When I went to collect payment for the work I had done, the huge thug of an assistant manager (I believe called "Doodles") pulled a gun out and laid it on top of his desk. I stood there speechless, then turned and left the office. Needless to say, I was never paid for the work. Few were surprised the club closed only six months after opening.  

1972

• Chambers Brothers, Hampton Grease Band - club opening, mid-August 
• Roadapple, Mother's Son - August 17-19
• Boot, Lynyrd Skynyrd - August 31-September 2
• Smokerise, Cotton - September 4-9
• Bacchus - September 11-13
• Keys, Bacchus - September 14-16
• Keys, Bandit - September 18-23
• Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes - September 25
• "reopened - mASSell loses a round" (The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 5, No. 40, October 23, 1972, referring to Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell)
• Keys, Joshua - October 19-21
• Keys, Boot - October 23-28
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Keys - November 2-4
• Chambers Brothers, Bandit - November 6-8
• Albatross, Bandit - November 9-11
• Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes, Blackfoot - November 13-15
• Eric Quincy Tate, Blackfoot -November 16-18
• Mose Jones, Applejack - November 20-25
• Kudzu, Clouds - November 27-December 1
• Kudzu, Eric Quincy Tate - December 2
• Squeeze, New Days Ahead - December 4-9
• Shayde - December 9
• Papa Doc - December 11-13
• Eric Quincy Tate, Papa Doc - December 14
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Papa Doc - December 15-16
• Mose Jones, Micropolis - December 18-23
• Hydra, Brother Bait - December 26-27
• Kudzu, Brother Bait - December 28
• Hydra, Brother Bait - December 29-30 

1973

• Bob Seger System, Lynyrd Skynyrd - January 1-3
• Blackfoot, Lynyrd Skynyrd - January 4-6
• White Trash, Kudzu - January 8-10
• Brother Bait, Kudzu - January 11-13
• Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes, Keys - January 15-17
• Micropolis, Keys - January 18-20

spellcheck: Funochio's, Funocchio's, Finocchio's,...

Assorted spellings exist for the name of self-proclaimed "Atlanta's Original House of Rock." Resources, most pertaining to the 1972 first encounter of Al Kooper and Lynyrd Skynyrd, present varied alternate spellings, including Finocchio's, Funocchio's, Funnochio's, versions of these without apostrophes, Finokeose, and more. "Funochio's" is correct, evidenced in the club's display advertising. Fun, one "n", one "c," with an apostrophe.

Funochio's display ad,
The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 6, No. 9, March 12, 1972
Note: street address was actually 845, not 875, Peachtree

Funochio's

• 845 Peachtree Street (at 6th), Atlanta GA
• Self-titled "Atlanta's Original House of Rock"
• Opened: December 1971
• Closed: September 1973
• Note: Source material for early days of Funochio's is scarce. An article in the December 20, 1971 issue of The Great Speckled Bird [GSB] about the band Flood indicates that owners of Funochio's would not purchase ad space until the newspaper had given the club significant press coverage. The same article refers to Funochio's as "a new place," inferring they had only recently opened. First evidence of ad placement was in the GSB February 14, 1972 issue, text only, in the free club listings of the Calendar page. (Discovery, Inc., an agency that booked and managed much of Atlanta's talent, frequently purchased display ads for their bands' appearances at Funochio's, given the club's early unwillingness to invest in marketing.) Funochio's first purchase of GSB display ad space was for the November 27, 1972 issue, promoting the club's first anniversary in early December.

1971

• Hydra - December
• Birnam Wood - December 
• Flood - December

1972

• Hydra - January 3-8, 10-15
• Stonehenge - February 14-19
• Hydra (with Clear, February 25) - February 21-26
• Kudzu - February 29-March 4
• Orpheum Circuit - March 6-11
• Brother Bait - March 13-18
• Lynryd Skynyrd - March 2o-25
• Taxi - March 27-April 1
• Hydra - April 3-8
• Stonehenge - April 10-15
• Eric Quincy Tate - April 17-22
• Boot - April 24-29
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - May 1-6
• Kudzu - May 8-13
• Macbeth (with Cisco, May 18) - May 19-20
• Flood - May 22-27
• Brother Bait - May 29-June 3
• Birnam Wood - June 5-10
• Papa Doc - June 15-17
• The Motion - June 17 (3pm jam)
• Hydra - June 19-24 (Deep Purple jammed)
• Orpheum Circuit - June 24 (3pm jam)
• Stonehenge - June 26-July 1
• Boot - July 3-8, 10-15 (Al Kooper jammed)
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - July 17-22 (first encounter with Al Kooper)
• Brother Bait - July 24-29
• Wellington Arrangement - July 31- August 5
• Stonehenge - August 7-12
• Hydra - August 14-19
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - August 21-26
• Free Love - August 28-31
• Wet Willie - September 1-2
• Kudzu - September 4-9
• Circus - September 11-13
• Hydra (with Albatross, September 15) - September 14-16
• Stonehenge - September 18-20
• Eric Quincy Tate - September 21-23
• Stonehenge - September 25-28
• Stonehenge, Al Kooper - September 29-30
• Whalefeathers - October 2-7
• Buster Brown - October 9-14
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - October 16-21
• Buster Brown - October 23-25
• Eric Quincy Tate, Buster Brown - October 26-28
• Hydra - October 30-November 4
• Brother Bait - November 6-11
• Kudzu - November 13-18
• Papa Doc - November 20-25
• Eric Quincy Tate, Albatross - November 27-29
• Albatross, Law - November 30-December 2
• Hydra - December 4
• Brother Bait  - December 5
• Mose Jones - December 6
• Armon, Mose Jones - December 7
• Armon, Eric Quincy Tate - December 8
• Armon - December 9
• Whalefeathers - December 11-16
• Hydra, Law - December 18-20
• Hydra - December 21-23
• Al Kooper, Mose Jones - December 26-27
• Mose Jones - December 28-30

1973

• Eric Quincy Tate - January 1-6
• Boot - January 8-13
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Smokestack Lightnin' - January 15-20
• Mose Jones, Sweet Rye - January 22-27
• Whalefeathers, Sowbelly - January 29-February 3
• Kudzu, Sowbelly - February 5-10
• Law, Orpheum Circuit - February 12-14
• Law, Maelstrom - February 15-17, 19-24
• Eric Quincy Tate, Cotton Small - February 26-March 3
• Blackfoot, Hooker - March 5-10
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Armon - March 12-17
• Mose Jones, Papa Doc - March 19-24
• Boot, Brown Dog - March 26-31
• Caliban, Scald Cats - April 2-7
• Fat Chance, Mushroom Jones - April 9-14
• Sun Country, Cisco - April 16-21
• Eric Quincy Tate, Cisco - April 23-28
• Caliban, Slick - April 30-May 5
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Mason - May 10-12
• Orpheum Circuit, Kudzu - May 14-19
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Traktor - May 21-26
• Brother Bait, Albatross - May 31-June 2
• Ritual, Mudcrutch* - June 4-9
• Brown Dog - June 14-16
• Hydra, Target - June 18-23
• Roadapple - June 25-30
• Eric Quincy Tate - July 2-7
• Birtha, Eric Quincy Tate - July 4-5
• Mose Jones - July 9-14
• Birtha - July 12
• Kudzu - July 12-15
• Birnam Wood - July 16-21
• Whiskey Train, Armon - July 26-28
• Kudzu, Nation Road - July 30-August 1
• Kudzu, Papa Doc - August 2-4
• Micropolis, Scald Cats - August 6-11
• Papa Doc, Catfish Hodge - August 13-16
• Papa Doc, Cisco - August 17-18
• Target, New Day Ahead - August 20-25

*Mudcrutch was Tom Petty's Gainesville, Florida, band prior to formation of the Heartbreakers. The group included Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, who stayed on as members of the Heartbreakers. Mudcrutch signed with Shelter Records in 1974 and released one single before breaking up in 1975. >>January 2017 update: In August 2007, Tom Petty invited original members Randall Marsh and Tom Leadon to reform Mudcrutch along with Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell. They have since recorded two studio albums, toured extensively, and released a live album as well. Their last concerts were in June 2016 as of this update.