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

Discovery, Inc.

Booking agencies have always navigated the often tricky waters of coordinating artists with promoters and venues. In Atlanta's late 1960s and early 70s, there were several operations handling such business. Discovery, Inc., founded by Steve Cole in 1968, within a few years became the busiest and largest of the local agencies, at least in the rock-and-roll marketplace. Cole was part of the Atlanta music scene from which emerged the Southern Rock genre. He played a key role in mobilizing the legendary Piedmont Park free concerts (which propelled the Allman Brothers Band), and supplied clubs, colleges, and other settings throughout the Southeast with talent as required. Big name national tours, when in the region, often turned to the local talent pool for opening acts. Discovery provided.

Steve Cole (left) and promoter Alex Cooley at Piedmont Park, Atlanta GA,
photo by Carter Tomassi

From the outset, Discovery marketed the agency's presence, profile, and mission. They also promoted their bands' appearances, bolstering any advertising that club and concert promoters might provide. By 1974, Discovery handled about 20 acts. The Hampton Grease Band was with them from the beginning and, in 1970, landed a recording contract with CBS/Columbia. Discovery represented Lynyrd Skynyrd early in the band's career, also Mose Jones (formerly Stonehenge). In 1972, those two bands became label-mates for Al Kooper's Sound of the South, the first acts Kooper signed. Hydra likely logged the most road miles of any band in Atlanta back in the day, and signed with Phil Walden's Capricorn Records by early 1973. A point could be reached when range and volume of requests for a band outgrew the size of the agency. As happened with those mentioned, the time came when an agency with larger reach and capability was required. It was a good problem to have, and reflected success for both artists and agency.

Discovery, Inc., 1973 roster sample,
(click to enlarge)

In 1974, Discovery, Inc., merged with Holliday Group, another agency in the city. They retained the Discovery name and secured their standing as largest agency in Atlanta. Search results past the merger return very little information. A posting at thestripproject.com indicates that Steve Cole has since passed. Longtime Atlanta musician Darryl Rhoades wrote that Cole "understood the possibilities of the music scene way before other promoters actually acted on it. He predicted that one day bands would be playing huge venues to packed audiences." Atlanta's musical past owes much to Steve Cole.

Steve Cole, Discovery, Inc.,
photo from Billboard, May 24, 1974

Acts represented by Discovery between 1968 and 1974 include: Albatross, The American Cheese, Applejack, Armon, Atlanta Vibrations [later, Vibration], Avenue of Happiness, Axis, The Bag, Booger Band [later, just Booger], Brick Wall, Brother Bait, Buster Brown, Caliban, The Celestial Voluptuous Banana, Choice, Clear, The Coconut Confetti, The Daze After, Dear John, Dogwood, East Side Blues Band, The Electric Collage Light Show, Fifth Order, Flint, Foxes, Gingerbread, Glass Menagerie, Hampton Grease Band, Heat, Hydra, Interprize, Kudzu, Leviathan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Micropolis, Milkweed, The Mud Child, The New Explanation, The Night Shadows featuring Little Phil, Orpheum Circuit, Pale Paradox, Papa Doc, The Peppermint Confederacy, Perpetual Motion [later, The Motion], Protrudamus, Radar, Resurrection, Rude-Frye, Russian Butt Broil, St George and the Dragonlite Show, Scald Cats, Smokestack Lightnin', The Soul-Jers, Soul Support, The Spontaneous Generation, Stillbrooke, Stonehenge [later, Mose Jones], Stump Brothers, Sweet Fire, Sweet Younguns [later, just Younguns], Traktor, Warm, and West End.

I promise I did not make up any of these names.

Sources:

"Bookers See Southern Bands Still to Be Recorded, Allman Brothers Success a Continuing Momentum," Billboard, May 24, 1974
"Inside Track," Billboard, October 26, 1974
The Great Speckled Bird, advertisements, 1968-1974

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

Richards

• 931 Monroe Drive NE (near 8th and Virginia Avenue), Atlanta GA 
• Owners: Rich Floyd, Richard Bryan
• Capacity: 800
• Opened: Thursday, February 1, 1973
• Closed: December 1974

1973

• Elephant's Memory, Mose Jones - February 1-3
• Wet Willie, Ned - February 5-10
• Bo Diddley, Marshall Tucker Band - February 12-16
• Bob Seger, Acrobat - February 19-24
• Bonnie Bramlett, Little Feat, Elf - February 26-28
• White Witch, Little Feat - March 1-3
• Little Feat, Mother's Finest - March 5-10
• Elephant's Memory, Roadapple - March 12-17
• If, Warm - March 19-24
• Hookfoot, Uncle Jam Band - March 26-31 
• Nitzinger, Navasota - April 2-7 
• Marshall Tucker Band, Hydra - April 9-14
• Pure Food & Drug Act with Harvey Mandell, Charlie Daniels Band - April 16-21
• Cold Blood - April 23-25 
• Terry Reid - April 26-28
• Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids - April 30-May 5
• "Benefit for Wounded Knee" [Defense Fund] - May 6
• Pretty Things - May 7-8
• Cactus, Pretty Things - May 9-12
• Cactus, Warm - May 14-18
• McKendree, Warm - May 19
• Spooky Tooth - May 22-24
• Mose Jones, Jam Factory - May 28-June 2
• Bonnie Bramlett, Little Feat, Target - June 5-9
• Tim Buckley, Status Quo - June 11-16
• Charlie Daniels Band, NRBQ - June 18-22
• King Crimson, NRBQ - June 23
• Terry Reid, Kudzu - June 25-27
• Manfred Mann, Kudzu - June 28-30
• Tower of Power, Brother Bait - July 2-7
• Chambers Brothers, Stories - July 9-11
• Stories, Mose Jones- July 12-14
• Nitzinger, Warm - July 16-21
• Cactus, Bachman-Turner Overdrive - July 23-28
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Mose Jones (Al Kooper's Sounds of the South label press party) - July 29 
• Mose Jones, Lynyrd Skynyrd - July 30-August 4
• Fanny, Navasota - August 6-8
• Navasota, Dogwood - August 9-11
• Country Joe McDonald & His All Star Band, Elijah - August 13-18
• Freddie King, El Roacho - August 20-25
• Spirit, Warm - August 27-29
• Robin Trower, Warm - August 30-September 1
• Bonnie Bramlett, Lynryd Skynyrd - September 3-5
• Rory Gallagher, Sopwith Camel [One night someone paid Sopwith Camel to play "Hello, Hello" five times.] - September 10-15
• Little Feat, Mother's Finest - September 17-20
• Mother's Finest - September 21-22
• Flo & Eddie, Dogwood - September 24-28
• National Lampoon's Lemmings - September 29
• If, Lynyrd Skynyrd - October 2-6
• Iggy & The Stooges, Hydra [Elton John showed up in a gorilla costume one night.] - October 8-13
• Teenage Lust, REO Speedwagon - October 15-17
• Teenage Lust, Tucky Buzzard - October 18-20
• Fanny, Hookfoot - October 22-25
• Hookfoot - October 26-27
• Cactus, Younguns - October 29-31
• Elvin Bishop, Younguns - November 1-3
• The New York Dolls, Public Foot - November 5-10
• Tim Buckley, Warm - November 13-17
• Chambers Brothers, Mother's Finest - November 19-21
• Captain Beyond, Mother's Finest - November 23-24
• Captain Beyond, Copper Hill - November 26-28
• Buddy Miles, Copper Hill - November 29-December 1
• Frampton's Camel, Law - December 3-5
• Birtha, Law - December 6-8
• Delaney Bramlett, Hall & Oates - December 10-15
• Muddy Waters, Orleans - December 17-22
• Lou Reed, Acrobat - December 26-29
• Captain Beyond, Papa Doc - December 31

1974

• Freddie King, Papa Doc - January 2-5
• Buddy Miles, Steamboat - January 7-9
• Bloodrock, Steamboat - January 10-12
• Chambers Brothers - January 14-16
• Stories, McKendree Spring - January 17-19
• Canned Heat, Texas - January 21-23
• Les Variations, Texas - January 24-26
• Cactus, Mose Jones - January 28-February 2
• Roosevelt Sikes, Big Walter Horton, Robert "Jr" Lockwood - February 4-6
• NRBQ, Bruce Springsteen - February 7-9
• Livingston Taylor, Mike Greene - February 11-13
• If, Mike Greene - February 14-16
• Spirit, 10cc - February 18-20
• 10cc, Mother's Finest - February 21-23
• Soft Machine, Painter - February 25-27
• Charlie Daniels, Painter - February 28-March 2
• Roy Buchanan, Silverhead - March 4-6
• Elvin Bishop, Silverhead - March 7-9
• Bonnie Bramlett, Warm - March 11-16
• Muddy Waters, Average White Band - March 18-23
• Quicksilver Messenger Service, Hall & Oates - March 25-28
• Hall & Oates - March 29-30
• John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon - April 1-6
• Bob Seger, Kathi McDonald - April 8-10
• Bob Seger, BJ Thomas, Kathi McDonald - April 11-13
• Boz Scaggs, Outlaws - April 15-17
• Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes, Outlaws - April 18-20
• Robin Trower, Black Sheep, McKendree Spring - April 22-23
• Grin, McKendree Spring - April 24
• Grin, Law - April 25
• Ballin' Jack, Law - April 26-27
• Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, Steve Ball Band - April 29-May 4 
• Goose Creek Symphony, If, Grinderswitch (benefit for The Great Speckled Bird) - May 6
• If - May 7-8
• Sutherland Brothers & Quiver - May 9-11
• Fairport Convention with Sandy Denny, Thunderhead - May 13-15
• Ray Manzarek, Thunderhead - May 16-18
• Cactus, Flying Saucers - May 20-24
• Sutherland Brothers & Quiver, Flying Saucers - May 25
• Birtha, Larry Raspberry & The High Steppers - May 27-29
• Fanny, Larry Raspberry & The High Steppers - May 31-June 1
• Eric Burdon, Danny Kalb - June 3-8
• McKendree Spring, Bob "Catfish" Hodge - June 10-15
• Spencer Davis, Mose Jones - June 17-19
• Raspberries, Mose Jones - June 20-22
• Strawbs, Texas - June 24-26
• Birtha, Texas - June 27-29
• Elvin Bishop, Dion - July 1-5
• Dion, Dogwood - July 6
• Steeleye Span, Purlee - July 10-13 
• Chris Jagger, Average White Band - July 15-17
• James Montgomery Blues Band, Spencer Davis - July 18-20
• Tony Joe White, Babe Ruth - July 22-27
• Mike Greene Band - July 29-30
• Jobriath - July 31-August 3
• Richie Havens, Steve Barron - August 5-10
• Waylon Jennings, Elf - August 15-17
• Little Feat, Richard Torrance - August 22-24
• Barkays, Larry Raspberry & The High Steppers - August 26-28
• Barkays - August 29-31
• Albert King, Bill Chinook - September 3-7
• Howlin' Wolf, The Elders - September 9-14
• Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Jett Black - September 16
• Jett Black - September 17-18
• Bob Seger, Jett Black - September 19-21
• Birtha, Steve Barron - September 23-27
• Montrose, Larry Raspberry & The High Steppers - September 30-October 2
• Spencer Davis, Judd - October 3-5
• Little Richard - October 7-12
• Muddy Waters, Mighty Joe Young - October 14-19
• Outlaws, Carmen - October 21-23
• Liverpool, Outlaws - October 24-26
• Larry Coryell, Michael Urbaniak - October 28-30
• Wayne Cochran & CC Riders - October 31-November 2
• Captain Beefheart - November 4-6
• Frigid Pink - November 7-9
• Willie Dixon, Bill Chinook - November 11-16
• Grinderswitch, Warm - November 18-23
• Spirit; Dino & Sembello - November 25-27, 29-30
• Montrose, Judd, Stray Dogs - December 2-3
• Average White Band, Judd - December 4-7
• Quicksilver Messenger, Barnaby Bye - December 9-11
• Chambers Brothers, Barnaby Bye - December 12-14
• Bob Seger, Law - December 19-21