Crazy Date Crazy Teens Auction Norton Records Benefit

SILENT AUCTION BENEFIT FOR NORTON RECORDS (VICTIMS OF HURRICANE SANDY)

Hurricane Sandy left many victims in its wake. The Norton Records’ warehouse in Brooklyn was flooded, and most of their stock was destroyed, or severely damaged, as was described on the Nortonville blog in this Huffington Post article.

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SILENT AUCTION FOR SIGNED DAVE REYNOLDS PHOTO AND SIGNED NORTON "CRAZY DATE" 45 OPEN TO BIDS WORLDWIDE FROM 12PM CST DECEMBER 11 to 12 PM CST DECEMBER 18.

FINAL WINNING BID is $235.  Congratulations to the winner, thank you to everyone who participated!!
 
To bid email with the following: your name, bid amount, email address and mailing address, (see bottom of the page for full terms).

Dave Reynolds photo by Susan Reynolds

Dave penned the cult classic rock n' roll song, “Crazy Date” with his sister. The original 45 is insanely rare, recorded at the Scott Recording Laboratory near the Tuscaloosa Airport in 1959.

As they have done for so much other great but hard to find music over their 26 year history, Norton Records reissued “Crazy Date” and helped to get the song into record collections of fans all over the world. Their existing stock of these 45s was damaged, and the sleeves destroyed.

Dave and Susan Reynolds have generously made this possible as a benefit for Norton Records. The photo of Dave is included to verify that he did indeed sign the photo and record.

Dave does not normally do signings, and no future ones are planned, so this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to help Norton Records, and receive a priceless, autographed photo of Dave Reynolds and the Crazy Teens AND autographed copy of the Norton "Crazy Date" 45.

 The 8 1/2 x 11 inch photo is a genuine silver gelatin reprint of high resolution scans of photos from Dave Reynolds' personal collection, signed by him. The 45 is a Norton Records split single with "Crazy Date" by the Crazy Teens on one side and "The Walk" by the Volk Brothers on the other side. The record is in near mint condition with minor sleeve scuffing and the sleeve has slight shelf wear.
 

Click on the photos below to enlarge them.

 By bidding in this auction you are agreeing to the following terms:

1. Bidding opens Tuesday, December 11 at 12:00 PM Central Standard Time. The auction ends on Tuesday, December 18 at 12:00 PM Central Standard Time. No bids will be considered after 12:00 PM December 18. Winning bidder will be notified no later than December 19, the package will be mailed as soon as possible after payment has been received.
2. To bid email with the following: your name, bid amount, email address and mailing address.
3. Minimum bid is $25
4. Bidding is not incremental – meaning the amount you bid is the amount you will pay if you are the highest bidder.
5. You are welcome to bid as many times as you want until the auction end time at 12PM CST on Tuesday December 18th.
6. High bid will be posted as close to 12 PM each day as possible, so check this page for updates.
7. This page may be updated or revised during the auction period.
8. Winning bid and shipping charges must be paid in US Dollars via Paypal.
9. Shipping charges will be added to the winning bid as follows:
   • USA Winner adds $5.90 for USPS Priority shipping, $5.75 First-Class International to Canada and $11.60 First-Class International everywhere else. ITALIAN BIDDERS: Shipping to Italy requires Express Mail for $40.00. Shipping to Italy is EMS-only for $40.00.
   • INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING: If the package is valued at $50.00 or more, or if you are in any country in Africa/China/Southeast Asia, the package must be sent First-Class International ($11.60) AND registered for an additional $11.99. If the package is valued at $100.00 or more, then it must be shipped Express Mail for $40.00. Shipping to Italy is EMS only.
   • Please be advised that full value will be declared on all customs forms - to declare a lower value or declare a package as a "gift" as this is illegal with severe penalties. Customers are responsible for any taxes or tariffs levied upon their purchase by their local customs office and are not included in the shipping charge.

ALL PROCEEDS GO TO NORTON RECORDS
Special thanks to Lars Espensen, George Hadjidakas, Dave and Susan Reynolds and Lori Watts.

"An Evening of American Music" on Friday October 14th 2011

The Green Bar in Tuscaloosa will be hosting "An Evening of American Music" on Friday October 14th as part of the University of Alabama American Studies Department's 50th Anniversary celebration. Tuscaloosa's own Midnight Mayor, Craig "Sweet Dog" Pickering put together the show for the AMS Undergraduate Club. It will feature AMS All-Stars – Alumni & Friends as well as gospel great Reverend John Wilkins (son of the legendary blues and gospel musician Robert Wilkins); Louisiana's Jay Chevalier who is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and was named “Official State Troubadour” by an act of the Louisiana Legislature in 2006.

Michael Hurtt and his Haunted Hearts are a favorite of everyone from Lazy Lester to the late, great Hunter S. Thompson, the Haunted Hearts convened in 2003 with the sole purpose of single-handedly resurrecting New Orleans' once rich, now nearly invisible hillbilly music heritage. The Haunted Hearts will follow Reverend Wilkins and will back up Jay Chevalier.

Thanks to the American Studies Department this event is free of charge! Green Bar is located at 2209 4th St, Tuscaloosa, AL

Here's the schedule:

8:00pm – AMS All-Stars – Alumni & Friends

8:30pm – Reverend John Wilkins

9:30pm– The Haunted Hearts

10:15pm – Jay Chevalier

More Information on the artists:
Reverend John Wilkins
Michael Hurtt and His Haunted Hearts
Jay Chevalier

Announcing the launch of Vinyl Showdown

Many Tuscaloosans and passers-through remember the Vinyl Solution record store as a great place to hang out with friends and listen to records for nearly 25 years.  In that spirit George and I have teamed up as DJ's Zeus the Rock and Roll God and Tom Kat Kitten and we'll be spinning some of our fav vinyl gems at Egan's Bar for your listening and dancing pleasure.

Check our new blog Vinyl Showdown to find out more about what we're laying down and for gig dates in Central Alabama!

Vinyl Riot on the Strip - August 19

George and I will be spinning some of our fave garage, rockabilly, and hillbilly bop records Thursday night at Egan's starting around 10:30 PM.

Plus check out the premier performance of Tuscaloosa's raunch and roll band, The Original Shake Charmers featuring Ronnie Lee Gipson on guitar, Big Jim Parker on saxophone, Michael Ray on drums and Jeff Waites on bass.

Dale Beavers @ Egan's in Tuscaloosa April 29

Dale Beavers, Duende and Christian Beshore will be puttin' on a show at Egan's in Tuscaloosa on Thursday, April 29, 2010.

Dale Beavers
The child of a Honky Tonk bar owner and a Baptist piano player, Arkansas born Dale "The Polecat" Beavers was raised knowing the differences between sin & redemption and has been dealing with the conflicts of it ever since. His musical travels have found him playing & recording with blues, soul and rock-n-roll legends such as Junior Kimbrough, Dale Hawkins and Nathaniel Mayer. He now calls Michigan home and recently was named best blues artist in Real Detroit Weekly
-http://smashintransistors.blogspot.com

For more info on Dale go to:Myspace Facebook

Duende
"You're in for a wild Western psychedelic sonic ride thru the streets of Detroit when DUENDE! takes the stage. This Motor City five have been taking their show on the road and introducing others to their brand of dark Americana rock"
- Detroit's CITYFEST performers guide 2008

For more info on Duende go to:Myspace Facebook Twitter

Christian Beshore
Pennsylvania's Christian Beshore is a genre-bending One-Man-Band. Though the music is stripped down, with simple instrumentation, many don’t believe all that sound is coming from one person. You might call it Hound Dog Taylor meets Jack White. Or, Tom Waits’ and P.J. Harvey’s love child. With just his voice, a three string guitar, kick drum and hi-hat, his music stands firmly on its own.
-http://smashintransistors.blogspot.com

For more info on Christian Beshore go to:Christian's Website Myspace Facebook

They'll also be at the Mother in Law Lounge in New Orleans on April 30th, and at Murphy's in Memphis on May 1st.

William Raymond Peitsch, 1962-2007

It's been a year since Bill Peitsch split from this mortal coil. He was the most astounding person I'd ever met - smart, fun, irreverent as hell and intensely generous to his friends. He loved turning them on to music, books, people and to escapades that no one else would have thought up.

I met Bill in 1983, my freshman year at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. With a toothy grin he immediately pointed out to me that he was offered a scholarship to study engineering at the university without ever having graduated high school. Never much for doing things people expected him to, he didn't bother to finish his senior year of college either. His cabinets were filled exclusively with Rice-A-Roni that his mother had sent him. "The San Francisco Treat" he would say, holding the box up to next to his face as if it needed a mocking endorsement before he opened it and dumped it into a skillet. And he drove an orange Ford Pinto, the car that would blow up if hit from behind.

Bill showed me a lot of new things about the town where I'd lived my whole life. Climbing up to the roof of the tallest building on a rusty fire escape to take a look around, going into a church at midnight to play the pipe organ, hanging out with Rooster, the belligerent double amputee who'd lost his arms while drunk at the lumber mill. All the work of Bill. He had the same attitude when he was in his native Detroit or in New York City. He owned the place and would be happy to show you around.

He was especially fond of one of his Tuscaloosa neighbors, Charles Swain, a paranoid schizophrenic who'd been given a community placement at a house in the student ghetto. Charles had a yellow Cadillac that he wasn't allowed to drive, three refrigerators, a couple of guitars and a drum set. Bill knew the words to all the the songs Charles had written and Bill was the only person ever allowed to play (or even touch) his drums. Another of his neighbors, a woman with young kids, was at her front window one evening, fighting with a man who was smashing his fists on her door and screaming threats. She told him to leave, which he didn't. "Do you want me to call the cops?" Bill yelled across the street. She nodded yes and he did. "Watch, it'll take them an hour to get here", he said disgustedly. It did take about an hour but the man decided to leave shortly after Bill's intervention. Bill then sat on his stoop watching her house until the police got there.

Bill spent the later half of his life living in New York City, playing drums and singing in rock and roll bands including the Church Keys and Purple Wizard, and generally making himself a legend in his own time. You can find some stories from that part of his life on Jim Marshall's The Hound Blog. Bill's dear friend from childhood on, Dan Rose, has posted an extensive memorial page on his Wayne County Ramblin' site. Dan's memorial has photographs from throughout Bill's life, including some of his wife Andrea and their children Wendy Jean and Billy Ray Jr.


The photo above was taken by Heidi Machen in 1983.