Have music, will travel

By Cindy Landrum  

JANUARY 6, 2011 12:02 p.m. (0)

Spartanburg’s musical heritage did not start or stop with the Marshall Tucker Band.

While the band is arguably the headliner of the influential musical acts to come from Spartanburg, it is by far not the only one that has gone on to national or international prominence.

“Spartanburg may have more musical talent per capita than anywhere,” said Peter Cooper, a Nashville singer-songwriter and author of “Hub City Music Makers: One Southern Town’s Popular Music Legacy.” “It’s not like all the magic is gone and it’s all history. It’s certainly not limited to the 1970s.”

And, Cooper said, there are many more up and coming musicians – like Matthew Knight Williams, Shane Pruitt and Brandon Turner – ready to make their marks.

“They’re not using their music to get out of town. They’re staying there and doing great things which ensures the music trail will get longer and longer.”

The Spartanburg Music Trail will be unveiled at the end of January following a month-long series of events honoring the area’s music heritage.

The Hub City Writers Project, Hub-Bub, the City of Spartanburg, the Humanities Council, the Arts Partnership and the Spartanburg Convention and Visitor’s Bureau sponsor the Spartanburg Music Trail.

After Cooper’s book was published in 1997, talk started about how Spartanburg could more vividly recognize a group of musicians who had national and international impact on music.

The city of Spartanburg is paying for the signs that will go up around downtown. The 5-foot tall markers will tell the story of the musicians who are part of the trail. The tour will have an audio component so visitors can dial a number from their cell phone and hear music from the honoree.

The initial honorees include a dozen musicians who are either deceased or are bands that no longer perform in their initial makeup.

In the 1970s, Spartanburg was home to the Marshall Tucker Band, Marshall Chapman, Uncle Walt’s Band and David Ezell, all big names in the music industry.

“They were influencing each other and, more importantly, inspiring each other,” Cooper said.

The Marshall Tucker Band was introduced every night as being from Spartanburg, South Carolina.

“Rolling Stone had to come here to talk to them,” Cooper said. “It’s hard to imagine now, but a band that was touring internationally came home to Spartanburg. They did it because they loved the town.”

Two other 1970s musicians are also among the first dozen musicians – Champ Hood and Walt Hyatt, both founding members of Uncle Walt’s Band. While in Austin, Texas, Hyatt had a formative influence on performers such as Shawn Colvin, Jimmy Dale Gilmore and Lyle Lovett.Hood, called one of the most talented sidemen anywhere, is a member of the Texas Music Hall of Fame.

The other musicians, while maybe not as well known among current Spartanburg residents, were all as equally influential.

“Singing Billy” Walker changed how people sang together, Cooper said. Walker used a novice-friendly shape note system that allowed choirs to learn to harmonize in church without having to learn how to read music.

“Singing harmonies is now a part of country music, it’s part of folk music and it’s part of rock and roll music,” Cooper said. “It’s part of every music.”

Clara Smith was known as the “Queen of the Moaners” and was one of the best-known female blues singers in the 1920s.

Pink Anderson, a great bluesman, is perhaps best known now for being 50 percent of the inspiration for the name of the rock band, Pink Floyd. The other was Floyd Council, a blues singer from Georgia.

Johnny Blowers was a drummer who played on Frank Sinatra classics “Night and Day,” “All of Me,” and “I’ve Got a Crush on You.”

Ira Tucker, the front man of the Dixie Hummingbirds, influenced James Brown, David Ruffin, Al Green, BB King and Stevie Wonder.

“Without Ira Tucker, Stevie Wonder wouldn’t have been Stevie Wonder,” Cooper said.

Don Reno was a banjo player and one of the founding figures in bluegrass music.

Arthur Prysock was a prolific jazz and rhythm and blues singer.

Hank Garland was a guitarist featured on dozens of country and rock hits in the 1940s, 50s and early 60s, including those of Elvis, Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee.

The Blue Ridge Quartet is a gospel group that recorded more than 100 albums and had a nationally-syndicated radio show.

Betsy Teter, head of Hub City Culture, said plans are to add musicians to the Music Trail.

“There are more recognizable names not on the trail such as Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones, Carlos Mosely and Marshall Chapman,” she said. “We know of at least 12 others of stature that need to be honored in the future.”

Emily Neely, who taught Southern music traditions, said Spartanburg’s mill history and center as a railroad hub probably contributed to the city’s musical heritage. The city also had the influence of Converse College, giving it a classical tradition as well.

Music was something people did not to become famous, but to entertain themselves, Cooper said.

“Some folks are bound to get awfully good,” he said. “Great music breeds great music.”

Cooper said it would be hard to find another city that has had musicians have such an influence on so many different genres.

“A lot of Spartanburg’s musical impact has been under the radar,” Cooper said. “That’s radar’s problem, not Spartanburg’s.”

 

Want to go?

Spartanburg Music Trail

Several events are scheduled in January as a celebration of the Spartanburg Music Trail, a trail of downtown locations honoring prominent musicians who have lived in Spartanburg.

All of the events will be held at the Showroom.

Jan. 7 – The New Generation Music Show, featuring Sing Sing 76 and other Spartanburg bands, 8 p.m., $8.

Jan. 8 – Movie, “Crazy,” a feature film based on the life of Hank Garland, 7:30 p.m., free.

Jan. 14 – Concert: Shane Pruitt Band and guests, time TBA, $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

Jan. 19 – The Music Trail Concert: Contemporary Artists Salute Spartanburg Music History, songs from the 12 inductees performed by local musicians, 7:30 p.m., $10.

Jan. 22 – Uncle Walt’s Band Revisited, the band’s songs performed by members of the Waybacks and the Belleville Outfit, time and cost, TBA.

Jan. 28 – Concert: Peter Cooper and Friends, a performance by the Nashville singer/songwriter who authored “Hub City Music Makers,” 8:30 p.m., $10 in advance.

Jan. 29 – Unveiling of signs downtown, begins at the corner of West Main St. and South Daniel Morgan Ave., noon to 2 p.m., free.

Jan. 29 – “Hub City Music Seen”: A retrospective in film and conversation, rare or remarkable film clips of the Marshall Tucker Band, Dixie Hummingbirds, The Sparkletones, Peg Leg Sam and Uncle Walt’s Band. Panel: Paul Riddle, Joe Bennett, Freddie Vanderford, Peter Cooper and others, 8 p.m., free.