I'm Shaking It Boss!

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

   Last week Sue and I were driving out to the Navy base at Millington, just a little north of Memphis, and I saw a bunch of men working by the road that gave me a flashback to my younger days. It was a bunch of convicts picking up trash beside the highway. It is not a long drive but it goes through a very urban area much like the route from Huntsville to Chase. The route is almost all agricultural and mostly the highway is bordered with cotton fields. The group of men could not be ignored. For some odd reason the sight of the convicts reminded me of the chain gangs I used to see in the countryside around Huntsville.

Now these convicts were wearing prisoner garb but not wearing chains, and the man watching them did not wear mirrored sunglasses nor carry a shotgun to keep them from escaping. I have seen similar groups of people picking up litter in my area before. The other groups I saw were made up of people who were caught DUI and their punishment besides a fine was several hours of community service – in these cases, picking up litter.

The men I saw last week were all strung out, walking down each side of the highway filling up garbage bags, similar to the bags I remember cotton pickers using during cotton picking times in Alabama.

What came to my mind was the thought that we are probably the last generation that has or will ever see a true chain gang working with picks and shovels along a highway. I am not advocating for either side of the punishment, but am just commenting that I believe it is a thing in our past which today’s generations would never see the same way we did.

Now I have never been on a chain gang and do not believe I have ever known of a close friend or relative who has. I can’t say the same for people spending time in jail, but I can about someone who has both legs shackled together with chains and is forced to do hard labor in the sun as a form of punishment for a crime.

This week’s question is have you ever seen a real Paul Newman/George Kennedy “Cool Hand Luke” chain gang working on the side of a road or in a field and if so, how long ago did you see it?

"Chain Gang" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke, released on July 26, 1960.

This was Cooke's second-biggest American hit, his first hit single for RCA Victor after leaving Keen Records earlier in 1959, and was also his first top 10 hit since "You Send Me" from 1957, and his second-biggest pop single. The song was inspired after a chance meeting with an actual chain gang of prisoners on a highway, seen while Cooke was on tour.

Thanks to the group of classmates who made the effort to comment on last week's issue

It's been a busy week for me this week. I have worked three 12-hour days as a member of the background talent for NBC's "Young Rock" season three series. I have successfully made it on screen in several shots already and now some of them are not even blurred out and you can even recognize me. This past week I did several shots as a member of the wrestling audience and according to one of the real cast members I will really be seen in a French pub scene with Andre the Giant.

Last Week's Questions, Answers, and Comments

Darla Gentry Steinberg, LHS ‘66, "My mother’s parents were very special to me. They lived in a small cinder block house in Lacey’s Spring at the base of a small rock-covered mountain. My grandfather managed a dairy farm across the road. I had lots of cousins as my mom was one of 8 children. We gathered at Mama’s and Papa’s almost every Saturday. That is also when the “peddler” came in his truck full of goods of all kinds and I sometimes got a box of Cracker Jacks…a real treat! My cousins and I played “house” on the huge rocks in the backyard at the edge of the mountain. And I was lucky enough to get to spend the night at times and sleep in the feather bed between Mama and Papa…best sleep ever. One night the rain was pounding on the tin roof and woke me up…and I remembered I left my doll on my rock “house” and I started crying. My sweet Papa got out of bed and went into the pouring rain and rescued my doll. They were the best!"

Cecilia LeVan Watson, LHS ‘68, "I remember my Granny Tanner lived up on Oakwood. I could walk to her house daily. She was fun and always had a house full . My Granny LeVan was very quiet and loved to sit in her rocking chair and read the Bible.  I hope my grandkids remember our adventures together. I hope they remember our talks and laughs.  My grandkids range from 2 to 17 so it’s wonderful seeing each one finding their joy!"

Johnny Roberts, LHS '66, "Remembering grandparents. I never knew either of my grandfathers as they died before I was born.  My Mother's mother was quite a "proper" lady in my early memories. She was a devout Christian and expected everyone else to be also. She was a teacher and piano player. In her latter years she lived on the campus of an orphanage in Tennessee and taught piano to the kids.

My Dad's mother died in my early years but I very much remember the coffee in the saucer routine, When we visited her everybody there followed suit and drank their coffee from their saucer. She was also a Christian and I'm sure she thought tobacco use was wrong but she was a closet user of snuff. When she was seen with brown stains on her lips, my Dad would tell me it was chocolate. I look forward to seeing both someday soon."

Dianne McClure, LHS ‘64, "My Papa used to drink his coffee from his saucer Sometimes he would pour coffee over biscuits. I ask him once why he poured his coffee in his saucer. He said he did it to cool his coffee because it was too hot to drink. I remember so well watching him drink his coffee from his saucer. I also remember seeing my daddy drink his coffee from his saucer. "

James Wilbourn, LHS ‘65, "Tommy, Your opening memory of your great-grandfather's drinking his coffee from a saucer prompted me to recall my paternal step-grandfather. He had the same habit, which I presumed was to cool the coffee a bit so that it would not burn his mouth, while keeping the remainder of his coffee hotter in its cup.  I knew him for about 10 years before he passed away at age 88, although we were never close.  He and my father were completely opposite in personalities.  My father's real father was struck by lightning when he was three months old. Being the baby of his family and the last connection to their actual father, my dad was spoiled for five years by his mother and five siblings.  When my grandmother re-married in 1918 to a man with five slightly older children, my dad became just one of 11 children who were all expected to pull their weight on the farm where they lived.  I think that my dad resented his step-father for that reason and the fact that my step-grandfather liked to brag about his talents and past exploits, a trait which my father detested..  Although we never did anything together, I came to admire my step-grandfather's knowledge of many trades.  He had his own blacksmith shop, was a fair cobbler (had the lasts and skills to make his family's leather footwear), was a fair carpenter and plumber,  built and operated an electrically driven grist mill, and was a good farmer, all of which served him well in providing for his large family.  When we visited my grandparents, I can remember his sitting in a large chair close to the family radio (a big cabinet one common in the 30's and 40's) with his spitoon tin can always at his side.  As a small child, he would ask me if I knew my ABCs yet,  after which he would quickly recite them to me forward and backward without blinking an eye!"