The National Aquatic Club Dances

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

Aquatic Club – The Aquatic Club was a private swim club located at the corner of Oakwood Avenue and Jordan Lane. It did not hold weekly dances I attended but periodically rented its facilities for some private ones.  It had a dance floor larger than Bradley’s but I don’t believe it was as big as the Armory’s floor. Escoe Germany Beatty says her club once hired the Weejuns out of Florence for a dance they sponsored at the Aquatic Club. “I remember they had a drummer named Jerry.  I can't remember his last name but he sure was cute!” she says.

I personally remember going to two dances there. My date for one night was named Lynn, who was a Butler girl I had met at an earlier dance. The Continentals were the band and I loved to dance to their set of songs.  Nothing eventful really came from the evening that was worth recording in the journal.  That night, that dance, and that girl all became part of the collective memories of all the dances that I ever attended.  It was my only date with her. Another dance I remember was one I attended with Linda Schaffer, LHS '64, as my date, and Jerry and the Ramrods was the live band for the evening. Actually, I really vividly remember taking Linda to the dance but had to rely on my Journal to see which band played. The journal also recorded I went to Rhoper's Flower Shop and picked out Linda's corsage for the dance. They were orchids which cost $5.50.

Another of my favorite songs which the Continentals always featured was their cover of the Sevilles' "Charlena". I once owned a 45rpm record of the song that The Continentals recorded. I bought it from Jerry Brewer for $1.00 but it vanished long ago. If anyone still has a copy of it I would like to know.

The Wayback Machine

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

Once again I am going to ask Mr. Peabody (a.k.a. Amazon Alexa) to play me a song from those days and collect your thoughts about the song. 

So...Mr. Peabody, take us wayback. What is the first song you will play?

"The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. The most successful commercial version was recorded in 1964 by the British rock band The Animals. It was a number-one hit on the UK Singles Chart and in the US and Canada. As a traditional folk song recorded by an electric rock band, it has been described as the "first folk rock hit".

The song was first collected in Appalachia in the 1930s, The Animals had begun featuring their arrangement of "The House of the Rising Sun" during a joint concert tour with Chuck Berry, using it as their closing number to differentiate themselves from acts that always closed with straight rockers.

The song was recorded in just one take on May 18, 1964, and it starts with a now-famous electric guitar A minor chord arpeggio by Hilton Valentine. As recorded, "The House of the Rising Sun" ran four and a half minutes, regarded as far too long for a pop single at the time. In the US, however, the original single (MGM 13264) was a 2:58 version.

Editor's Comments: This song was recorded about two weeks before the Class of '64 graduated from Lee. I first heard it after I had moved to Memphis and was working at a Y.M.C.A. camp at Pickwick Lake. A couple of the counselors had taken their guitars to camp with them and we formed a folk group for the duration of the camp session, and this song became one of our favorites. I don't think the campers grasped the fact that it was a song about a New Orleans house of ill repute. 

Due to issues beyond my control  (problems with internet connection) I have not been able to include the news about the Lee Lunch Bunch get together but I hope to have something about it next week. Also I could not include your submitted comments.

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