The National Guard Armory Dances

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

National Guard Armory – The Armory on Dallas Street (or Patton Street if you prefer) is often remembered for the weekly wrestling matches held there. I spent many nights sitting in the hard seats watching wrestling matches with my grandmother. It was also the location of several dances I attended later in my teenage years. I suppose its biggest draw was that it could hold a lot of people and was probably a cheap hall to rent. The ad above was for a dance on May 28, 1960, featuring Mark Dinning of “Teen Angel” fame. I did not attend this was one, but it proves that shows and dances were held there along with the wrestling matches.

George Vail recalls a memorable time he had while playing with The “IN” at the Fort Raymond Jones Armory when his group backed Ronnie Dove in a performance.  Those were "the good ole’ days". Ronnie played at the "Plush Horse" in the summer of '73. “I was drumming for The Mike Lynn Band at the time and Ronnie and his guitar player remembered me from the Armory gig,” George writes.

It is funny to me, but there are two names I associate with the National Guard Armory: Dag Rowe and Carol Stevens. Carol needed to run an errand in the middle of a dance one night and Dag loaned me his Chevy Super Sport to drive her where she needed to go. Carol had to pay my way back into the dance because they did not let you leave and come back without paying again.

The one song I most associate with the dances at the Armory is "Memphis", done the way Travis Womack did it. I kind of adopted the song since I knew following my graduation I would be moving there. It was almost sad to hear it for the last time I was at a dance in Huntsville, knowing the fate it portrayed for me. It was a swan song in a way for that period of my life.

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 Sound of Silence," originally "The Sounds of Silence," is a song by the American music duo Simon & Garfunkel, and was written by Paul Simon. The duo's studio audition of the song led to a record deal with Columbia Records, and the original acoustic version was recorded in March of 1964 at Columbia Studios in New York City for their debut album, "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." Released on October 19, 1964, the album was a commercial failure and led to the duo disbanding; Simon returned to England, and Art Garfunkel to his studies at Columbia University.

In 1965, the song began to attract airplay at radio stations in Boston and throughout Florida. The growing airplay led Tom Wilson, the song's producer, to remix the track, overdubbing electric instruments and drums. This remixed version was released as a single in September 1965. Simon & Garfunkel were not informed of the song's remix until after its release. The remix hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending January 1, 1966, leading the duo to reunite and hastily record their second album, which Columbia titled "Sounds of Silence" in an attempt to capitalize on the song's success.

 Generally considered a classic folk rock song, the song was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" in 2012. Garfunkel, introducing the song at a live performance (with Simon) in Harlem, June 1966, summed up the song's meaning as "the inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly intentionally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other."

Editor's Comments: Since I started attending Memphis State University in September of 1964, I always associate this song with my college life rather than my high school days. But, since the Classes of 1965 and 1966 were still at Lee, I am sure it is a high school song for them. It is considered a folk song, but to me it did not fit in with those sung by folk groups such as The Kingston Trio, The Chad Mitchell Trio, and The New Christy Minstrels or Peter, Paul, and Mary. 

I hope I am not boring you with my reflections of the dance scene in Huntsville, but aside from roller skating, dancing was the most fun activity in which I participated as a teenager. The dances transformed me from the all-male activities of Scouting to the boy-girl environment of my puberty. My shyness still caused me problems, but eventually I came out of my cocoon and learned to approach girls without fear of rejection.

This week I welcome Barbara Bauknecht Brown, Class of 66, to our group; recruited by Woody Beck, LHS '65.

Copied From a Post on Facebook

by Jim McBride

LHS '65

On May 15th, “Chattahoochee” will be 30 years old. The song Alan and I wrote together that is. The Chattahoochee River is a great deal older. This is the cover of the current Atlanta magazine. It’s the Waterways edition and I was interviewed about the song Alan made famous. Sarah Carter, a wonderful writer at the Country Music Hall of Fame, conducted the interview for Atlanta and wrote the story.

I am very pleased with how it turned out. It’s a pretty cool article you can go online and read. Jeanne and I bought 2 copies at Barnes and Noble ‘cause that’s how we roll. This ole guy is having an extra good year so far. 

Thanks for your time and attention. 

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