The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 35

"3 Matter of Taste 2D Billboard chart 6 THE MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1991 PAGE ID IK Billy Joe Royal has come back from the 'Boondocks' ager with a top-10 tune called "Down in the Boondocks." Rick Harmon Two decades later, that's where he found himself performing. After having a series of hits in the '60s, his struggling career saw the '70 and '80s take him from posh but plastic Las Vegas ballrooms to "total ratholes." ing in his music. He never stopped believing his music would take him someplace better. It has. It's taken him to the country charts, and nine top-15 country singles later, he can still hardly believe it.

Taking permanent residence on the country charts is not so much a culmination of the singer's plans as much as of the singer's dreams. "I might have dreamed it would go this well, but I never would have thought it would turn out this well," he said, during a telephone interview. "I never would have really believed I could get back on the charts and get away with it by doing the type of music I do best the type I've always loved." To Mr. Royal, the reason why it happened is simple. "I guess I've always been lucky," he said.

But many would say luck had nothing to do with it. Even before he hit the charts as a teen-ager, the singer had paid his dues, appearing on radio with his uncle's band, The Smith Brothers, since he was 11. Working for the "Georgia Jubilee," a music show that also featured Ray Ste Please tee ROYAL, 4D The singer has had nine top-15 country hits since signing with Atlantic Records By RICK HARMON Advertiser Staff Writer "I don't want to be too syrupy about it or anything, but I do want to just tell people I'm thankful for what has happened" Billy Joe Royal says. What happened to Mr. Royal was a musical rebirth.

More than a quarter-century ago, he burst onto the charts as aGeorgia teen Royal Through the hard times, Mr. Royal never stopped believ- X. i i -V-v 5 i I i i 1 i i i PLACES Capital City singer sails with Pirates Pirates of the Mississippi and its lead singer, Bill McCorvey, are following their successsful first album with a second album due out in September By RICK HARMON Advertiser Staff Writer The Pirates of the Mississippi, from left, are Jimmy Lowe, Dean Townson, Bill McCorvey, Pat Severs, Rich Alves After years of having their hopes scuttled while attacking a seemingly unassailable country music industry, The Pirates of the Mississippi's search for gold seems near an end. Led by Montgomerian Bill McCorvey, who is the group's lead singer, The Pirates of the Mississippi are taking the country charts by storm. The first album by the Pirates, Chosen New Country Group of the Year by the Country Music Association, has sold more than 300,000 copies, and the group believes its second album, to be released in September, "Pirates of the Mississippi Walk the Plank," will do even better.

A few years ago, Mr. McCorvey's career was not exactly sailing along. a call to show up at a Nashville warehouse and stuff as many fliers as you could." Please see PIRATES, 40 "When I first got to Nashville, I worked construction," the 1977 Central Alabama Academy graduate said during a telephone interview. "Later, I stuffed envelopes. You'd get New country music club starts strong Billy Joe Royal won't hit town until next week, but Nashville Showcase owner Barry Brown has already been getting a larger turnout than have some Montgomery concerts.

"We almost maxed out Friday night and totally maxed out Saturday," said the owner of the country music club that opened last week. "We probably had as many as 1,100 people here at one time or another Saturday. "It was a good opening weekend for us. Things went smoothly despite us having some inexperienced people. We left the weekend feeling very good about the place because other people were feeling good about it." While country music fans have had little trouble making up their minds about the Nashville Showcase, cable subscribers have had a harder time deciding whether to subscribe to Encore.

My personal decision was a somewhat-leery, for-now yes. Encore shows uncut movies that it says are from "the '60s, '70s and '80s," but you may have noticed that in its first month it has already reached beyond that description to fill its lineup. English director Carol Reed's circus soap opera "Trapeze," was shown on Encore in both June and July, but the film, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Gina Lollobrigida, was released in 1956. Personally, I don't care about the years. I'd prefer it if Encore showed films from the '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s and showed either better films or just more of them than it shows now.

What makes me leery about Encore showing a 1950s film in its first month of operation when it says it will show films of the '60s, '70s and '80s is that it makes you wonder how big its film library is and how often some movies will be repeated each year. What has won me over, despite this, is that the channel features some excellent commentaries on the films it is showing The commentary before "In Cold Blood" was particularly interesting and that it only costs $1. For now, it's worth $1 just to have another uncut movie option, even if most of the films Encore is showing have already been shown on Cinemax or HBO. What eventually will determine whether I keep Encore or drop it will be its lineup during the next few months. If Encore offers completely different movies each month, I'll probably keep it unless the price goes up.

If Encore keeps repeating "9 lo 5" and "The Man Who Loved Women," even $1 will be too much. There is great news for fans of vintage TV animation and science fiction. Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. Squirrel, known'to friends and fanatics as simply Bull-winkle and Rocky are back on TV.

The pair, along with Fractured Fairy Tales, Peabody and his boy, Sherman, and the illustrious Dudley Do-Right of the Moun-ties has found a home on WCOV TV-20. The station has been showing vintage episodes of the show for a while now, but they've been shown on an irregular we've-got-some-time-to-fill-after-the-movie basis. But WCOV will give the classic scries its own well-deserved time period starting Saturday. That's the good news. The bad news is that the time period the show is being given is Saturdays at 6 a.m.

Thank goodness for VCRs. Also, Saturday night, science fiction fans will be able to turn to TNT and then find there is nothing wrong with their television sets and that they do not need to attempt to adjust the pic-lures because the station will be taking them to "The Outer Limits." TNT plans a nine-hour marathon of the science fiction classic that originally ran in the early '60s, but has never stopped airing in syndication since its January 1965 cancellation. The nine episodes will run between 7 p.m. and 4:40 a.m. 'Bill Ted' gain gimmicks but lose warmth in seque By RICK HARMON Advertiser Staff Writer REVIEW "Bill ft Ted's Bogus Journey" Is playing at the Carmike 8.

Showtimes are 2, 4:30, 7 and 9:30 p.m 'y i 1 I 4 I I I i JULY 27 The Parents Without Partners will hold an orientation session from 3 to 4 p.m. at Coder's Pond in Prattville. For more information, call 271-2531. The Pike Road Community Club is having its annual Steak Dinner for adults at 7 p.m. at the Marks House.

Bring your own steaks and the rest will be provided. To reserve your "tater," call 288-9375 or 277-9989 by noon July 26. JULY 29 Auburn University at Montgomery will present Dr. Kenneth W. Davis, a world-renowned scholar of folklore and cowboys, who will give a special lecture on "Laughter in the Contemporary American West: Modern and Traditional Comic Element," in room 109 Goodwyn Hall at 7 p.m.

The public is invited to the free lecture. Like many films, "Bill Ted's Bogus Journey" goes to hell after about the first 20 minutes. Unlike most movies, that's when this one starts getting good. In 1989's "Bill Ted's Excellent Adventure," two teen-age, air-headed, Valley-dude musicians had an adventure through time so that they could pass their high school history exams. In the sequel, Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) don't pass history.

They become history. A future dictator and former gym coach (why are we not surprised) decides to send killer robots that look like Bill and Ted through time to kill the real Bill and Ted, ruin their reputations and keep them from being the sources of inspiration for a future society that views them as two of history's most excellent esteemed dudes. Bill and Ted are killed during the first 20 minutes of the sequel, after which the press book synopsis says they are whisked "to hell, heaven and beyond as they attempt to outwit their twisted alter egos, regain their lives, save their princess babes, protect future generations from the forces of evil and, of course, win The Battle of the Bands." It is a tribute to the lunacy of the film that this synopsis is an accurate one. But the lunacy that powers "Bill Ted's Bogus Journey" is Please see SEQUEL, 4D Alex Winter, left, Keanu Reeves and William Sadler star in 'Bill Ted's Bogus Journey' Chewacla park offers serenity not far from comforts of city life By RICK HARMON Advertiser Stalf Writer state parks in Alabama, you leave the city behind in the park known for its hiking trails and a picturesque waterfall named the Che wacla Dam Waterfall. JJecliend Getaway AUBURN There are those who like to get away on the weekends, to explore the outdoors and to leave city life behind.

Others prefer restful weekends free of long drives that take them far away from the comforts of home and city life. Chewacla State Park is the perfect compromise. Located off U.S. Highway 29 near Interstate 85, the Probably, the most popular part of the park is its lakefront beach, where there is supervised swimming. For $4, you can also rent canoes and peddle boats.

There is a campground and five furnished cabins, all of which stay full most of the time, said resort worker Sr Photo courtosy Alabama Buraau ol Tourlam and Travol Chewacla Dam Waterfall Vivian Cooper. park is only a little more than a 45-minute drive from Montgomery. But once you enter the 696-acre park, one of 24 Please see CHEWACLA, 40 J..