The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 38

Tl fcxitgpmery Adaliser PAGE 4D FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1991 iei.V "T'-i "rf, Pirates Continued from "ID Construction and envelope stuffing may not sound lucrative but he had to take a pay cut when he finally got a job in music. Rich Alves, a friend who would become the group's lead guitar player, talked a Nashville music company into signing Mr. McCor-vey as a "specific writer." that means is you would write for a specific artist," said Mr. McCorvey. "Say Conway Twitty finishes an album, but decides he still needs two up-tempo songs for it.

"We would all sit down and try and write an up-tempo song specifically to fill that spot. Sometimes they'd use it. Most of the time they wouldn't. It got discouraging, but once music is in your blood there's not much you can do about it." During this time, the two musicians were writing a lot of songs that they knew "no one like Conway Twitty would ever touch," so they decided to play the tunes themselves. They recruited drummer Jimmy Lowe, bass player Dean Townson and steel guitar player Pat Severs, and The Pirates of the Mississippi well, actually, The Cloggers, were born.

"We were called The Cloggers for about a year and a half," said the musician, who used to play at the Embers and at the Gambler with the group Magnum. "It's probably a good thing we changed our name when we did. People used to call the clubs where we were playing and ask who was performing. When the club said it was The Cloggers, they'd ask if the club had a band or just those dancers." The group was eventually discovered while playing at the Smyrna Veterans of Foreign Wars hall and were signed by Nashville producer James Stroud "almost on the spot." "I think the key was for people to see us play live," said Mr. McCorvey.

"A lot of people can play music live, but not on tape "We were all pretty raw musicians, not the real trained type who knew a lot about recording in the studio. The only thing we knew about and wanted to accomplish was to put our different styles together and sound like a band, which is what we did." been released then if Universal Records, the company that first signed them, hadn't been absorbed by Capitol causing the album to be delayed. The result was that the Kentucky Headhunters' album was released eight months before The Pirates of the Mississippi's recording hit music stores. It may have worked out for the best, Mr. McCorvey said.

"There's no question The Headhunters probably opened a lot of doors for us," he said. In fact, he says not just the album's delay, but the years the band spent struggling to get a record contract may have been a blessing in disguise. "I'm not sure we would have made it if we would have gotten signed much earlier," he said. "In fact, I kind of doubt it. I'm not sure country music was ready for a group like this yet.

"But while we were struggling, Alabama kind of got the ball rolling for country groups, and the country charts expanded to include a wider variety of music." The charts have definitely expanded to accept the Pirates of the Mississippi, and Mr. McCorvey believes the charts and the country music fans upon whom they are based will accept the group's second album even more readily than they accepted the first. "The songs on this one are stronger than our first, and I think it even has more of a live feel to it," he said. "Whatever it is, I think this one sounds even better than the first one did. "This one has a love ballad and it rocks more than the first one even though it also seems to have more country on it." But no matter how big The Pirates of the Mississippi become, Mr.

McCorvey says he isn't about to forget where he came from. "I think we've had about 10 days off since we began touring in August 1990, but I make sure I get back to Montgomery when I can. "I still have a lot of friends who are musicians there." He says Montgomery is also where his biggest fans are his family. The singer and guitarist said he particularly looks forward to seeing his smallest, biggest fan his soon-to-be-9-year-old daughter Evan. After the group was signed, it took a new name from a song the group had written years before about its drummer, who seemed as if he should have been born a buccaneer.

The song was "Jolly RogerPirates of the Mississippi." "By this time, we had a list of names a mile long, and James Stroud said why don't you name the group after that Pirate song you do," Mr. McCorvey said. "By then, we were so tired of debating names, we all just said 'Hey, that sounds While that song gave the group its name, it was an old Hank Williams tune that gave it its first hit. "It was kind of ironic that 'Honky Tonk Blues' became our first hit because it was the first song we ever played together," Mr. McCorvey said.

"It was just a good opening song to get the crowd going. "In fact, when we thought we'd finished the album, 'Honky Tonk Blues' wasn't on it. After we were told the album was good, but that it just didn't seem to have that initial single we needed, we went back and recorded 'Honky Tonk The group's sound is an amalgamation of styles as diverse as Led Zeppelin heavy metal and Happy Goodman Family gospel. The result is a smoldering boogie that sounds the same on record as it does live. The group's combination of rock, country, gospel and blues, the resulting back-to-the-roots country-rock boogie and the band's selection as New Country Group of the Year all lead to comparisons with The Kentucky Headhunters.

Mr. McCorvey doesn't mind the comparisons. "Being compared with The Headhunters is pretty good company to be put in," he said. "We're all good friends, and they are a great band." But it does bother him that some country listeners think the Pirates of the Mississippi were influenced by The Headhunters' style. "We were probably influenced by many of the same styles, but we weren't influenced by each other," he said.

"Our album was done long before theirs was released." The Pirates' album was finished in 1988, and would have Concert tonight In last week's concert list the date and time for night at 9 p.m. at Six Flags Over Georgia's the Widespread Panic and Connells concert at Southern Star Amphitheatre. Tickets are free- Oak Mountain Amphitheater was incorrect, with park admission. For more information, call Widespread Panic and the Connells perform to- (404)948-9290. 800-683-1996.

ATLANTA Lakewood Amphitheater: Jimmy Buffet Aug. 4 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $24.50 and $20.50. Bad Company Aug. 8 at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $15.96. Hall and Oats Aug. 10 p.m. Van Halen and Alice in Chains Aug. 6 at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $22.50 and $18.50 and go on sale July 20. Huey Lewis and the News Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. Tickets are" $21.50 and $15. Sting Sept.

21 at 8 p.m" Tickets are $24.50 and $15.50. Alabama Sept. 22 at 8 p.m.-Tickets are $22.50 and $18. Tom Petty Oct. 19 at 8 p.m.

For information, call (404) 249-6400. Aug. 10. Tickets go on sale today. Bad Company and Damn Yankees Sept.

10. Huey Lewis and the News Sept. 11 at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale July 29. Gordon Lightfoot Sept.

13. Paul Simon Sept. 21. Sting Sept. 24.

Tickets go on sale Aug. 5. Randy Travis Oct. 11. Tom Petty Oct.

17. Tickets for Oak Mountain Amphitheater shows go on sale 3-4 weeks prior to performances. For tickets and additional information, call FASTIX at 1-800-277-1700. MOBILE Civic Center Arena: The Club MTV Tour featuring Bell Biv Devoe, Music Factory and Gerardo Saturday at 7 p.m. For information, call 1- CONCERTS MONTGOMERY 1048 Jazz and Blues Club: Blues Old Stand Tonight and Saturday at 9:30 p.m.

Cover: $4.. For more information, call 834-1048. Coconut Bay: McQueen Street and 4 a.m. Tonight at 10:30 p.m. 4 a.m.

Saturday at 10:30 p.m. For more information, call 271-2244. BIRMINGHAM Oak Mountain Amphitheater: INXS Tonight at 8 p.m. CANCELLED. Hank Williams Jr.

Aug. 2. Amy Grant Aug. 6. Jimmy Buffet Aug.

7. Lawn tickets still available. Steel Pulse and Jimmy Cliff Chewacla Continued from 1D There are other park attractions a mountain bike trail, picnic pavilions, a play-ground and fishing which includes large-mouth bass, crappie, bream and catfish. But the park, open daily all-year-round, has something to offer that isn't on the brochures, said Ms. Cooper.

"This is a customer-friendly park," she said. "There are a lot of big parks where the people who work there are too busy to spend much time with visitors. "This is smaller, and we have more time to help people." The "down-home" service extends from giving children park pins so that they can be junior rangers to taking visitors on tree identification trails, giving children corn to feed the park's Canada geese and mallards and helping visitors find the best local food or historic sites. Entering Chewacla, you may leave the city behind, but not far behind. Auburn is located barely three miles north of the park.

"We're maybe five minutes from town," said Ms. Cooper. She said this means a woman can go camping, get her hair done and be back camping within an hour or that people can take an hour out to get any type of lunch they want and then comeback. The park, built by workers in the Civilian Conservation Corps program during the Depression, includes a 26-acre lake and lies on a fall line separating the Piedmont Plateau from the Lower Tvictorin Imagine h(1 better than you ever thought possible. Filled I World Famous Psychic You don have to be I lonely or sad or urthap- I py.

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(Look lor Victoria's Sign) AL a 1:00 a.m. 10 9:00 p.m. OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK rf.H ecv Get a '25 tesslon sy- For "lO with thitAdj s325! 00 'per week Unlimited Miles cars like this Ext Mini Van. Royal Continued from 1D vens and Jerry Reed, Mr. Royal found himself rooming in a $7-a-week boarding house with another musical hopeful, songwriter guitarist Joe South.

"We saved just about all the money we earned until finally we took a train called the Nancy Hanks to Atlanta and had a real recording session. "What we recorded was pretty awful, but back then we thought it was great." If they thought it was great, they weren't alone. Nashville producer Bill Lowery heard the songs they had recorded, and eventually Mr. Royal wound up recording the Top-40 hits "Down in the Boondocks," "I Knew You When" and "I've Got to be Somebody." The mid-'60s were the good times, and the singer doesn't regret anything about them. "It's hard to imagine now how wonderful it was," he said.

"Motown was kicking in. The British invasion was on. It was just a wonderful time to be in music." But in 1969, "Cherry Hill Park" was the singer's last top-40 pop hit, and the next two decades found him desperately trying to keep his musical career alive. Through most of the '70s, he was singing in Las Vegas' lounges and hating it. "It's a whole different world there," he said.

"I mean I'd do my act in a tuxedo, and they had an arranger doing these big arrangements of schmaltzy songs Sequel Continued from 1D premeditated lunacy, which is both a strength and weakness of the film. The original film's humor was like a whoopee cushion unexpected, spontaneous, innocent and surprisingly funny. "Bill Ted's Bogus Journey" is a much more ambitious and clever film than the original, but perhaps because of this, it is less spontaneous and innocent. The result is a film that substitutes genius for warmth. "Before Tina Turner made her comeback, she tried to make it in Nashville and couldn't get arrested here," he said.

"Sometimes, the music people here can't see past the city limits." Compounding the problem was that Mr. Royal didn't just want to record what others thought would be popular. "I didn't want to compromise what I do," he said. "I wanted to sing the same type of music I'd loved in the '60s, but all the songs that were pitched to me in Nashville were real country." Finally, he found what he thought was the perfect song, "Burned Like a Rocket," by former Pure Prairie League member Gary Burr. The song's success was cut short by the Space Shuttle Tragedy, which caused the tune with a now inappropriate title to plummet from the country charts.

But it did get him a label deal and the chance at a new career that he had sought for so long. That was enough. Since then, his three albums on Atlantic Records have yielded nine top-15 country hits, and the last album, "The Royal Treatment," went gold. For his next album, he's coming to Alabama's Muscle Shoals studios to further combine and country. The singer doesn't even talk about the possibilities of an song crossing over into the pop charts.

"Look, I wouldn't hate it if it happened," he said. "But I've got to tell you, I'm real happy just being where I am." whom Bill and Ted recruit from heaven to help build robots to destroy the Bill and Ted killer robots on Earth, is a great special effect, but a rotten character. Although we admire the technical expertise required to create it, the character simply isn't funny, giving us the strange desire to switch Stations at the movies. The bottom line is that this comedy, which was originally to be titled "Bill Ted Go to Hell," is funny enough, but should be a lot warmer given the circumstances. The film is rated PG.

I still have trouble believing I actually sang," he said. "It was real plastic, but that's what they wanted from me, and I needed to make a living." Near the end of the '70s, even his career in lounges, singing at The Flamingo and the Sahara Tahoe, was on the wane. From there, it only got worse. "In 1984, said enough was enough I either had to get a real job or go for broke," he said. He decided to go for broke.

"Finally, I just quit everything and started taking any job I could get in any rathole club that would take me, and there were some real rathole clubs that did," he said. "It was lounge stuff. It was real depressing, but it was money." Like a lot of musicians, he needed money to support his habit. Unlike some, the habit he was supporting was his music. Every cent he could save, he put into attempts to rekindle his career and to prove that there was still a market for the pop songs he loved.

The renewed success of artists that were peers in the '60s, such as Kenny Rogers, Bill Medley and B.J. Thomas, convinced him to head to Nashville. "I used all the money I'd saved to try and break in Nashville," he said. "But it had been 15 years without a hit record and that had been in another field of "I'd tell people I thought my music could still be popular, and they were like 'What are you talking It was discouraging, but he wouldn't give up. There are scenes in "Bill Ted's Bogus Journey" that are as funny as any in the original, perhaps funnier.

The Grim Reaper, played wonderfully by William Sadler who was the head terrorist in "Die Hard II," is obviously based on Death from Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal." Many of the scenes that feature him are some of the best in the film. One of the best features death playing Bill and Ted in games of "Battleship" and "Twister" for their souls. While Death adds life to the film, Station, a Martian scientist 3332 ATLANTAHIGHWAY MONTGOMERY, AL 361 09 -800-359-7557 277-7910 OUR NEW FACTORY SHOWROOM" Hours: Chewacla is open 7 days a week, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m.

to 6 p.m. on weekends. Admission and costs: $1 for adults and teen-agers, 50 cents for children 6-11 and free for children under 6. Swimming and hiking are free. There is a $4 charge for canoes and paddle boats.

An Alabama State Fishing License is required, but fishing permits are available at a daily rate. Food: The food available in the park is minimal, consisting entirely of the snacks and drinks available from several vending machines, but visitors are encouraged to brink pic Coastal Plain. But Ms. Cooper says the main thing Chewacla has to offer is its down-home atmosphere. "It's wonderful having the time to show people things, especially children," she said.

"Lots of kids just don't get the chance to see nature anymore. Crystal Repair SEEUS DURING THE ANTIQUE SHOW AT MONTGOMERY MALL JULY 26-28 Vinyl Siding 100 Financing Available-No Obligation 263-9381 or 1 800 FACTORY DIRECT Why I nic lunches into the park and picnic tables and grills are provided. For those who like restaurant dining, Auburn is only five minutes north of the park and park workers say they are happy to restaurants based on the type of cuisine you desire. Location: From Mont-! gomery take Interstate 85 North to the U.S. Highway 29j exit, which is the first exit past Wire Road.

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