New Grooves The New Grooves were one of the more popular rock and roll bands hailing from Pascagoula, Mississippi.  They formed in the early ‘60s and played well into the ‘70s, performing as far east as Alabama, and as far west as Biloxi.   In addition to schools, band battles and teen clubs, The New Grooves made TV appearances on Mobile’s Teen Town but, unfortunately, never recorded; to this day, bassist Jim Treadway still doesn’t know why they didn’t.  That fact doesn’t, however, erase the memories nor the learning experiences that Treadway gained while a member of The New Grooves. The New Grooves, 1967, top of stairs down: Pete Killingsworth, Jim Treadway, Sonny Tanner and Ron Strahan An Interview With Jim Treadway 60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music? Jim Treadway (JT): I was always interested in music since I was eight.  My grandfather played a Horner button accordion and I learned to play by sitting in front of him and watching his fingers. Watching The Beatles on Ed Sullivan was the real spark. I ordered a guitar and amp the very next day, the kind where the amp was built into the guitar case. I don't remember the brand. 60s: Was The New Grooves your first band? JT: My very first band was The Creepers (1965). It was my older brother and me and Bill Krebs and his brother Bob (now a circuit court judge). We were only together for about six months but we had about fifty (50) songs. I still have the song list. Our best one was ‘Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter.’ I was also in a band after The Creepers called The Bunch.  I am waiting for some old pictures of that band. 60s: Where and when was The New Grooves formed? JT: The New Grooves were formed in Pascagoula, Mississippi around 1962 by Sonny Tanner. He still does a single act. There have been lots of incarnations of The New Grooves that came and went over the years, but always with Sonny. The band was: Sonny Tanner, keyboards (Farfisa organ) and vocals; Pete Killingsworth, lead guitar (Fender telecaster); Ron Strahan, drums (Ludwig); and me, Jim Treadway, bass (Hofner 501, which I still have). 60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you? JT: Soul and blues.  We were influenced by two local bands, The Soul Brothers and The Dynamics. 60s: What was the Pascagoula rock and roll scene like in the '60s? JT: There were lots of garage bands: The Bunch, The Fugitives, The Roamin Empires, The Saints, The Village Green, and Storm.  A lot of us worked after school and when Friday rolled around we always had to lie to our boss to get of work (bag boy, etc,) to go play somewhere. We got to see bigger known bands when they came to town to play proms, including The Kords from Pensacola, Florida, The Gants, James and The James Gang, The Tropics from Florida, and Little David and The Giants from Laurel, Mississippi. 60s: Where did the band typically play? JT: We often played for school dances in the gym, but there were two very special places to play and if you played there you were big time dude. The Alley was an old bowling alley converted into a teen club and the other place was an outdoor pavilion down at the beach park. (Pascagoula is on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.) 60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory? JT: We went as far as Mobile, Alabama (45 minutes East) and over into Biloxi (25 minutes West). In Mobile, a popular show on Channel 10 was called Teen Town (hosted by Dot Moore) and they featured local bands on Saturday. An LP of some of those bands is out there somewhere. 60s: Did The New Grooves participate in any battle of the bands? JT: I remember several battles, but we never won. The winner always turned out to be The Fugitives. Several years ago they showed up on the cover of a garage bands CD.  60s: Did The New Grooves have a manager? JT: Sonny was the manager and leader and, as I recall, he did a good job of keeping us busy. 60s: How popular locally did The New Grooves become? JT: I would say we were in the top five (of local groups). 60s: Why didn't The New Grooves record? JT: That’s a very good question. I just don’t know. 60s: Did The New Grooves write any original songs? JT: Sorry to say—no original songs. 60s: Did the band make any local TV appearances? JT: We were on Teen Town in Mobile. 60s: What year and why did the band break up? JT: Some form of the band played into the late '70s. 60s: Did you join or form any bands after The New Grooves? JT: Oh yes. I went on to play bass with The Soul Brothers, a band I idolized when I was in jr. high.  They were four or five years older than me. They had a hit record out of New Orleans in the mid-‘60s called ‘Sugar Woman.’ We toured all around the South for two to three years (1969-1971). We played in the Atlanta underground, Cincinnati, Johnson City, Tennessee and Birmingham, Alabama.  For two to three months, we opened for The Platters.  The lead singer then was Sonny Turner; he is still singing today. 60s: What keeps you busy today? JT: I’m retired from many careers. I’m a stay at home grandfather taking care of my 10 month old grandson but I still play two to three times a week with a duo I started in 2005 (www.deuceswildband.com). 60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The New Grooves? JT: It was my first chance to play with older cats that were much better than I was.  That motivated me to be as good as they were. I don’t think I ever reached that level, but I sure kept up with them. By the way…I lost everything I owned in 2005 to Hurricane Katrina. I live a block from the beach.  Imagine no possessions!  I was only able to save my 1965 Hofner… The New Grooves