An Interview With Keith Stacy
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Keith Stacy (KS): When I first heard The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show.
60s: Was The Tamrons your first band?
KS: My first band was called The Kings. We played ‘Louie Louie’ by The Kingsmen at a school talent show and, the teachers were nervous about us singing the words. I was in the eighth grade at the time.
60s: Where and when was The Tamrons formed?
KS: Lloyd Pettus (lead guitar), Robert Walters (rhythm guitar) and Ted Pettus (drums) formed the band. They were formerly known as The Night Raiders. They played against The Kings at a talent show and asked me if I could play bass, so I bought a bass guitar and joined The Night Raiders. We later added Robert’s brother Phil Walters on the Farfisa organ.
60s: So in effect did The Night Raiders change names to The Tamrons after you joined?
KS: No. The named was changed after Robert Walters and his brother Phil left the band. Robert had brought the name to the group, so he took it when he left. Lloyd came up with the name Tamrons if I remember correctly.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
KS: It was pretty cool for back then. We did a lot of Paul Revere and The Raiders tunes like ‘Just Like Me.’ The sound was pretty fat by those standards. I got the band into some guitar harmony by suggesting a song by The Byrds. We played ‘It Won't Be Wrong;’ that’s still a cool song and one of my favorites.
60s: What was the Concord rock and roll scene like in the '60's?
KS: It was awesome. There were so many bands; the battle of the bands gigs were the most fun. We won some and lost some. Our biggest competition was from Charlotte - a band called The Paragons.
60s: What other local groups of the era do you especially recall?
KS: In Concord we had The Fantastik Four, The Phantom Raiders, The West Wind, The Ravens (my brother Don's band), Willie and The Mafia (older guys that played beach music), The Swinging Sensations, The Grifs, The Surfmates and Abbadon. Some of these bands were from Charlotte.
60s: Did your brother's band The Ravens ever release a 45?
KS: The Ravens played locally but never released any 45s. Don played guitar in that band and he and I played together in Jesse Bolt years later (1974-1981).
60s: Where did the band typically play?
KS: We played gas station openings in downtown Concord, on the back of a flatbed trailer and live on the radio. We played a TV telethon in Wilmington, North Carolina. I would love to see that old footage.
60s: Did you play any of the local teen clubs?
KS: We had the Green Dragon in Concord. That was the main hangout back then.
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
KS: 200 miles or so.
60s: Did The Tamrons have a manager?
KS: Robert's father Earl Walters managed the band for a while, and then Mr. Pettus took over. He bought us a trailer and had it painted; it was pretty cool for those days. I remember Mr. Walters taking us to Wilmington to play the telethon. We stopped off at a church and played, and while we were playing Mr. Walters talked the local police into coming in and shutting us down because we were too loud. We were stunned...He came out laughing at us, and the cops said crank it up. He was a funny guy.
60s: How popular locally did The Tamrons become?
KS: Not to be bragging but I remember us and a band called The Huns as being the two most popular at the time.
60s: What were the circumstances leading to the 45?
KS: We had been planning to record for some time. We had two songs we were going to record; they were ‘Genie’ and ‘Wild Man.’ The Huns came to our practice at Lloyd’s house and stole ‘Genie.’ They renamed it ‘Shakedown.’ They rushed into the studio and recorded it first and released it. We were furious! We went as a mob to Dean Coley’s house (their bass player). His father was their manager, so we stood out in the street and tried to get them to come out and fight. I can't tell you how mad that made us. Anyway, we worked on ‘Stop, Look, Listen’ and used that instead. We actually sounded a lot fuller live than we did on that 45. The mix was awful; you couldn't hear the keys or Robert’s guitar, but we did the best we could. Steve Baucom played organ on the 45 and also sang backup.
60s: Aside from Dean Coley, do you recall the names of other members of The Huns?
KS: They were Johnny Reece (drums); Dean Coley (bass); Bill Turner (guitar and vocals); Bill Towery (keyboards); and Terry Lacefield (guitar). They were a very good band. The flip side song of their 45 was called ‘You Know.’ I think Bill Turner wrote it and I know he sang it. That was a very good tune.
60s: Where did The Tamrons record?
KS: We recorded at Arthur Smith Studios in Charlotte. I was recently told that James Brown recorded ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag’ there. I had been in that studio before with a folk rock band in early 1966, so I guess I was the most experienced. The entire band performed well under pressure. Robert always carried the show. He was a big ham and cut up, had natural stage talent, and went on to play football with the Washington Redskins.
60s: Did The Tamrons write many original songs? Who was the band's primary songwriter?
KS: The band had a good many original songs. Robert and Lloyd were the writers.
60s: Do any other '60's Tamrons' recordings exist? Are there any vintage live recordings, or unreleased tracks?
KS: I have been trying to locate them. There might be a reel-to-reel somewhere.
60s: What year and why did the band break up?
KS: Roughly around 1968. We went through personnel changes and added a horn section and changed the sound. I was starting to listen to Hendrix and wanted to play heavier music, so I formed a band with one of the guys, Butch Yarborough, from The Fantastik Four. The new heavy band was called Liquid Nitrogen. I later played with Flight, Axis and Jesse Bolt.
60s: You indicated that the band went through personnel changes in '68. Who departed, and who joined?
KS: Bobby Yost from Kannappolis, North Carolina joined the band to take Roberts place. He had the best guitar around; it was a Gretch white falcon. The horn players were Eddie Coble on sax, John Sherril on trumpet and Rick Nash on trumpet. We started doing some soul/r&b type tunes such as ‘Hold On I'm Coming,’ ‘Midnight Hour’ and ‘Monkey Time.’
60s: How often and where do you perform today?
KS: You can see my band Jesse Bolt on YouTube. I'm the guy playing the black flying V guitar on the right.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with The Tamrons?
KS: Those days were magical. Everybody played in a band. Those guys are now lawyers and airline pilots, but then you had to be in a band in Concord.
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