Jimmy Buffett & Eddie Money both ‘dissed’ Troy, but they're among a Who’s Who list of musical artists who’ve performed in Troy. Also, how many people know an earthquake once hit Troy?
One person who (as far as I am aware) hasn't played in Troy is ... Bocephus ... who has lived here before and still has a hunting place in the country (I think). I'd love to see Hank, Jr. get some of his rowdy friends to do a big concert in ... The Vet!
However, Hank, Jr. did cut his "Almeria Club" album in a little house that used to be a community center on the Pike County/Bullock County border. I watched him record one of the songs on that album (which is excellent and under-appreciated). I wrote about this memorable experience in the original Troy Citizen.
My very first concert was The Ohio Players at Sartain Hall. Somewhere around 1976. I was 10. I won the tickets by being the 10th caller into the local radio station. The radio DJ was Dan Black. He was also my babysitter's boyfriend (Shoutout to Barbra). By the time the date of the concert arrived, I had "tonsillitis". My Dad REALLY did not want to take me to the concert. But, he also REALLY loved me and I was relentless, so we went. I remember that it was after my bedtime when they played their hit song Rollercoaster. The rumor was, that on the record someone could be heard screaming while being murdered while the song was being recorded. Certainly an urban legend but also good for record sales. I also remember that I was the only 10 year old white boy in the audience. At least I didn't see another one. The other members of the audience seemed to be quite amused that I was there. But they were really nice to me and l even picked up some new dance moves.
I loved me some Ohio Players circa 1976. Rush always knew the best bands and had their albums, which I, of course, listened to as well. The Ohio Players had some provocative album covers!
That's a famous Urban Legend. I would have loved to have seen the Ohio Players in their prime. I'm glad you talked your Dad into letting you go.
Dolly is an American icon for sure. Unlike many country artists today, she wrote many of her songs ... A reader says Dolly probably played Sartain in 1975 or 1976.
I worked security at The Beach Boys concert in 1984. They had a no photography after the third song rule for some reason. I was working center of the stage between the stage and the first row. A guy in the second row kept taking pictures after I told him to stop several times. So, I took the camera away from him and went to take it to a police officer. The next thing I know I have a guy riding on my back with his fingers up my nostrils trying to rip my nose off my face. Not what I expected at a Beach Boys concert. It was also weird watching all these college girls throwing things on the stage to a bunch of men older than their dads.
I've since learned that there are about three different groups who tour and called themselves "The Beach Boys." I guess, in 1984, these were mostly the original boys. The original Beach Boys are one of the greatest musical groups of all-time IMO.
Yes. It was actually rescheduled because one of the originals members died. I think it was a drug related drowning or something like that. Anyway, they postponed the concert. I think it had originally been scheduled in 1983, but I’m not sure. I wasn’t a Beach Boys fan and didn’t keep up with them and would not have been there if I hadn’t been working security. And I can also confirm the John Cougar Mellencamp visit to the record store. I worked at the Radio Shack next door. I wasn’t there when he visited, but it was all the talk when I came to work the next day. The big talk was about how short he was.
Rhett Akins was at the old tennis courts which is now a parking lot for Barnes and Noble. Vertical Horizon played in the same location a couple years later.
In 2002 or so, Brad Paisley played at The Vet and in 2016ish NeedToBreathe played at Trojan Arena.
In all fairness those had nothing to do with Sartain though.
Thanks, Jason. My wife, who was a student at Troy from 2000-2003, just told me all the concerts she remembers were outside - some in a parking lot next to the Adams Center. I do now vaguely remember the Brad Paisely concert in The Vet. What type of crowd did that concert draw?
I'm an "idea man" and I know most of my "great ideas" won't happen ... but I still "throw them out there."
One thought I've always had is that north Pike County - which is very hilly and scenic - would be an ideal location for a big amphitheater concert venue (just like Oak Mountain outside of Birmingham). Maybe this could be located somewhere near Orion? This would be easily accessible from Highway 231 and such a venue could easily draw concert-goers from Montgomery, Auburn, Troy and Troy University, Ft. Rucker and Enterprise, etc.
Outdoor concert venues became very popular in the last 20 or 30 years and Pike County has many locations that could host a very scenic - and geographically accessible - venue like this. IMO.
... I've also thought the same scenic terrain and topography would lend itself to a beautiful Robert Trent Jones golf course.
I also remember that the Atlanta Rhythm Section, later played a concert at the ampitheater of the Pioneer Museum of Alabama (then the Pike Pioneer Museum). It was a cold night and I remember being embarrassed by the sparse attendance for this Museum fund-raiser.
This makes me think about the trajectory of the careers of many musical acts. They start off playing very small venues in front of small crowds, then they develop a following and "Hit it big" and can fill big arenas. Alas, later in their careers, they are right back to playing in front of a couple of hundred people ... Or, some of them. For example, The Rolling Stones, all now in their 80s, never seemed to have this issue.
Walley Lowery made a good point in a message he sent me: Ron Pierce, who was the long-time director of the Adams Center and the Student Union, deserves credit for booking many of these great acts.
Ron, of course, is now even more famous as the visionary who created Butter & Eggs Adventures. I hope to do a big feature story on the history and back-story of this great and increasingly popular local attraction in a future Troy Citizen dispatch.
I've added many acts to the main story including Roy Orbison, The Charlie Daniels Band, Ray Charles, Ronnie Milsap, Dolly Parton, Hall and Oates and Drivin N Cryin among many other acts.
I'm getting a lot of new names from a post I made on Facebook. (Note: Readers can also post in these Reader Comments .... for free):
think I remember seeing Ray Charles. Little Anthony and The Imperials and Dolly Parton ... plus The Box Tops, and Jerry Butler…
Chris Amos: Drivin N Cryin 1992(?)
Leanne Holmes: Hall and Oates, Jefferson Airplane,
Debbie Allen Healey: Dolly Parton
Timothy Hussey: Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians performed in January 1968 in what I think was a joint project by Troy Rotary and Troy State.
Barbara Hussey Beasley: I also remember Pablo Cruise, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Pointer Sisters and Ronnie Milsap. I remember it was “festival “ seating and we would run to the stage to sit up front on the floor. Seems like Chicago also came but maybe the concert was held in Montgomery??
Name to come: ".... I worked the door at several shows there…met my idol Roy Orbison, met Del Shannon at the back door when he arrived late but he was gracious as was Orbison and signed several albums. I also met Little Anthony and the Imperials…I was sent out at their request for fried chicken and pot (got the chicken but not the pot). Remember Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (“Wooly Bully”, Ronnie and the Daytonas, the Association played there…April Stevens and Nino Tempo…great shows, great memories."
Walley Lowery: Kevin Nealon and (comedian) George Wallace 1992? The the following year George Wallace headlined and he had Bobcat Goldthwait open up for him. 1993-94?? Goldthwait said he never been to a city that advertised “Crows” and then turned around and served you chicken.
Charlotte Moman Blumentritt: Charlie Daniel’s Band
Leah Colley Welty & MaryAnn Mooneyham Volet: I remember Tina was kicked out of concert in '69 for wearing a see-through top.
They (the Turners) brought out a snake and I never went to another concert until I was in my 20s. Scared me 1/2 to death.
I'm not excusing the dis made by Buffet, but one of the severe downsides to fame and celebrity has to be that every stupid public comment you've ever made will live forever.
One niche that made a Buffett concert different was he spent so much time between songs making ad-lib comments or talking to the audience. Many of these were supposed to be funny. I guess some concert viewers in Tuscaloosa laughed at his remark about Troy ... but some of us didn't think it was funny!
Also, I wonder if Buffett was kin to his more famous cousin I see on hotel and restaurant marquees even today: Lunch Buffet(t) and Noon Buffet!
I’ve caught a couple of Jimmy’s shows and you are spot on about the ramblings. Imagine the early 70’s when he was really going strong on the party favors! My guess is he was referring to things to do around the town, and not the audience. Those guys get to the show well before everything kicks off and are trying to kill some time. That’s easy to do in a big city atmosphere. I got to see Jamey Johnson recently over in Albany and was lucky enough to go backstage. His band and crew were saying that they were about to head up the east coast and were excited about seeing those towns. Not much going on in Albany, GA either….
i was a jimmy buffett fan in high school. i had his live album. went to see him in concert only to find that his between-song banter was all scripted. taken verbatim from the cd.
One person who (as far as I am aware) hasn't played in Troy is ... Bocephus ... who has lived here before and still has a hunting place in the country (I think). I'd love to see Hank, Jr. get some of his rowdy friends to do a big concert in ... The Vet!
However, Hank, Jr. did cut his "Almeria Club" album in a little house that used to be a community center on the Pike County/Bullock County border. I watched him record one of the songs on that album (which is excellent and under-appreciated). I wrote about this memorable experience in the original Troy Citizen.
I'll re-run that story at some point.
My very first concert was The Ohio Players at Sartain Hall. Somewhere around 1976. I was 10. I won the tickets by being the 10th caller into the local radio station. The radio DJ was Dan Black. He was also my babysitter's boyfriend (Shoutout to Barbra). By the time the date of the concert arrived, I had "tonsillitis". My Dad REALLY did not want to take me to the concert. But, he also REALLY loved me and I was relentless, so we went. I remember that it was after my bedtime when they played their hit song Rollercoaster. The rumor was, that on the record someone could be heard screaming while being murdered while the song was being recorded. Certainly an urban legend but also good for record sales. I also remember that I was the only 10 year old white boy in the audience. At least I didn't see another one. The other members of the audience seemed to be quite amused that I was there. But they were really nice to me and l even picked up some new dance moves.
I loved me some Ohio Players circa 1976. Rush always knew the best bands and had their albums, which I, of course, listened to as well. The Ohio Players had some provocative album covers!
That's a famous Urban Legend. I would have loved to have seen the Ohio Players in their prime. I'm glad you talked your Dad into letting you go.
I saw Dolly Parton at Sartain Hall with my parents. I wish I could remember the year.
Dolly is an American icon for sure. Unlike many country artists today, she wrote many of her songs ... A reader says Dolly probably played Sartain in 1975 or 1976.
I worked security at The Beach Boys concert in 1984. They had a no photography after the third song rule for some reason. I was working center of the stage between the stage and the first row. A guy in the second row kept taking pictures after I told him to stop several times. So, I took the camera away from him and went to take it to a police officer. The next thing I know I have a guy riding on my back with his fingers up my nostrils trying to rip my nose off my face. Not what I expected at a Beach Boys concert. It was also weird watching all these college girls throwing things on the stage to a bunch of men older than their dads.
I've since learned that there are about three different groups who tour and called themselves "The Beach Boys." I guess, in 1984, these were mostly the original boys. The original Beach Boys are one of the greatest musical groups of all-time IMO.
Yes. It was actually rescheduled because one of the originals members died. I think it was a drug related drowning or something like that. Anyway, they postponed the concert. I think it had originally been scheduled in 1983, but I’m not sure. I wasn’t a Beach Boys fan and didn’t keep up with them and would not have been there if I hadn’t been working security. And I can also confirm the John Cougar Mellencamp visit to the record store. I worked at the Radio Shack next door. I wasn’t there when he visited, but it was all the talk when I came to work the next day. The big talk was about how short he was.
Rhett Akins was at the old tennis courts which is now a parking lot for Barnes and Noble. Vertical Horizon played in the same location a couple years later.
In 2002 or so, Brad Paisley played at The Vet and in 2016ish NeedToBreathe played at Trojan Arena.
In all fairness those had nothing to do with Sartain though.
Thanks, Jason. My wife, who was a student at Troy from 2000-2003, just told me all the concerts she remembers were outside - some in a parking lot next to the Adams Center. I do now vaguely remember the Brad Paisely concert in The Vet. What type of crowd did that concert draw?
Just one concert at Trojan Arena in 8 years?
I'm an "idea man" and I know most of my "great ideas" won't happen ... but I still "throw them out there."
One thought I've always had is that north Pike County - which is very hilly and scenic - would be an ideal location for a big amphitheater concert venue (just like Oak Mountain outside of Birmingham). Maybe this could be located somewhere near Orion? This would be easily accessible from Highway 231 and such a venue could easily draw concert-goers from Montgomery, Auburn, Troy and Troy University, Ft. Rucker and Enterprise, etc.
Outdoor concert venues became very popular in the last 20 or 30 years and Pike County has many locations that could host a very scenic - and geographically accessible - venue like this. IMO.
... I've also thought the same scenic terrain and topography would lend itself to a beautiful Robert Trent Jones golf course.
I also remember that the Atlanta Rhythm Section, later played a concert at the ampitheater of the Pioneer Museum of Alabama (then the Pike Pioneer Museum). It was a cold night and I remember being embarrassed by the sparse attendance for this Museum fund-raiser.
This makes me think about the trajectory of the careers of many musical acts. They start off playing very small venues in front of small crowds, then they develop a following and "Hit it big" and can fill big arenas. Alas, later in their careers, they are right back to playing in front of a couple of hundred people ... Or, some of them. For example, The Rolling Stones, all now in their 80s, never seemed to have this issue.
Walley Lowery made a good point in a message he sent me: Ron Pierce, who was the long-time director of the Adams Center and the Student Union, deserves credit for booking many of these great acts.
Ron, of course, is now even more famous as the visionary who created Butter & Eggs Adventures. I hope to do a big feature story on the history and back-story of this great and increasingly popular local attraction in a future Troy Citizen dispatch.
I've added many acts to the main story including Roy Orbison, The Charlie Daniels Band, Ray Charles, Ronnie Milsap, Dolly Parton, Hall and Oates and Drivin N Cryin among many other acts.
I'm getting a lot of new names from a post I made on Facebook. (Note: Readers can also post in these Reader Comments .... for free):
think I remember seeing Ray Charles. Little Anthony and The Imperials and Dolly Parton ... plus The Box Tops, and Jerry Butler…
Chris Amos: Drivin N Cryin 1992(?)
Leanne Holmes: Hall and Oates, Jefferson Airplane,
Debbie Allen Healey: Dolly Parton
Timothy Hussey: Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians performed in January 1968 in what I think was a joint project by Troy Rotary and Troy State.
Barbara Hussey Beasley: I also remember Pablo Cruise, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Pointer Sisters and Ronnie Milsap. I remember it was “festival “ seating and we would run to the stage to sit up front on the floor. Seems like Chicago also came but maybe the concert was held in Montgomery??
Name to come: ".... I worked the door at several shows there…met my idol Roy Orbison, met Del Shannon at the back door when he arrived late but he was gracious as was Orbison and signed several albums. I also met Little Anthony and the Imperials…I was sent out at their request for fried chicken and pot (got the chicken but not the pot). Remember Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (“Wooly Bully”, Ronnie and the Daytonas, the Association played there…April Stevens and Nino Tempo…great shows, great memories."
Walley Lowery: Kevin Nealon and (comedian) George Wallace 1992? The the following year George Wallace headlined and he had Bobcat Goldthwait open up for him. 1993-94?? Goldthwait said he never been to a city that advertised “Crows” and then turned around and served you chicken.
Charlotte Moman Blumentritt: Charlie Daniel’s Band
Leah Colley Welty & MaryAnn Mooneyham Volet: I remember Tina was kicked out of concert in '69 for wearing a see-through top.
They (the Turners) brought out a snake and I never went to another concert until I was in my 20s. Scared me 1/2 to death.
I'm not excusing the dis made by Buffet, but one of the severe downsides to fame and celebrity has to be that every stupid public comment you've ever made will live forever.
One niche that made a Buffett concert different was he spent so much time between songs making ad-lib comments or talking to the audience. Many of these were supposed to be funny. I guess some concert viewers in Tuscaloosa laughed at his remark about Troy ... but some of us didn't think it was funny!
Also, I wonder if Buffett was kin to his more famous cousin I see on hotel and restaurant marquees even today: Lunch Buffet(t) and Noon Buffet!
I’ve caught a couple of Jimmy’s shows and you are spot on about the ramblings. Imagine the early 70’s when he was really going strong on the party favors! My guess is he was referring to things to do around the town, and not the audience. Those guys get to the show well before everything kicks off and are trying to kill some time. That’s easy to do in a big city atmosphere. I got to see Jamey Johnson recently over in Albany and was lucky enough to go backstage. His band and crew were saying that they were about to head up the east coast and were excited about seeing those towns. Not much going on in Albany, GA either….
i was a jimmy buffett fan in high school. i had his live album. went to see him in concert only to find that his between-song banter was all scripted. taken verbatim from the cd.
jimmy was warren buffett's nephew