Henry Lovoy to speak at the June Meeting

ARCA's newest Honorary Member and long time Birmingham area (and beyond) musician, Henry Lovoy, will speak at our June meeting.  The meeting will be June 23, which is the fourth Sunday instead of the usual third Sunday and will, or course, be held at the Homewood Library beginning at 2pm.

Henry is in his 50th year in the music business.  Most people primarily know Henry from his days with the Rockin' Rebellions in the mid to late 60s, one of the best all around Birmingham bands, but he has played with or been connected to many other bands including the Counts (which became the Distortions), the Road Runners, the Ram Chargers and Chair, to name but a few.  Henry has played music all of his life and currently plays several nights a week with his band, Razz Ma Tazz, at Hogan's on Hwy 280.  He is the drummer and lead vocalist.

Henry was thrilled to have been added to our Honorary Membership this year and is looking forward to speaking to us about his long history.  He says he was billions of stories and I believe him.  All you have to do is talk to him or ask him something about music. 

Record Show shoppers had fun browsing through lots of photos, surveys and other memorabilia that Henry brought to the show.   Hopefully, he'll bring them to the meeting as well.

Visitors are always welcome at ARCA meetings.  If you would like to talk to a Birmingham music legend and pick his brain a little, make plans to stop by on June 23! 

Thanks for a successful Show!

Shoppers browse thru thousands of records

Thank you to everyone who came out to the ARCA CD & Record Show 2013.  Many people came to find that particular record they've been looking for and wound up buying a lot more because of the vast selection that was available from our dealers who came from all over the country to be here.  We had shoppers from as far away as London, Canada and Japan.  As promised, we also had the national record hunter Andy Cirzan and his film crew. Andy, who looks for unique and oddity type Christmas records, found several.  He was very pleased with our show and said that the segment here will definitely be in the documentary film they are making.  We will let you know when that comes out.

Henry Lovoy & Buddy Causey

Our two newest Honorary Members were also in attendance.  Buddy Causey and Henry Lovoy were recognized Saturday and received their plaques from ARCA.  They were both thrilled to be here and loved meeting with shoppers and visitors and talking about their days in music, which continue to this day by the way.  Henry plays several days a week at Hogan's and Buddy has released several new CDs.  Thanks to two all around great guys for appearing and becoming a part of ARCA.

It's now time to start planning the next one, so keep checking this website for updates and we hope to see you in 2014!

Show Update

Mitchell Kezin, a filmmaker from Canada will be filming at the ARCA CD & Record Show for a feature-length documentary film about alternative, underground Christmas music. He’s travelling with legendary Xmas music collector Andy Cirzan who will be attending our show.  The New York Times had an article on Mitchell's new film  NY Times Article.

Birmingham News article on the Show

There was a great article about our upcoming CD & Record Show in last week's newspaper, but I believe it was only in the Western Section.  For those who missed it, here is a link to the article on al.com.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/05/alabama_record_collectors_asso.html

The article was written by Jesse Chambers.  Thanks to the Birmingham News and Jesse for such a great write-up!

CD & RECORD SHOW

ARCA will not have an official business meeting in May. Instead we will be hosting our annual CD & Record Show on May 24 & 25th.  Click on ARCA CD & RECORD SHOW for information on our 2013 show.

Henry Lovoy added to CD & Record Show 2013 guest appearance list

Razz Ma Tazz (Henry is at the far right)

ARCA is pleased to announce that another honorary member is set to appear at this year’s big CD & Record Show.  The name, Henry Lovoy, should not be a stranger to anyone who grew up listening to music in or around Birmingham in the 60’s through today.  Henry has played music all of his life starting at a very young age, and I do mean young.  It’s also hard to think of a Birmingham band that Henry doesn’t have some type of connection with, even if it was just having sat in for a gig. 

Henry started dance lessons at 4 and by age 6, he was singing.  He loved Elvis and would impersonate him at dance recitals.  In 1954, he won a talent contest on the “Happy Hal Burns Show.”  The prize was a chance to sing at the State Fair.  By 1960, he had learned to play the drums.  At age 14, he recorded a song he had written himself, “Baggie Maggie” [included in player to left]. The lyrics were fairly nasty and had to be cleaned up before he could record it.  To this day, it’s a very collectable record.  In 1962, he joined The Counts as the lead singer.  The Counts would later change their name to the Distortions. 

Henry was soon playing the night club scene, even as a teenager and also played in various bands at one time or another.  By 1966, he was with the band best remembered with Henry as a member, the Rockin’ Rebellions.  He was still primarily the lead singer; however, he and the regular drummer Ross Gagliano would swap up duties in live performances.  The Rockin’ Rebellions released several 45s, but by 1970, the band had run its course.  Henry formed a band called Chair and released one 45 on Warner Bros [included in player to left].  Other bands followed.  He also recorded jingles for his friend and record producer Ed Boutwell.

Today, Henry performs several days a week with his band Razz Ma Tazz at Hogan’s on Hwy 280.  The band is made up of various musicians from other Birmingham based bands of the era.  There’s hardly a song they don’t know.  If you request one that they don’t know, they’ll tell you to come back tomorrow.  By then, they’ll know it. 

Henry will be at the CD & Record Show on Saturday beginning around 10 am.  Please drop by and see him.  He’ll be happy to take photos, sign autographs, etc.

Buddy Causey coming to the CD & Record Show 2013

There will be a special guest appearance this year as ARCA honors one of the best singers to come out of the Birmingham and Alabama area, Buddy Causey.  Buddy attended Banks High School and, at a very young age, discovered a great singing ability.  At the age of 19, he began recording in Muscle Shoals and issued a single on the Quinvy label, a medley of “Hey Baby” and “39-21-46” in 1969.  Later the same year he joined a struggling band called Days of the Week as the lead singer.  The band’s name was changed (in spelling only) to Daze of the Weak.  They recorded a great cover of the Freddie Scott song, “Hey Girl.” 

As the 70’s started, Buddy found himself in various bands such as The Buddy Causey Band and the Handsome White Boys.  Buddy then began to tour and work all over the country including Abbey Road studios in London.  He recorded two singles on Capitol, “Tell Me Where It Hurts” and “There’s A Way.”  One of the best things ever said about Buddy was when long time Birmingham record producer, Ed Boutwell, called him a singer’s singer.

However, in 2007, Buddy’s world came crashing down on him.  He suffered a stroke which, at first, left him temporarily blind.  He had to use a walker to get around, but the most devastating thing (to Buddy, anyway) was that it had damaged a nerve in his vocal chords.  After a year of therapy, the doctor delivered the news that he would never sing again.  To top it all off, Buddy, during all of this, had also gone through a divorce and lost everything he had, literally. 

Buddy began to develop a relationship with God.  He started reading the Bible and praying daily.  He asked God for the ability to sing again and said he would use it to serve him.  Buddy was steadfast in his belief that God would help him and, after about four years, Buddy began singing again.  He eventually could sing well enough to make a CD.  True to his promise, Buddy recorded “Well Done My Son,” a CD with a Southern Rock and R&B groove, but with Christian lyrics.  He performs in churches and Celebrate Recovery Meetings.  Buddy is still proud of his musical history, but is even prouder of the music he is producing now.

You can listen to some of Buddy’s songs in the player to the left of the blog page and other songs are available on youtube.com

Please come and meet Buddy on Saturday, May 25, beginning around 10 am.  He should have some copies of his new CD for sale as well.  Also check out Buddy’s website at www.buddycausey.com, where some of this material came from.

Appearance by Crimson Tide Cancelled

We regret to report that, due to scheduling and other conflicts, the previously announced appearance by Crimson Tide (aka. The  Alabama Power Band) has been cancelled.  We sincerely hope that this doesn't cause an inconvenience to those planning to attend the CD & Record Show to meet them.