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.
No comments:
Post a Comment