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Goodbye, Doug
One of Knoxville’s first rock bands, The Loved Ones, were planning a reunion show at next month’s MetroFest. Bass player and founding member Doug Graham was one of the most excited about it. Sadly, he died before it could happen.
The Loved Ones’ guitarist and Graham’s friend, Terry Johnson, offered these reflections on Graham’s funeral and the upcoming reunion show.
“Well, we got through the funeral and all the associated sadness and shock. It was tasteful and uplifting in a way that these affairs seldom are. All I can say is that there was a hell of a band sitting in the pews, a reality not lost on the local quartet, who got up to sing, surveyed the audience, and must have thought, ‘Damn, tough room!’ Many of Doug’s bandmates from Southern Cross Band, The Loved Ones, ad infinitum attended.
“Afterward, about 20 musicians congregated at our house and we dealt with our loss in the only way we knew how: we played continuously until 4 a.m., exhausting the Beatles and Stones’ catalog, slipped into originals, then into rotgut country, blues, and R&B.
“Along about 4:30 a.m., Barry ‘Byrd’ Burton, Ranse Whitworth, Mike Coyner, and I (with the help of many of Doug’s old friends) decided there is no better way to honor his memory than to let the show go on. He would really be pissed if we didn’t do this reunion that he so looked forward to. (Note that he would not have helped load in and out, anyway). We rehearsed our proposed set list with Ranse doing the bass, and it was purty damn good, if I do say so my damself. So, not just yes, but hell, yes we’re still gonna do it.”
We Knew Him When
Scott Miller & The Commonwealth are getting a nice bit of exposure on the WB network with Jeff Foxworthy’s new sketch comedy show, Blue Collar TV. Also starring Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy, the show airs Thursday evenings at 8 and Friday nights at 9:30. Miller and company are the house band.
“The band and I spent three weeks in June taping for Blue Collar TV,” Miller writes on his website. “We entertained the crowd and played in and out of commercials. All that was required of us was 30 seconds of rock, four to five times a night—every other day. Nice work if you can get it. And I think I’d do it again if given the chance. We didn’t have to tear down every night and travel the next day. The hotel was nice and within walking distance. The food was free but so was the advice: ‘Smile with your EYES—you can practice that!’
“But Jeff Foxworthy is an EXTREMELY nice and gracious guy, and he chose wisely the people who worked with him, from cast to crew. So I hope the show does what they want. As for the band and I, we have no idea how much of us they will use.”
In the first few episodes of the show, which debuted July 29, you couldn’t really get much of a glimpse of the band. Sadly there was no witty banter, a la Letterman-Shaffer, between Foxworthy and Miller. But you do hear the band a good bit. Only eight episodes were shot. Hopefully it’ll get picked up again.
Go.
Thursday: Go listen to Dexter Romweber, former frontman of the Flat Duo Jets, at the Pilot Light. Get there early (well, early in the Pilot Light world) to see Will Fist.
Friday: Let’s stop calling the Spades Band “former members of Gran Torino”—they don’t need to name drop. Go see them tonight at 4620.
Saturday: Go listen to some great music and help the Diabetes Association at the Spot’s benefit, with the MacDaddies, Short Bus, and Dave Landeo, among others.
Sunday: Be lazy. Sleep in late, eat a big brunch. And then hit the bottle and a book.
Monday: Black Diamond Heavies with the one-and-only Mr. Randall Brown at the Preservation Pub.
Tuesday: Perpetual Groove at Barley’s.
Wednesday: There’s another who looks from behind your eyes/ I learn from you how to hide/ From the desperate kingdom of love/ At the end of this burning world/ You’ll stand proud, face upheld/ And I’ll follow you, into Heaven or Hell/ And I’ll become, as a girl/ In the desperate kingdom of love
—Joe Tarr
August 19, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 34
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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