John D. Wyker
Hallucination Verification
John Wyker and Mighty Field of Vision
by Mitch Lopate
Hallucination verification, John D. "WildCat"
Wyker's back on the loose! Actually,
it's hard to keep him tied down - he's a
writin', talkin',
music-loving-and-playing power station
of ideas. A musician by trade and a
showboat promotion man by heart with
close ties to Muscle Shoals, John's been
riding the circuit for decades through
several incarnations. Some of you may
remember him on an early clip of
American Bandstand (you remember that
show from the '60's, dontcha?), the
singles, "Motorcycle Mama" and "Baby
Ruth" (the latter recorded as a duet by
Delbert McClinton and Bonnie Bramlett),
and leadership of the Rubber Band and
Sailcat.
The Rubber Band was a favorite of two
other fledging artists who had just come
to town with their band, the Allman Joys
- and we're talking here about a very
young Duane and Gregg Allman. John and
Duane were closely entwined in many
episodes of mischief and rascally ways,
and one of John's Stratocasters wound up
in Duane's possession (currently in
Delaney Bramlett's hands!). To boot,
John also was there for the jump-starts
of two other familiar faces: a young
Rhodes Scholar and ex-Ranger with a
guitar named Kris Kristofferson, and a
piano-playing wonder called Chuck
Leavell. In those days, if you looked
under most any roof that supported four
walls south of the Mason-Dixon line and
had a band performing inside, you'd find
John Wyker and friends.
Not one to ignore the call of Fate,
John's at the reins of two large-scale
tasks: the curator and gatekeeper of the
legacy of Eddie Hinton, an R&B
soulmeister who cut "Shout Bamalama,"
"300 Pounds," and other churning tunes
through a meteoric-like brief lifetime
of brilliance and flame-out. And if
that's not enough weight to shoulder,
John is the father-figure and mentor to
The Mighty Field of Vision Anthem, a
project with the heart and spirit of
inspiration of efforts (like Charlie
Daniels's Volunteer Jam) of musicians
helping musicians, dedicated to raising
funds and helping those brothers and
sisters who have fallen on hard times.
The MFV held their first session in
Huntsville, Alabama, on March 14th, with
players like Fame rhythm guitarist Jr.
Lowe, Stephen Foster of the Doo-Dah
Band, Little Richard's saxophonist, Guy
Higginbotham, and Ray Brand of the
Crawlers.
The best is yet to follow: John's
enthusiasm and unbridled energy for the
next phase has caught the attention and
support of a monster cast:
Chuck Leavell
Bobby Whitlock
Bonnie Bramlett
Jeff Cook
Jimmy Hall
Guy Higginbotham
Delbert McClinton
Pete Carr
David Hood
Owen Brown
Kelvin Holly
Donnie Fritts
Dan Penn
Roger Hawkins
Donnie Fritts
Lee Roy Parnell
Delaney Bramlett
Michael Duke
Jim Horn
Pete Carr
Wayne Chaney
Owen Brown
Spooner Oldham
Butch Trucks
Jaimoe
Milton Sledge
Wayne Perkins
And, if you're part of the MFV mailing
list, you've read John's "Cat Tales,"
where he lays down some funny and exotic
yarns like he's got a bit of Davy
Crockett and a sailor from the high seas
in his soul - and a need as big as a
barn door to share with man and
womankind. Get it direct from the man:
presenting the wild, the untamed, the
amazing John D. Wyker!
John D., tell us a story about the roots
of Southern music---and use a backhoe, 'cause
these are some deep roots -
John Buck Wilkin, aka Ronny of Ronny and
The Daytonas...in my opinion is the
Brian Wison of Southern Rock. In the
late '50s and early '60s there was/is a
genre of music called "Landlocked Surf
Music"; Buck Wilkin was/is one of the
founders of this goodtime Beach and Hot
Rod style of music. He had hits like "GTO"
and "Sandy" and "Bucket -T" and others
that are certified anthems of rock 'n
roll history....
Buck and his mother, Marijohn Wilkin,
also founded Buck Horn Music in
Nashville in the '60s and the first
writer to sign with their publishing
company was a neophyte songwriter by the
name of Kris Kristofferson ....
Buck Horn Music published all of Kris's
first songs....these songs are all
classics now.....I was fortunate to have
spent a lot of time at Buck and Kris's
apartment in the alley behind Music Row
in the late '60s and was one of the
first people to hear Kris play his new
competitions.....like "Me and Bobby
McGee"...and all those great songs from
that period .....
I was crashed out on Kris' sleepin' bag
one Sunday mornin' when he stumbled in
half-drunk and kicked me in the side and
demanded that I listen to his new song,
"Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down"....he
always played a 12 string guitar back
then, and all 12 strings were always
totally out of tune....he sounded awful....and
I told him so....later that mornin' when
I was as drunk as he was ....he played
that song again for me ....and I got it
that time.....what a great batch of
songs he turned out durin' that period!....
Some great times were had with Billy
Swan and Art "Neckbone" Shilling....and
Buck...and...Kris and Tony Joe
(White)...hangin' out at Bob Beckham's
office every afternoon for guitar
pulls....later, Buck and I moved a young
Tuscaloosa high school graduate named
Chuck Leavell to Nashville to join our
band, the American Eagles....he got his
first session pay from these sessions
but that's another story ....LONG LIVE
LANDLOCKED SURF MUSIC !"
Amen, John, thank you for that saga. Now,
how's about laying it down about a
guitar - you know the one I mean.
You know that Strat that Duane Allman
gave Delaney Bramlett...I trust what
Delaney says about that Strat...and
there are probably a lot of stories
about that Strat...but you can believe
me when I tell you that that Strat used
to be my guitar back in about 1966 or
'67'....me and Duane and Eddie Hinton
were sharin' a small garage apartment in
Sheffield, Alabama...later, Duane asked
Eddie to sing with what turned out to be
The Allman Brothers Band....
Anyway, me and Hinton and Duane were
sharin' this little one room garage
apartment and Duane had some fantastic
red hash...it looked like the red clay
dirt that we have in Alabama....we used
to joke that we did not need even need
to hide it and that we could just cake
it all over our boots and stuff and
people would just think it was Alabama
red dirt....
Well.... me and Duane were sittin'
around one night, smokin' Duane's
hashish and he was playin' my Strat....I
mean really playin' it makin' magic..he
was gettin' sounds out my guitar that
was blowin' my mind...It was easy for me
to see that Duane had found his Muse and
seen his musical matrix...and I was real
high and spiritual.....sometimes we'd
get so stoned that we felt like high
priests goin' into the mystic and we
could see thangs for what they really
were - .anyway, Duane was smokin' on
that Strat and I was smokin' his hash....and
I made an offer to trade him my Strat
for the rest of his hash....probably
about a 1/2 ounce...the funny thang
was....we kept settin' there and jammin'
and writin' little snatches to
songs...and we both smoked up the rest
of the hash together...and I think
Hinton may have gotten a few tokes....
when the hash was all gone, Duane still
had that Strat of mine....I just learned
from reading (the) interview with
Delaney Bramlett in GRITZ that Duane
gave that Strat to Delaney and he still
has it after all these years...God Bless
Delaney.....I knew Duane was
special...even back then....way before
The Allman Brothers ever got together....
Didn't you say you knew them when they
were the Allman Joys?
I used to hire The Allman Joys to open
our shows when I had The Rubber Band -
.we were big stars to Duane and Gregg....we
had a hit single that was on Columbia
Records called "Let Love Come Between Us";
it also hit with James and Bobby Purify
and Delbert McClinton and Mavis Staples
also did great cover versions - .and The
Rubber Band's version went to Number One
in all the major cities of the Southeast
or what Billboard called Area 6. -
We did not need an opening act, but
Duane and Gregg and the other Allman
Joys had become good and fast friends
...and they needed the money and the
exposure - .so I used to hire them to
open for us - . Duane would eat his
guitar and play it behind his back and
get down on the floor and do flips while
he played and Gregg would be behind a
little Vox organ on chrome legs..and
Bill Connell pounding the drums....I
thought they were pretty good...but the
crowds gave them a hard time and gave a
few boos from time to time....
You see, The Rubber Band used three
saxes and a trumpet (I played trumpet &
bass) in The Rubber Band and no other
non-horn band could hold a candle to us
back then....we were heavily influenced
by a fantastic band from Muscle Shoals
called The Mark V that featured Dan Penn,
Norbert Putnam, David Briggs, Jerry
Carrigan and Marlin Greene (they used to
let me go on the road with them and get
on stage and dance - .I was called "The
Action Man");...anyway, The Rubber Band
featured Tippy Armstrong on guitar and
our singer was Johnny Townsend....who
later had the hit "Smoke From A Distant
Fire" by The Sanford Townsend Band.....
We all knew that Duane was 'way ahead of
any of the other guitar players that
were around the Shoals back then....except
for two other amazing guitar-playin'
cats ...one was Pete Carr and the other
was Tippy Armstrong....and...Pete Carr
is the only one that survived the rock
'n Roll Wars - .
- .but on a lighter note, I remember
Duane used to say that our Creator had a
few thangs backwards...he used to say
that "God should have put a fingernail
on top of our heads so we could grow it
out like the bill of a cap or a visor...
and if it rained or somethang fell on
our heads, we would have
protection--like a helmet or hardhat,"
and he also said that "God should have
put hair where our fingernails are." He
had a lot of reasons for that, includin'
how it could serve as a Q-tip and other
thangs that involved pleasing women..but
I won't go into that here...Duane was
really a trip back "in the time."
Also, did you ever know about Bill
Connell, the most excellent drummer for
the Allman Joys ? I recommended him to
Doowang and Gregg and they hired him the
night he graduated form Tuscaloosa High
School and they all took off that night
to go play at Trudy Heller's Club in
Greenwich Village in New York City.....I
know Connell must have gotten a crash
course in Rock n' Roll in the fast lane
after he left his hometown to hit the
road with Allman Joys ! Years later, I
hired Connell to go on the road with
Sailcat in the summer of '72 when we did
American Bandstand and Carnegie Hall (but
that's a whole 'nuther chapter). Connell
also toured with Bobby Whitlock a few
years later - .
We're getting' a crash course here,
too--somebody remind me when to kick in
the clutch - Oh, yeah, we've got a reply
about one of Duane's guitars from Ray
Brand, one of your buddies.
Brother Sting Ray Brand! He has one of
the only original Coricidan slide
bottles that Duane actually used ....I've
heard those legends about that famous
Gibson Les Paul guitar of Duane's...and
I think I read the same thang somewhere
in one of Lanoir Allman's interviews...Duane
used to call Gregg by his middle name
when he really wanted to royally piss
Gregg off....especially when Gregg was
real depressed and wanted to go to "The
Give -Up Rock"... (a legendary place
said to be located near Opp, Alabama - .where
people go when they want to give up -
legend has it that there is a big statue
of Monty Rock III there and a person
goes to that spot and takes off all
their clothes and confesses that they
want to GIVE UP and they make a covenant
that they WILL NEVER EVER TRY AGAIN
!"And then the person lays down on that
cold hard stone....and they lay there
until they finally just die and their
beaten and broken spirit leaves their
listless body !
Nevertheless, the first cat's name that
owned Duane's famous Gibson Les
Paul....was Richard Compton....who died
in a car crash. - Richard was from
Decatur, AL, and he was a young musical
genius that died too young.... like so
many that I've know......Richard has a
brother named Tommy Compton and his
nickname is "Crash" ...he was once a
sound engineer back in the early '70s at
Capricorn in Macon....in fact, I think
he was was hired to replace me when I
quit my gig with Crapracorn in
'69--sorry, I could not resist that -
truth is, Phil and Blue and everyone in
Macon treated me very well - actually,
they treated me a whole lot better than
I was treatin' myself at the time....way
too much purple micro dot and stuff ..I
know ya'll understand what I'm talkin'
about !
Back in my college days, as a freshman -
seventeen or eighteen of us - What
happened after you left Capricorn?
I really left Capricorn because Chuck
Leavell and Buck Wilkin and I were under
contract to record an album for Liberty
Records...it started out to be by our
band ....The American Eagles....we did
it at The old MSS on Jackson Highway
.....and we brought Norbert Putnam and
Jerry Carrigan back home from Nashville
to record at MS Sound and play bass &
drums on the project....by the time we
finished the record, Chuck and I looked
at each other and said, This should
really be Buck's record and debut solo
album"; ....it was only fitting...the
record was released as John Buck Wilkin,
In Search of Food, Clothing, Shelter and
Sex....I love that title....and it
was/is a great record !
Buck's mother, Marijohn Wilkin, was a
big part of the Old Nashville
Establishment and Buck was really tryin'
to break some unspoken rules ( and some
written rules as well)....At the time,
Buck was sharin' a cold water walk-up
flat with Kristofferson and there was
definitely revolution in the air when I
used to go and visit them....a great
period in Nashville around 1969.....in
fact, Buck and Kris wrote a great song
that we recorded called "Apocalypse
1969" ... we recorded that song at
Broadway Studio which Marlin Greene had
designed for Quinn Ivy....We had a whole
room of Tuscaloosa musicians on that
track, including Court Pickett, Frank
Freidman, Art Shilling, Glen Butts, Lou
Mullenix, and, of course, Chuck Leavell.
- about six or seven guitar players.....a
massive wall of guitars....back then,
Tuscaloosa was producing some of the
finest and most creative players that I
had ever seen in one spot !
I think we kind of freaked a bunch of
folks out on that session....there was
so much energy in the room and we had
one of those massive American flags like
you see at big automobile dealerships -
.and we would spread it all over the
entire floor of the studio (or anywhere)
and it was so big that we could drape it
over most eveythang in the studio and
still it would stretch out in to the
hall.....I mean, we were "The American
Eagles"....and that was way before there
was ever groups called "America" or "The
Eagles"....sometimes I think it's a
terrible blessing to be ahead of your
time....but how can a blessing be
terrible ?
Well, looks like I've done it again....but
I can't help it when my train of thought
collides with my stream of consciousness
- down by the railroad riverbed !
Someone get the license plate of that
train - either that, or fish me out of
the stream! John, this is better than
Saturday night at the movies! What else
have you got tucked away for us - how
about your friend, Eddie Hinton?
Yes, sweet Mamalama....Hinton knew and
lived exactly what he was he was singin'
about on that song and so many others....but
my favorite thang about Hinton and his
music was that on most of his songs he
sounds so optimistic and upbeat...and
positive in the face of what seemed to
be a totally hopeless situation......that's
what's so great about Southern soul
music and R & B that had its musical
roots in black church....as opposed to
that old wornout cry-in-yo'-beer-blues
genre that gets so much attention these
days...those kind of hopeless blues
leaves me cold....
Eddie Hinton was the REAL DEAL--his
songs were well-crafted, well executed
and delivered with every once of soul on
his body ! I remember once, Hinton and
me were livin' together in a house in
Florence, right after I came off the
road with Sailcat...1972 or early
'73....and Eddie woke me up in the
middle of the night to tell me about a
dream that he had....he did that a
lot.....his dreams that happened while
he was sleepin'...were very real to him
and they all had special meanings to us.....This
one night he woke me up and he was very
extremely excited...and he shook me
until I wrote up and he was just wild
with joy...and he said, "Johnny, I just
had this amazing dream and Otis Redding
was in my dream and he taught me how to
make his secret recipe for mayonnaise!"
I knew exactly what he was talkin' about
!
I'm fretting about why Otis was
concerned about mayonnaise, considering
everything else that he was famous for -
but Otis did do things his own way - God
bless him - and the mayonnaise, too!
I'll never look at a tomato sandwich the
same way, now.
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MITCH LOPATE: |