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 Long ago and far away I was the leader of a big ol' band and a popular deejay on the No. 1 station in town. Tom Dooley & The Lovelights was a 9-piece "soul" band that released several singles (45rpm) on a national record label but never made it onto the national record charts. The dream of making an album never happened. Eventually the band broke up and I went broke. Sometimes dreams take a little longer than expected, in my case almost 40 years.  But here it is, finally...BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. This is "roots" music...a little bit country, a little bit rock 'n roll, a little blues. There are no "fillers." Every song is solidly produced with the most gifted studio musicians in Dallas-Fort Worth and features everything from lush strings to a fat horn section. The range of songs goes from humor to romance to tragedy. I grew up in the night club business in Southern Illinois where I began playing guitar and singing at a very early age. The first songs I heard on the juke box were "Young Love" by Sonny James and "Party Doll" by Buddy Knox. I was hooked. We moved to Memphis in the early 60's where I was exposed to Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and the burgeoning "Memphis Sound" coming out of Stax records. My deejay career landed me in Daytona Beach where I played in my first garage band with The Allman Brothers. Since then I have shared the stage with a lot of famous people like James Brown, Ronnie Milsap, and even opened for The Beach Boys and The Doors. I have spent my life on the stage and in the studio doing radio and music. The songs on this album reflect that extraordinary musical heritage. I hope you like it. |
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 Beale Street, one of Memphis' most popular tourist attractions is nothing like I remember it as a kid. During the 60's it was just an old city street with a few real "dives" where the best blues music in the world was played by greats like B.B. King. Me and a couple of buddies would sneak down there sometimes at night. We were just punk kids, too young to get in, so we would walk up and down the street listening to the music until the cops caught us and made us go home. I bought the hat, shirt and shoes at Lansky Bros. where Elvis used to buy all his clothes. |
1. Chunky Chick (3:39) - Written by Tom Dooley - MasterMedia Music I wrote this for my wife, Melanie, many years ago when she weighed only 99 lbs. and was trying to gain. It's a celebration of large women. Big horn section, funky groove. The band was smokin'. 2. Growin' Up In Memphis (5:21) - Written by Tom Dooley - MasterMedia Music A chronicle of some of the artists and songs that made the 60's in Memphis a great place to be for a kid who wanted to do music. This is my roots. Big band boogie blues, country & rock 'n roll. 3. Dream Lover (3:56) - Written by Bobby Darin - Alley Music/Trio Music One of the all time truly great songs. I am amazed nobody has ever redone it. The original got up to No. 2 on Billboard. This is a mellower, grown up version. Junior Knight's steel guitar is hauntingly beautiful. 4. You're My Lady (3:36) - Written by Tom Dooley - MasterMedia Music I wrote this song about the girl of my dreams long before I met her and married her. This simple song is about the longing for true love and the struggle after it finds you. Slow dance, ladie's choice. 5. Ode To Johnny (3:52) - Writers: Cash, Kilgore, Carter - House of Cash & Painted Desert Music This is a medley of my favorite early Johnny Cash songs: Walk The Line, Folsom Prison Blues, Get Rhythm & Ring of Fire. Driving train beat, big fat rhythm. I think he would have liked it. 6. Love Is A Traitor (4:00) - Written by Tom Dooley - MasterMedia Music Based on a true story about a man who murdered his wife with a telescopic rifle. Modern bluegrass. 7. That Girl In Kentucky (4:10) - Written by Tom Dooley - MasterMedia Music I found out when she was 25 that she was my daughter. Talk about turning your world upside down. She's singing backup with me on 4 tracks (2, 3, 5 & 9). 8. What If - Written by Tom Dooley - MasterMedia Music The worry song. All about the dumb things we worry about but have no control over. It's really about turning the negative into the positive. Folk Country. Great Dobro. Shades of John Prine 9. Phony Baloney Blues - Written by Tom Dooley - MasterMedia Music I wrote this for Waylon Jennings. But he died before he got to hear it. It's basically about a musical fraud. Someone who sings and plays but has no life experience or genuine empathy with his audience. 10. Memphis (2:56) - Written by Chuck Berry - Isalee Music Co. I grew up in Memphis and always loved Chuck Berry's great song. My version has the big band behind it. Punchy horn section, great lead guitar riffs. It's in the groove and rocks. 11. Hallelujah Boogie (3:38) - Written by Tom Dooley -MasterMedia Music The one gospel song on the album. It's about the joy of salvation. Pure rockabilly. Hot lead guitar licks from Landon and Charlie Lowe's pumping piano is worth the price of admission.
Produced by Landon Spradlin  Landon Spradlin  Mike Gage |
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Of course, we were huge Elvis fans. He would often rent the amusement park at the Fairgrounds from midnight 'til dawn for a private party. One time Steve Thornton and me, both 14, were coming home late on bus past the park and saw the lights on. We knew it was Elvis. We got off and climbed over the fence. Sure enough there he was...the king of rock 'n roll right before our eyes! We blended in with about 100 people and nobody questioned us. I spent the night playing bumper cars and riding the roller coaster over and over as Elvis sang Roy Orbison songs. Another time me and Steve climbed over the wall at Graceland where we saw him again in the kitchen with a group of people. A few minutes later we got caught when Elvis and his friends came outside. |
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On my visit to Memphis I was amazed to see the old Sam Phillips Recording Studio still standing. It was Mr. Phillips who, almost single-handedly, invented rock 'n roll by discovering and recording Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash & Carl Perkins. I was a pretty bold kid and I used to go there. Scotty Moore, Elvis' guitar player, would often let me hang out in the studio and play the instruments. (wow!) About this same time I was discovering "soul" music as Stax Records was hitting the national charts with groups like The Mar-Keys, The Barkays and Booker T. and The MG's. I was living in a neighborhood where a lot of people were making hit records. Memphis was on fire musically and I was right in the middle of it! I recorded my first single at the age of 14 but before it was released my Mom moved us to Savannah, Georgia where I attended a Christian Boarding School outside of town.
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The school was a miserable experience but Savannah was cool. When my record was released I started making the rounds of the local radio stations trying to get them to play it. It was not a very good record but it got a couple of spins. Savannah was a milestone place for me because it was there that I got bit by the "radio bug." I convinced my Mom that I had found my purpose in life in radio. It just so happened there was a radio school back in Memphis. We both missed it so we packed up and headed home. I was back in music heaven, in radio school at the age of 15 and feeling like the king of the world. There's a song on the album called "Growin' Up In Memphis (track 2) that is autobiographical and is actually the story of a real piece of musical history, Memphis in the 60's. No, I'm not a cowboy but I do like the hat! Sorry |
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