University of South Carolina Libraries
Features Friday, April 17, 1987 ^ ^ 'Blues Do< By SAMUEL STARKS Features reporter Drink Small, known as the "Blues Doctor," started playing music at the age of 14. He's gone from performing in "glee clubs" to become a guitarist who has been called South Carolina s foremost blues entertainer. Small said he had no formal music lessons. He grew up listening to John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudder and the Grand Ole Opry. He gives them the credit for his wide variety of musical experience. "l can play tnc diucs in an styles, but I didn't realize it until I listened to a lot of guys play. I can play all styles, whereas they can only play certain styles. That's how I acquired the name 'Blues Doctor,"' he said. "I actually started out playing organ, a little old country organ ? one you pump with your feet. Everbody at that time learned to Dlav 'Coonshine. Baby. Coon shine. . . .' It was beautiful." "My first guitar, believe it or not, I made myself ? I wanted a guitar so bad. . . Nowadays, when kids ask me how that old guitar sounded, I tell 'em, 'like a bumble bee in a paper bag trying to get out,"* he said. Small said that as a teenager, he played small house gigs on Friday and Saturday nights. But his first professional experience was in the gospel field. He began his gospel career with the Jubilee Kings in Sumter. After remaining with them for a while, he formed nis own group, cauea i ne six Stars. Before singing the blues, Small went on to play gospel with the Golden Five from Bishopville and the Spiritualaires, which was one of the most popular gospel music groups in the United States in the mid-1950s. "We (Spiritualaires) ended up touring about 40 states, played the Apollo Theater in New York and recorded some on the Vee Jay label. In 1957, I was voted 'Best Gospel Guitarist' by Metronome, a popular music magazine. Things were going pretty good, but then, like it's got to happen. . . we broke up and For the Rec< In Wednesday's issue of The Ga> that the play Jesse and the Bath Wednesday. The play opened 1 Gamecock apologizes for any inec The name of Jesse James was a the outline beneath the photograpl Got: a tip ZZ J^ev/SL.7726 _ F >attjr ^:~3913 GOT r We urgently need peo I to aid in medical resee had mono within the | qualify for $100 per v\ time. Call 254-6537. np\ Serol s 2719 Mid Iwl Colu f Serologicals [-/ ^VVL,. OPEr V r U, 11AM ? x1 / 2 NS I COCOIMl i - sur< 'LOTS' OF KICH ^ WITH JUST A LIT A UTILE PIN FEW WALNUTS/ A \A/LJIOD( n f'Ui A ^ vv r i ?r r u vs v- rv i. 11# $ OUTRAGEOUSLY GOOD! ;tor' sings that was that," he said. It was after the break-up of the Spiritualaircs that Small started singing and playing the blues for a living. By the time he was successful with the blues, he had moved to Columbia. "I organized a blues group and started playing all of the colleges in South Carolina, North ^ 1? 1 O 11/1 Carolina auu ucui^m. wncn mc kids heard the blues, they went wild. So I got crazy with it then. I cut a little thing for Savoy Records called 'I Love You Alberta,' which ended up on a lot of jukeboxes here in the Carolinas," he said. As a professional blues artist, Small has played the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, the Border Festival in El Paso and the Foothills Festival. He is currently a member of the South Carolina /\ris ^uiimmMuii miu the Lowcountry Blues Society, and he'll perform at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival later this year. "People need to realize that everybody's got the blues. Sometimes, folks forget about their roots and stick their noses up at the blues. A lot of people got the blues and don't know it." "A lot of people who hate the blues got more blues than the one iwhn cinnc th?? Wiipc A rr?mmr?n everyday person when they get down and out might say, 'Man, I got the blues.' When a religious person may figure they don't want to use the 'blues' in their vocabulary and they'll say they're having 'hard trials and tribulations.' They all mean the same thing. All of them are feeling bad. People mess the word 'blues' up before they can understand what it is," he said. Garry Erwin, president of the Lowcountry Blues Society, said, m 111 con flnmnncfratp manv uuian van uviiiviubiuiv j different kinds of music: soul, ragtime, beach music, jazz, funk and country. He is certainly the Palmetto State's foremost bluesman." Small performs frequently in and around Columbia. For information on bookings, performance, dates and locations, con tact Small at 254-2123. ord mecock, it was incorrectly reported dit Queen would open at 8 p.m. hursday at the same time. The mvenience this may have caused. Iso misspelled on page one and on h on page three. f <gij U.{ I i: Z_JSpors; 71BS!_. 1 Plhotp: -39113 I I I I i III 10N0? pie with Mononucleosis irch. If you have or have past 2 weeks, you may ^eek for 3 hours of your o?icals. inc. dleburg Dr. Suite 105 mbia, S C. 29204 254-6537 SCOUPON V '/ Vl TODAY *'rr{*"? ?U ?? ,o^?o sL V NwK -v ' j n it mi nrrn J I LKUHEK JDAE! COCONUT ICt CRFAM ri t runrni Atr svki P tAPPLE TOPPING, A \ND TOPPED OFF WITH M & A PLUMP CHFRRY. UM|T 13Q 1 / Per Coupon IA COUPON EXPIRES tA TOMORROW NIGHT AT 10PM! 4 18 87 his way to 5 ' JH ffi,', 'Zhz^'I. Drink Small sang the blues on (he Ru nart of thp "MrKissirk Midday" conce \ Campus Notices For Sale Help Wanted Housing Lost & Found Personals Services <?! r 1 G0ATFEA1 GUI sm SAT. APRI ! 1:00 PM-5: HAPPY HOUR 1 GOATFEA1 3 COFFEE J M ^E^PSSi?iiP:l# J MEET KIKBI, THE TRI UNUSUAL ALIEN ! J $2.50 ALL STUDENT ADMISSIC A VALID I D. itardom 3? SB ?, 1 % - ?r~^Hn II o Try i* m? - Hr,#? jF -?^5V /ft fc<---: BCtx?yn wft^iwBMBPwjBk HII W mi v fcSff rtrnmr fhfrrrrrrvm n.Mirn t ssell House patio in March as rt series. Where are you hauling this stuff? Vv 1 *G "Store it Yoursel Summer or Monthly Leases Variety ot Sizes iwawi Colonial Four Neighborl 1648 Edmund H*y 2132 Broid flivtr 798 6504 788 5)28 American Red Cross Well Help. Will You'? i..-., HERS 1 IGE .1 L 18 00 PM 1:00 - 7:00 FHERS i BAR J - Bp JS & M lis [ mBamsmmrnm 1.AT'. THE MOST 51 NIT "b.T." )NS, AI.L SHOWS WITH r ; Y/ r. ' T Slrwmi { , # i X t ~ Group hopes (E will erase stude By PATRICK JEAN Assistant features editor The Alliance for Peace is planning to do something about student apathy. The group will present ari "tartn uay fair," noping to educate USC students about local and national political issues ? and groups. Alliance member Amy Brown, an English junior, is organizing the fair. She said the purpose of the event is to introduce students to politicalinterest groups working in Columbia, and to erase their apathy. "I think people at USC wouldn't be so apathetic if they knew the variety of things that exist. There is really a lot out there, but who knows about it?" she said. "Everybody feels isolated in their frustrations, in what they don't think is right with society. They don't feel like they can do anything, even in a I'm hauling it to ^ Colonial Storage^ I v I J U W SUMMIA \ 1/7/7 WlJ S'ORAGl y N> ^ W& If... .and Save"? Resident Managers Fenced and Lighted Storage Centers tiood Locations 120 Deckw Parkar <479 RoMvvood 0(. 781 Bill 717 0462 I 1 The Gamecock THE GAMECOCK is the student newspaper of the University of South Carolina and is published three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the fall and spring semesters and weekly on Wednesdays during both summer sessions, with the exception of university holidays and examination periods. Opinions expressed in THE GAMECOCK are those of the editors and not those of the University of South Carolina. The Board of Student Publications and Communications is the publisher of THE GAMECOCK. The Student Media Department is the parent organiration of THE GAMECOCK. Change of address forms, subscription reauests and other corresnondence should be aent to THE GAMECOCK, Drawer A, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C. 29208. Subacription ratea are $18.00 for (1) year, $8.00 per fall or apring aemeater and S3.00 for both aummer aeaaiona. Third claaa poatage paid at Columbia, S.C. THE GAMECOCK ia a licenaed atudent organization of the Univeralty of South Carolina and receivea funding from atudent activity feea. r Mo Bijou Theatre ! Menage Mon-Fri 7& Sun., 2-4-6&8 Gamecock Theatre Crocodile Dundee 5: From Another Star Spring Valley Theal Platoon 2:15-4:40-1 Tin Men 2:45-5:00 Police Academy IV j; ? ?-?/ J Blind Date 3:10-5:1 J * arth Day Fair' I nts' apathy 1 group. But it's nicc to know that a lot of people are out there doing things as a group." A number of groups will set uJfc up information tables on the patio. The USC groups rpnrpcpntpH inrliidp the alliance, the Free South Africa Alliance and the Women's Informative Collective Association. Columbia groups include the Committee on Central America, the Rape Crisis Network and the South Carolina Energy Research Foundation. Local chapters of the National Organization for ^ Women, the Sierra Club and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will set up tables and have speakers at lunchtime, as will COCA and WICA. The fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday on the Russell House patio. \ "ORIGINAL, ? < UNSETTLING, CRAZILY FUNNY." ? VINCENT CANDY. NtWYOKK TIMll "KINKY, RAUNCHY, I AUVTUIUA /1/NCC 3 Mm i minu-viv/M SEX COMEDY." 1 -WILLIAM WOLF GANNETT NEWS SERVICE "A MERRY DESCENT t INTO HELL." m \ -MOLLYHASKELL VOGUE i "EXPLICITLY HILARIOUS." - JIMLYIALLMER. HEW YORK POST "SHOCKING, f\lCTIinniMA A Lift K/iJivirvuinu mhu RICHLY COMIC." ] - DAVID IIDA WOMIN S W? AR DAILY "INGENUOUS AND VIGOROUS > | ...A RAUCOUS ROMANTIC FARCE." AlCHAftO COMIS1 TIMC MAGA/INf ) DERTRAND WJER f&Kr ? ? r\v 1 m *? ?*? :* A * J pli !] GERARD MICHEL MIOU- ! i DEPARDIEU DLANC MIOU | I $3.00 for student NiQi?tiy 7 & 9 I tj gt all tlfTlOS Sat: 2-4-0-8-^O I kWI?>C ' V IVU I 9; Sat., 2-4 6 8&10; j 30 7:30 9:30 (PG-13) m 5:15-7:15-9:15 (PG) W tre 7:10-9:40 (R) 7:15 9:20 (R) 3:30 5:30 7:30 9:30 | 10 7:20 9:15 (PG-13) ! m [ ~ f