Oh, how music often altered the typical high school experience in Memphis! From homework and football practice to appearing on prime-time TV and in the national spotlight. It happened for Isaac Hayes at Manassas, Elvis at Humes, Rufus Thomas at Booker T. Washington. Over at Treadwell High School on North Highland in what was then considered East Memphis, seven classmates decided to start a band… basically a sock hop, school function kind of band… called The Gentrys (there’s a great story about how the group chose their name, however we will leave that story for the band members to tell).
“We started in 1963. We were all in Treadwell High School, Class of ’65, except for Pat [Neal], the bass player. He was a man, 27, 28; married, worked for the railroad.”
Gentry Guitarist Larry Raspberry
Members of the original group included Bruce Bowles (vocals), Bobby Fisher (saxophone and keyboards), Jimmy Hart (vocals), Jimmy Johnson (trumpet), Pat Neal (bass guitar), Larry Raspberry (guitar and lead vocalist) and Larry Wall (drummer) later replaced by Rob Straube and Larry Butler (keyboards). Additional Band Members during the 1963-1966 years included Claude Wayne Whitehead (rhythm guitar), Roonie Moore (bass), Sonny Pittman (bass) and Terry Manning (keyboards).
In September 1964, they managed to take third place at the Mid-South Fair talent competition. But the band kept practicing, and soon found themselves on national TV, after auditioning for the popular “Ted Mack Amateur Hour.” Ted Mack introduced them as “Memphis’ answer to the British invasion” which was consuming the American music charts at the time. Winning the Memphis Battle of The Bands contest helped The Gentrys secure their position as one of the most sought after teenage bands in the Mid-South. They caught the attention of Memphis Music Hall of Fame Inductee Chips Moman, who later helped make Memphis’ American Sound Studio world famous. In 1964, he signed the group to his newly formed Youngstown record label. Their first record was “Sometimes,” with “Little Drops of Water” on the flip side, which was popular locally, and sold only modestly nationally. Then things changed.
A group called the Avantis – three guys who modeled themselves after the Isley Brothers – had toured with, and befriended, The Gentrys. They had recorded the original version of a song titled “Keep On Dancing” for the Chess subsidiary, Argo. The Gentrys ramped it up.
“We very much changed ‘Keep On Dancing’ from the way the Avantis did it, but did keep the words and the background vocal part. Their version was much like the Isley Brothers’ ‘Twist and Shout,’ mid-tempo, like a cha-cha.”
Larry Raspberry
According to Larry Raspberry, “Keep On Dancing” was not only a hit song, but truly became the band’s calling card into the rock ‘n’ roll music arena. This seven-member group from Treadwell took the rock world by storm…which was considered a bit of a surprise. “We were young kids,” Raspberry said, “and not really great musicians. We didn’t know anything about tuning drums or even tuning guitars or how to make things really sound good. Chips (Moman) wanted us to be competitive with the musicians being recorded in Nashville, and yet here he was with kids 17 years old who couldn’t play worth a darn.”
When Moman and the group cut “Keep On Dancing,” Raspberry admits it was the very first time he had ever sung the song. “It was done as a flipside, so there was nothing to be lost with my not having a good voice.” Usually, on most cuts, Bruce Bowles and Jimmy Hart sang lead vocals. Raspberry was tapped for vocals on this B-side selection. The group went in after school one afternoon, started their recording session about 5:00 pm, and recorded until midnight. Most of the session was dedicated to the cut for the A-side. The magical B-side took much less time.
“It took about 35 minutes from the time we decided to cut it until Chips said, ‘That’s the take.’ Our version ran only one minute- thirty seconds – too short even for a B-side – and Chips taped the beginning over and stuck it at the end. It sounds as if the song starts all over again.”
Larry Raspberry
That pause, and the explosive drumroll (repeated throughout the song), captivated radio deejays and a national audience. When that hastily-recorded and patched together B-side, in particular, showed some sparks, Moman contacted MGM’s Jim Vienneau, acquiring the waxing for national release. On October 30, 1965, Billboard named “Keep on Dancing” number four in their Hot 100. It reached No. 5 on Cashbox for two weeks. It stayed on the Hot 100 for 13 weeks and Cashbox for 14 weeks. It surpassed a million copies in sales after leaving the charts. This major success led to appearances on Hullabaloo, Where the Action Is and Shindig. They toured with famous bands including the Beach Boys and Sonny and Cher. They also appeared in the 1967 movie, “It’s a Bikini World.”
Years later, in 1971, “Keep on Dancing” had a second life when it was covered by the Scottish group, The Bay City Rollers, their first homeland major hit, landing in the UK Top 10. The Gentrys name returned to the national listings several more times. “Spread It On Thick” climbed to number 50 in 1966; “Every Day I Have to Cry” topped at number 77, also in 1966. Other charting singles outside of the Billboard Top 40 included “Brown Paper Sack” (1966), “Cinnamon Girl” (1970), originally recorded by Neil Young, “Why Should I Cry” (1970), and “Wild World” (1971), originally recorded by Cat Stevens. By this time, certain band members began to go their separate ways and, in 1970, the original version of The Gentrys broke up.
Rick Allen re-surfaced in a later edition of Memphis’ The Box Tops. Bruce Bowles became a successful sales representative for a Memphis radio station and media. Bobby Fisher became a civil engineer with the City of Memphis. Pat Neal continued work with the railroad and shifted his later musical performances to Country music. Larry Wall became a promotional executive for Columbia/Epic Records.
Post-Gentrys, Larry Raspberry formed a rock band called Alamo that recorded their self-titled debut LP for Atlantic Records in 1970. He then became the frontman for Larry Raspberry & The Highsteppers. His wife Carol Ferrente was also a member. The Highsteppers became one of Memphis’ most popular bands of the ’70s. The band was signed to Enterprise, a division of Stax Records, and started work on their debut album, Highsteppin’ and Fancy Dancin,’ with Raspberry working the dials with Memphis producing legend and Memphis Music Hall of Fame Inductee Don Nix. Raspberry did various acting gigs, including playing Dewey Phillips in the TV movie, “This Is Elvis” and appearing in the cult classic “I Was a Zombie for the F.B.I.” As a songwriter he penned songs for Carly Simon (“Tired of Being Blonde”), the Everly Brothers (“Always Drive a Cadillac”), Jimmy Buffett (“Dixie Diner”) and Carl Perkins (“Let’s Get Upset”).
Jimmy Hart went on as the “Mouth of the South,” to become a successful wrestling manager with the World Wrestling Federation, working with such WWE superstars as Bret Hart, the Honky Tonk Man, Hulk Hogan, Ted DiBiase, and many others … including, of course, his close friend and fellow Memphian, Jerry “The King” Lawler.
He has composed theme songs for many wrestlers. In 2005, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. In 1969 Jimmy Hart reformed the group, The Gentrys, with himself as lead singer, Steve Spear (bass), David Beaver (keyboards), Jimmy Tarbutton (guitar), and Mike Gardner (drums). Three of their singles recorded on Memphis’ legendary Sun Records label climbed onto the Billboard top 100, including “Why Should I Cry,” “Wild World” and” Cinnamon Girl.”
In 1971-72, The Gentrys included Hart (vocals), Wesley Stafford (lead guitar and vocals), Alan Heidelberg (drums) and Bobby Liles (bass). With the help of Marty Lacker (a member of Elvis Presley’s Memphis Mafia), the group secured a recording contract with Capital Records. The group produced the single “Let Me Put this Ring Upon Your Finger”, co-written by Hart and Stafford. Knox Phillips, Memphis producer, Memphis Music Hall of Fame Inductee and son of Sun Records founder, Sam Phillips, was the record producer for recording endeavors during this period. The group also recorded on Memphis’ Stax Records.
“The Gentrys were always Memphis’ group. Even as members changed, and through subsequent reiterations, it was never ‘Larry Raspberry & The Gentry,’ or ‘Bruce Bowles & The Gentrys,’ or ‘Jimmy Hart & The Gentrys.” We were a team. Regardless of lead singer, we were always The Gentrys!”
Jimmy Hart
Recalling The Gentrys’ big success, Larry Raspberry remembered…
“Before, there had only been the Watermelon Festival, or the White River Water Carnival, or the Cotillion Dance in Grenada, Mississippi, for us, till then. Then … BAM! … we were opening for Jerry Lee Lewis, the Beach Boys, Paul Revere; we did ‘Shindig,’ ‘American Bandstand’ twice, and ‘Where The Action Is’ at least twice. Our world really broadened when ‘Keep On Dancing’ hit!”
Watch The Gentry’s Induction
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