Harry Aldridge
The Seemingly Endless Saga of Harry Aldridge (AKA "Bootleg") Cont'd
1961 - 1962 "So Long Paradise!"
by Harry Aldridge
We moved back to Douglas, Georgia. I agreed to the move only after Dad bought me a 1949 Chevy for fifteen dollars. He had to rebuild the engine to get me off and running.
Our next-door neighbors were the Reeves family. Their daughter, Joyce, would later marry Ronnie Milsap, who became a friend. Their son, Billy, would play bass with one of the first performing bands that I became a member of in 1963.
But my first paying job was with Roy McCrory. He was a big, handsome, ladies man who sang well and played guitar. His band played every Friday night at a juke joint called "Faye's Place", which was on the outskirts of Ocilla, Georgia. The club was dark and smoky, and it had more than its share of body contact between the patrons (lovin' and fightin'). I was so self-conscious that part of the time I played with my back to the crowd. I remember singing two songs in particular in the beginning: "Down The Line" by Jerry Lee Lewis, and "Tina-A-Ling" by Buddy Holly. The crowd and the band members really seemed to enjoy them both and were very encouraging.
Later that night, back at home after the gig, I sat on my bed and looked at the twenty dollars that I had made and I knew that I had found my calling!
On Saturday night the band played at the Cordelle, Georgia National Guard Armory for a mixed crowd that not only wanted to bop to the latest "Top 40" tunes, but also square dance. Get down! Hoe down!
The guys in the band were in their twenties and thirties, while I was only sixteen. Before long I was ready to be a part of a band with members closer to my own age who also had dreams of stardom!
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