Harry Aldridge
The Seemingly Endless Saga of Harry Aldridge (AKA "Bootleg") Cont'd
1964 - The British Invasion "There's Magic In The Music!"
by Harry Aldridge
We became "The Bushmen" - The name was given by local DJ Bob A-Lou, who called us the "Bush Boys" because of our hair (later changed to "Bushmen"). These were very exciting times and the band really took off.
1965 - 1970: On the move - it's magic time! (or "Excuse me, Miss, are those your briefs or mine?")
In 1967 The Bushmen home base became Atlanta, Georgia because it was a much better hub for booking, and because we had leased our first studio for recording.
The band was playing all over the southeast to large crowds with tremendous audience response. The money was good and those were really happy days. We opened the show for lots of big acts on concert in our area, and nine times out of ten the crrowd preferred The Bushmen to the established artists. But The Bushmen never succeeded in the studio - where it counted most. The studio material never came close to the live performances.
We had a couple of old formula regional hits and the band members slowly started to give up and drop out. The magic faded as the original members bailed out.
In 1969 I fell in love and married Brenda Alexander of Warner Robins, Georgia. The winds of change are howling.
Over the Christmas holidays of 1970 while back home in Douglas, Georgia, I saw my old friend Ronnie Milsap. He asked me if I would like to play bass with him in Memphis, Tennessee, his current home base. His bass player was leaving. So am I. I'm ready for a change.