Charlie Souza - Tampa Bay Music Roots

IMAGES
of America

TAMPA BAY
MUSIC ROOTS

ON THE COVER: The Outlaws were a Southern rock band that was formed in Tampa in 1969. The band became one of the first acts signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis in the mid-1970s. They would eventually become one of the most popular and successful Tampa Bay bands to ever get signed. (Courtesy of John Gellman.)

IMAGES
of America

TAMPA BAY
MUSIC ROOTS

Charlie Souza and Keith Wilkins Foreword by Ronny Elliot

Copyright 2020 by Charlie Souza and Keith Wilkins
ISBN 978-1-4671-0409-8
Ebook ISBN 9781439669211

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019940808

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Telephone 843-853-2070
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I dedicate this book to two of my bandmates who have joined the great rock band in the sky: Buddy Pendergrass and Mel Dryer.

Charlie Souza

I dedicate this book to the most important lady in my lifemy daughter, Kayla. Daddy loves you always!

Keith Wilkins

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

Oh, the stories we could tell. Fortunately, Charlie has told them so that we dont have to. As someone who has lived a life for rock n roll and lived it in the Tampa Bay area, I could not be more grateful.

The big story starts, of course, with Elvis. Doesnt all history begin with Elvis? The Presley in Florida legend is well known and documented. His ties to the TampaSt. Petersburg region are a major part of the entire Elvis Presley phenomena. No Elvis, no Beatlesand thats where our saga really begins.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the Tampa Bay area had a healthy music scene. Of course, segregation meant that African Americans got the best of the deal with Charlie Brantley and His Original Honey Dippers and, later, the Skyliners. St. Pete and Tampa each had venues that figured prominently in the chitlin circuit, providing outlets for Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Hank Ballard, and most of the rest of the rhythm and blues stars of the day.

Hillbilly music flourished. Folk-music history was being made at Beaux Arts in Pinellas Park Dance orchestras, trying to keep up with the demise of swing, packed middle-class whites into Skyhaven, a dive bar in Tampas Drew Park, trying to look like something else.

It was, of course, all becoming rock n roll. We had Benny Joy, and we had the Arena Twins. It was all heading for the Impacs, the Rockers, the Dreamers, and Rodney and the Mystics. Tampa and St. Pete had a unique touch in those days, something vaguely Latin. Something special that would hang on overtime.

Where were we? Oh, yeahthe Beatles.

By 1964, everything had changed. Everything.

For a generation of us, our history of that era is written in the language of rock n roll. Teen clubs were everywhere, in every neighborhood and every small town. Local bands had fan clubs. Records produced and recorded here were making their way around the globe. Every star came through Tampa or St. Pete, performing at Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa, the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Clearwater Auditorium, and the Lakeland Civic Center.

Young girls from junior high cherished an autograph from one of the Roemans as much as any precious jewel. Tropics records climbed the charts of the radio stations WLCY and WALT. The tiny, sweaty dance floor of the Surfers Club was holy. The Inn Crowd and the Spot forged their own legends. The world was ours. The music scene in this area from that period is based on magic as much as history.

Now, Im not big on glory days, and honestly, nostalgia bores me to death. Id be lying to you, though, if I didnt admit that those were the best days of my life. In full disclosure, I should add that Charlie Souza taught me to play. Oh yeah, my first performance onstage was sitting in for him, too, at Madison Junior High School in Tampa in 1964. Charlie claimed to have the flu, and my pals in the Tropics were desperate. In fact, Charlie was performing with the Pastels. They were paying him more.

Thanks, pal.

Ronny Elliot

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Charlie Souza and Keith Wilkins would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their support as well as for their contributions to this book, which made it possible to put all these memories together: the Tampa Bay Music Scene Historical Society, the Florida Music Hall of Fame, the Tampa Bay Music Hall of Fame, Florida Magazines Douglas Cifers, Bradley Davis of Noiz & Messiaxx, Ronny Elliot for agreeing to write the foreword for this book, everyone at Arcadia Publishing for allowing this book to happen, and Tedd Webb for all his support and for keeping historical records of all the great bands on his Tampa Bay Garage Bands website. Finally, thank you to all the musicians, fans, and Tampa Bay music scene professionals who submitted all of their photographs and stories for inclusion in this book. Thank you for helping to keep the memories alive!

INTRODUCTION

They say that music is the universal language, and this may very well be true. The simplest of melodies can make a sad person happy, turn stress into relaxation, and make the brokenhearted feel whole again. The industry behind the music, however, is a much more complex machine.

Before any music artist or band is lucky enough to make it to the big time, they all had to start somewhere. Look at any major city or metropolitan area in the United States, and you will find that each one has its own local independent music scene. Each of these music scenes has a countless number of aspiring artists and bands working hard to try and make a name for themselves in hopes of climbing out of the local music scene and becoming the next major worldwide act. Though very few of these acts will ever make the big time, a select few will at least make a major impact in their respective local music scenesif they are lucky.

Florida has played an important part in the national music scene throughout the decades. Though Florida is divided up into several independent regional music scenes, Tampa Bay has always seemed to be the heart and soul, the nerve center of the state, giving birth to some amazing bands that had moved onto the national scene.

Tampa Bays history as a professional music scene can be traced back to the 1910s. It was during that period in 1914 when the Peerless Quartet, though not actually from the Tampa Bay area, released the song Way Down on Tampa Bay. Five years later, in 1919, the American Federation of MusiciansFlorida Gulf Coast Chapter was formed.

Like many other local music scenes across the United States, Tampa Bays music scene has seen major highs and lows throughout the decades. The scene went through one major boom in the 1960s. This period had seen countless local bands form and build huge followings. Bands such as the Tropics, the Tempests, the Impacs, the Satellites, Those Five, the Mystics, and countless others all made a huge impact in the 1960s.

As big as the 1960s was for the local scene, it paled in comparison to the huge boom that took place in the 1980s. At one point, during the late 1980s through the early 1990s, the bustling scene became so big that it received national attention, even being compared to the Los Angeles music scene. During this time, bands from all over the United States were relocating to Tampa Bay in the hopes of having a better chance of becoming noticed by record label executives and eventually getting signed to a record deal. Music venues were packed during this time. Recording studios, independent record labels, music attorney offices, and music magazines started opening up operations all over the Tampa Bay area as well. It was also during this period in the late 1980s when Tampa Bay became the epicenter of a new musical genre called death metal. Due to this, Tampa Bay earned itself the moniker of the birthplace of death metal by producing such acts as Death, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Obituary, Atheist, Hate Eternal, Monstrosity, Assck, Nocturnus, Acheron, and countless others. Morrisound Recording in Tampa played a huge part during this time by recording a huge majority of the death metal artists in their studios.