Take the Test of Rock

2 Apr

A few posts ago, I wrote about a class that I am teaching called United States History: 1941 to the Present and how I am spending some time on the history of Rock n’ Roll. We talked about the beginnings of the genre when we covered the 1950s, but the students received most of their information from Rock: Music, Culture and Business, a book that I thought would be interesting.Rock Book

I wrote about the test that I was going to give them, and Dying Note, who you guys should check out, wanted to take the test, as well. So, here it is. Take the test, and see how well you know the history of Rock. However, I should explain something on the front end. All of the questions came from the book, which was divided into twelve chapters. Simply, I asked two questions from each chapter and added one other to make twenty-five. After all, twenty-five question is easier to calculate than twenty-four.

With that being said, feel free to take the Test of Rock.

1. What was Napster?

2. Kurt Cobain was lead singer for what group?

A. Green Day

B. Hootie & the Blowfish

C. Nirvana

D. Pearl Jam

3. What band, led by Ozzy Osbourne, is generally considered to be the first real metal group?

A. Black Sabbath

B. Juda Priest

C. Led Zeppelin

D. Metallica

4. Debuting in 1981, how did MTV change the way the music industry operated?

5. Reggae was:

A. associated with the Rastafarian movement, which was inspired by the work of Marcus Garvey.

B. named from a slang term meaning “everyday stuff”.

C. the first musical style in the Rock era to originate in the Third World.

D. All of the Above

6. Which did novelist Thomas Wolfe call “the Me Decade”?

A. 1960s

B. 1970s

C. 1980s

D. 1990s

7. Who was known as the “Godfather of Soul”?

A. James Brown

B. Marvin Gaye

C. Isaac Hayes

D. Otis Redding

8. Name two bands that were part of the “British Invasion”.

9. What made Motown different from other production companies?

A. It was headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, far from Los Angeles, center of the 1960s music scene.

B. It was owned by white entrepreneurs and produced music for African-American audiences.

C. It was under African-American control and produced music not directed primarily at African-American audiences.

D. Both A and C

10. What did the Boogie-Woogie piano style spring from?

11. What is a cover version?

12. What was payola?

13. Which of the following had a pre-Rock n’ Roll hit with “Love and Marriage”?

A. Nat “King” Cole

B. Perry Como

C. Frank Sinatra

D. Hank Williams

14. Alan Freed:

A. first used the term “Rock n’ Roll” for commercial purposes.

B. promoted concert tours featuring African-American artists who played for racially mixed audiences.

C. was arrested for anarchy and incitement to riot when a fight broke out at one of his concerts.

D. All of the Above

15. Which early Rock n’ Roll piano player was known as “The Killer”?

A. Fats Domino

B. Buddy Holly

C. Jerry Lee Lewis

D. Little Richard

16. What band personified the “California Sound” with songs about surfing and became the best-selling American group of the 1960s?

17. In a few sentences, what is the importance of Bob Dylan in the history of American music?

18. What was the counterculture of the 1960s?

19. Name two bands that fit in the “Southern Rock” genre.

20. The term “Disco” is derived from:

A. “compact disc”, which replaced 8-Track tapes in the 1970s.

B. “discotheque”, which was a European term for a dance club.

C. “record disc”, which could hold lengthy songs that intricate dance moves could be coordinated to.

D. None of the Above

21. Who recorded Thriller, the top-selling album in history?

22. What Hip-Hop group popularized the term “rapper” with the song Rapper’s Delight?

A. Beastie Boys

B. Public Enemy

C. Run-D.M.C.

D. Sugarhill Gang

23. What is digital sampling?

24. What is MP3?

25. At this time, who is your favorite artist?

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Into the Sunset

1 Apr

It’s a cliché of the western movie genre. The hero has lived through some adventure, and, when it’s over, he gets on his horse and rides into the sunset. I have watched that scene dozens of times, and it fascinates me every time.

What happens when they disappear over the horizon? What happens after the “The End” placard covers the screen? Does the hero take time off before finding another adventure? Does he die of wounds suffered during the movie? Does he live happily ever after in some frontier town?

All of those questions go through my mind because I have to know the rest of the story. It doesn’t matter how bad the movie is. I still want to know what happens after the credits roll. However, something else goes through my mind, as well. The “into the sunset” scene isn’t always the same.

One of the greatest “into the sunset” scenes doesn’t even have a horse. In The Searchers, Ethan Edwards spends years attempting to rescue his niece from her Comanche captors. When he returns with her, everyone goes into the house except for him. He turns and walks into the desert as the door closes behind him.The Searchers

Where did Edwards go? Did he leave because most of his family was dead? Did he wander because there was no purpose in his life? All of the wars were over. Or, did he think back over the past years before turning around and coming back?

John Wayne walked away in The Searchers, but Clint Eastwood could be the king of “into the sunset” rides. In The Outlaw Josey Wales, he is bleeding as he rides away. Does he live? If so, then does he go back to the friends that he has gained throughout the movie? Or, does he disappear from history?

Sometimes, he completely disappears because we really don’t know what he is. In Pale Rider, Eastwood evaporates from the scene. Is he some kind of spirit or is he just a mysterious gunman?

Those were great, but my favorite Eastwood ending comes from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Blondie leaves Tuco with a noose around his neck and gold at his feet. After an impossible rifle shot to save Tuco, Blondie rides away to one of the greatest movie scores of all time.

A more recent western has an “into the sunset” scene at the end. The difference is the adventure that precedes it. In Cowboys and Aliens, James Bond defeats aliens with the help of Indiana Jones. Oh, Boyd Crowder helps out, too. This time the hero is truly a loner. His wife is dead. His alien love interest is dead. He is considered dead. Heck, the dog doesn’t even go with him. In this one, the hero probably went somewhere and cried.

The cool thing about “into the sunset” scenes is that they are no longer reserved for westerns only. Remember what happened at the end of The Dark Knight? He agrees to be the fall guy and live life as a villain. Then, he hops on his jacked out motorcycle and rides into a tunnel. There is no sunset, but there is a cool speech and some kind of light up ahead. I hope it’s not a train.The Dark Knight

Everybody knows what happened to him after that because we have sequels now. There should not have been a sequel to this one. Wondering what happened to Batman was a lot better than knowing that he faked his death and ended up with Catwoman.

Ok, so John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, James Bond and Batman all have had great scenes to end movies. However my favorite “into the sunset” scene comes from a movie that isn’t very good. At the end of Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, Don Johnson, as Marlboro, goes back to his roots and enters a rodeo. At the same time, Mickey Rourke, as Harley, rides his motorcycle into the sunset with an 80s vixen on the back and Black Eyed Susan playing in the background.Harley Ending

Why is that my favorite? Because it’s the only one that seems like a happy ending. He’s not alone. He’s not wounded. And, there is no doubt that something good is going to happen further down the road.

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A Story About Steak and Vienna Sausages

31 Mar

Tonight, we celebrated my dad’s birthday, and we did it a little differently this time. The usual birthday celebrations of my family involve going to Gondola, a local Italian restaurant, and having homemade hot fudge cake. That’s a good way to celebrate, but it gets a little old at times. Maybe my dad felt the same way because he requested a change.

This time, we went to the Hermitage Steak House.Hermitage Steak House

It sits on the edges of Andrew Jackson’s property and is named after his home, the Hermitage. However, it did not always have this name. It opened as Rachel’s Kitchen, which was an homage to Mrs. Jackson. I don’t remember the Rachel years, but I vividly remember what came next.

When I was a kid, my parents took me to eat at The Peddler all of the time, and I was fascinated by it. They had crackers and butter on the table, which any kid can make a meal out of. They also had this awesome salad bar with the best Thousand Island dressing that has ever been made and sliced up Vienna sausages. I could eat them straight out of the can, so putting them on a salad bar completely made my dining experience.

Those were cool but not as cool as the guy who brought around the meat. When you ordered, this guy with a chef’s hat brought around  a rolling cart with slabs of beef. He would show you the different meats, and you could choose which slab you wanted your steak to be cut from. Once selected, he would start cutting right there at the table.

I can’t count the number of times that I ate at The Peddler. Heck, I even took a few dates there. I took a girl named Lynn to the Governor’s Inaugural Ball when we were in high school. Before going to the ball, we went to The Peddler. Later, I tried to impress a girl named Bethany by taking her there. As it turns out, she left an impression on me. When the waiter asked how she wanted her steak prepared, Bethany replied,

“Raw.”

“Rare?”

“No, raw. Place it on the grill. Flip it. Then, take it off.”

I sat there stunned as Bethany ate a raw steak. I never asked her out again.

Tonight’s experience was better than that one. My entire family was there with my girlfriend and her daughter. We talked and laughed and had a grand time. The Hermitage Steak House is still good, but some things just aren’t the same. There is not butter with the crackers. There are no sliced Vienna sausages on the salad bar. The guy doesn’t bring the meat around anymore.

We did go retro with our choice of birthday cake. It came from Clayborn’s Bakery, a locally owned place in my hometown. It started out with one name then took another one. It was closed but has recently reopened. I know that every town has a place with the best donuts, cookies and cakes in the world, but this one actually has all of those things.

However, that is another story for another day.

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Grand Ole Opry Song

29 Mar

Most people probably know that Nashville is known as “Music City”, and those same people probably know that it is called that because of the country music industry. Nashville actually has been a hotbed of several musical genres. At one time, there was a strong R&B scene, and Jimi Hendrix honed his craft in the clubs on Jefferson Street. Bob Dylan spent a great deal of time in the city, and Elvis Presley recorded here all the time. Heck, the Black Keys and Jack White currently call Nashville home.

Despite a diverse history, country music was and continues to be the dominating form, and, these days, it is dominated by performers like Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown. I can’t name them all because I don’t really like what they do. Today’s country seems like a Frankenstein’s monster to me. Take a little bit of country. Take a little bit of rock. Throw in a few more things. Once, you are finished a monstrosity has been created. Personally, I blame Garth Brooks.

Nashville didn’t become “Music City” because of today’s stars. It became “Music City” in the early part of the 20th Century because of a radio show, the Grand Ole Opry. It could be heard every Saturday night on WSM, a powerful AM station that took its signal throughout the United States. In the days before nationwide concert tours, artists could get their music to the masses over the radio. Since the performers gathered in Nashville to perform on the Opry, it made sense for record companies to set up studios nearby. As years passed, Nashville became the destination for those who wanted to get in the country music business.

Sometimes, I think that story gets lost in the glitz and glamor of the modern country music industry. In the old days, country artists didn’t have laser shows at their concerts. They definitely didn’t run around the stage and shake their asses. They stood behind the microphone and sang about heartbreak and trains.

Jimmy Martin was one of the old-time singers.

Jimmy Martin

Jimmy Martin

Known as the “King of Bluegrass”, he performed on the Opry many times. Unfortunately, he faced the demons of alcohol abuse, and uncertainty kept him from becoming a full member of the Opry. Despite that, he recorded “Grand Ole Opry Song“, an ode to the show and the people who made it special. I thought it would be interesting to use that song to introduce (or remind) the blogosphere to some of the people who turned Nashville into “Music City”.

Come and listen to my story if you will I’m gonna tell

About a gang of fellers from down at Nashville

First I’ll start with old Red Foley doin’ the ‘Chattanooga Shoe’

Red Foley

Red Foley

We can’t forget Hank Williams with them good old ‘Lovesick Blues’

Hank WIlliams

Hank Williams

It’s time for Roy Acuff to go to Memphis on his train

Roy Acuff

Roy Acuff

With Minnie Pearl and Rod Brasfield and Lazy Jim Day

Minnie Pearl

Minnie Pearl

Rod Brasfield

Rod Brasfield

Jim Day

Jim Day

Turn on all your radios I know that you will wait

Hear Little Jimmy Dickens sing ‘Take an Old Cold Tater and Wait’

Little Jimmy Dickens

Little Jimmy Dickens

There’ll be guitars and fiddles, Earl Scruggs and his banjo too

Earl Scruggs

Earl Scruggs

Bill Monroe singing out them ole ‘Kentucky Blues’

Bill Monroe

Bill Monroe

Ernest Tubb’s number, ‘Two Wrongs Won’t Make a Right’

Ernest Tubb

Ernest Tubb

At the Grand Ole Opry every Saturday night

There  was Uncle Dave Macon his gold tooth and plug hat

Uncle Dave Macon

Uncle Dave Macon

Cowboy Copas singing ‘Tragic Romance’

Cowboy Copas

Cowboy Copas

Signed sealed and delivered with Sam and Kirk McGee

Sam and Kirk McGee

Sam and Kirk McGee

And the master of ceremony was Mr. George D Hay

George D. Hay

George D. Hay

There was Lonzo and Oscar a-poppin’ bubble gum

Lonzo and Oscar

Lonzo and Oscar

George Morgan singin’ ‘Candy Kisses’ yum, yum

George Morgan

George Morgan

‘Got a Hole in My Bucket’ ‘Bringin’ in that Georgia Mail’

We’ll sing ‘The Sunny Side of the Mountain’

And dance to the ‘Chicken Reel’

You can talk about your singers in all kinds of way

But none could sing the old songs like Bradley Kincaid

Bradley Kincaid

Bradley Kincaid

With his old hound dog ‘Guitar’ and the famous ‘Blue Tail Fly’

Stringbean with Hank Snow and old fiddlin’ Chubby Wise

Stringbean

Stringbean

Hank Snow

Hank Snow

Chubby Wise

Chubby Wise

Now, that’s country.

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The Test of Rock

26 Mar

This semester, I am teaching United States: 1941 to the Present, and we cover the stuff that you would probably expect – presidents, the Cold War, the hot wars, Civil Rights, space. Heck, you name it, and we talk about it. However, I decided to mix in something else this semester as a prelude to something that I would like to do in the future. Amidst all of the topics of the 20th Century, we are interweaving Rock n’ Roll.

That’s right. I am the Jack Black of our university. I think that’s pretty good for someone who can only play the radio.

As we made our way through the 1950s, we went over the beginnings of Rock n’ Roll and some of the people who got it started. We haven’t talked much about it since, but the students have been reading a book, Rock: Music, Culture and Business, that covers the genre through seven decades. Tomorrow, they get to take a test. The Test of Rock.

Joan Jett - The Crush of my High School Existence

Joan Jett – The Crush of my High School Existence

It has been tougher to make out than I thought it would be. There’s just too much stuff that I want to put in the test. Each time I turn a page I find something else that would make a great question. In case the students are reading this, I won’t write about the questions I came up with. Just know that it could have been the biggest test that I have ever made.

Part of this inspiration comes from this past Friday night when I saw Eric Clapton in concert.

Slow Hand

Slow Hand

I have seen him before and written about that in “Listeria – Guitar Gods Edition“. This show was better than that show. Wait, this performance was better than that performance. The last show was better because I was on the 20th row. This time I had to watch the screens to get a good view.

Anyway, Clapton was at the top of his game. He played songs that everyone wanted to hear along with Blues numbers. He also played a pre-Rock song called “Good Night, Irene” that is covered in the book that the class is reading. The bad part about the concert? He didn’t play “Layla“, which disappointed everyone, and he didn’t play “Badge” which disappointed me.

So, it seems that I have surrounded myself with Rock music, and there is nothing wrong with that. I wonder if there will be a question about Eric Clapton on the test.

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This Treadmill is Made for Walking

22 Mar

When people see my treadmill, they always ask if it is used for hanging laundry or for exercising. Well, I don’t do laundry, so that only leaves one option. However, I must admit that I didn’t use it effectively for a long time. I ignored it; pretended like it wasn’t there; and left it sitting in its space like it was broken down or something. Then, something strange happened. I got a physical and was told that I needed some kind of exercise, and I figured that I couldn’t ignore the treadmill any longer. In fact, I just got off of it.

This is not an accurate depiction of me. I would never wear a sweat band.

This is not an accurate depiction of me. I would never wear a sweat band.

Treadmills have been compared to hamster wheels, and that comparison is understandable. You go and go and go and don’t end up anywhere. But, isn’t that a metaphor for some times in our lives. No matter what we do something seems to be holding us in place. I think about stuff like that when I am on the treadmill. Am I a hamster on a wheel with no true destination? If that’s true, then at least I am not just sitting there eating hamster food.

I'll get on that wheel tomorrow.

I’ll get on that wheel tomorrow.

A lot of people think treadmills are boring because of that “stuck in one spot” mentality, but there are ways to keep things interesting. The aforementioned thinking is a good example. It’s a good place to let your mind roam without being interrupted by television, Twitter or the other gadgets that we have grown attached to.

Another way to prevent boredom and improve health is to vary the speeds that you are not traveling. My regimen starts with a 5 minute warm up at a speed of 2.5. Then, I hit 3.0 for 8 minutes and follow that with 2 minutes of 3.5. I kick it back down to 3.2 for another 8 minutes before revving up to 3.7 for 2 minutes more. Then, it’s back down to 3.3 for 8 minutes and back up to 3.8 for 2 more minutes. All that is concluded with a 5 minute cool down at 2.5. Before I know it, 40 minutes of exercised has passed me by. I’m not moving, so it had to be going by me.

Most of the time, I keep boredom further away by reading the Kindle, and it’s funny how some books make the exercise go faster than other ones. I just finished Cobb, a biography of Ty Cobb.

The Georgia Peach

The Georgia Peach

He is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time and definitely one of the meanest. His is a fascinating life, but it isn’t conducive to the treadmill. I thought I was never going to get through it or the 40 minute sessions of walking in one spot.

The current book, The Blood Gospel, is flying by along with the walking. It is about the role of vampires in the beginnings of Christianity. It’s fiction – I think.

Fact or Fiction?

Fact or Fiction?

Here’s the thing though. I can only read the Kindle on the treadmill. I can’t read real books. People tell me that they can’t read on the treadmill, but I am convinced that they have never tried a Kindle. There are no pages to turn. There is no fighting to keep it on the rack. You just stick it up there and touch the screen. The trick is picking the right book. Unfortunately, once I start a book I have to finish it. Good or bad, I am stuck with it.

It looks like I am stuck with the treadmill, too. I may sound as crazy as Ty Cobb, but I actually like the thing.

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Get Lucky

19 Mar

We have made it through one of those weird holidays that many Americans have adopted because it is a good excuse to get drunk. We have Cinco de Mayo, which I’m not sure is that big of a deal in Mexico. We also have the most recent one – St. Patrick’s Day. I always find it interesting because most Americans are not Catholic and are not of Irish descent. I wonder how many revellers in green actually know who St. Patrick is.

Anyway, this is not a post about holidays of drinking. This is a post about something else that is associated with Ireland. I have always heard the old saying about “the luck of the Irish”, and I have been thinking quite a bit lately about luck. I have always considered my self lucky, and this is not just some useless opinion on my part. There is scientific proof.

Many years ago, some friends and I went to a psychic. Some of us actually believed in fortune-telling, and some of us were going for the fun. We were instructed to only tell the lady our birth date and time. Honestly, we were kind of nervous because she was a local celebrity of sorts. She was a morning personality on the local Rock station that we all listened to.

So, I go into her room with my information, and she plugs it into a computer program that brought up the alignment of the stars at the time of my birth. She studied it for a while before saying that I had the highest quotient of luck of anyone she had ever read. I thought that was cool and somewhat accurate.

I have been very fortunate in many aspects of my life. I won’t bore anyone with details, but I have been able to do the things that I have wanted to do. I have seen the places that I wanted to see. I have had the job that I have always wanted to have.

I only hope that my luck doesn’t run out.

What makes luck? I don’t know. Some people say that we make our own luck. That could be true. Others say that luck just happens sometimes. That could be true, too. Heck, it could be a little of both.

To help keep my luck going, I have decided to list a bunch of “lucky” things.

Lucky Brand Jeans – I wear them, so maybe that will keep the luck flowing.

I don't wear them as well as she does.

I don’t wear them as well as she does.

Luck Be a Lady – Hey, this song was good to Sinatra, so maybe it will be good to me.

The epitome of cool.

The epitome of cool.

Lucky Luciano – He must have been lucky because he is one of the few Mafia guys who died of natural causes.

The Father of Modern Organized Crime

The Father of Modern Organized Crime

Lucky Charms – I have never eaten them. Perhaps I should.

I'm not sure about that guy.

I’m not sure about that guy.

Is that enough luck? I thought about listing Luck, the HBO series, but they killed a couple of horses. I wouldn’t consider that very lucky. There is also this great movie called Lucky Number Slevin that I have seen a thousand times, but almost everyone gets killed. That’s not very lucky, either.

That settles it. I am sticking with the “lucky” things that I mentioned, and I hope everyone that reads this gets lucky.

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What Is This Post About?

17 Mar

There’s not much going on in my head tonight. No words of wisdom. No original blogging ideas. Heck, I’m not even sure why I turned on the computer and logged into WordPress. It could be that I got tired of watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on BBC America. The episode that just ended saw Geordi turn into an alien. The next episode has Barkley turning into a superhuman. It seems that everyone is always turning into something on that show.

I went to a couple of sessions of the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament this week. My team lost, and the other games weren’t very exciting, either. Probably, the most exciting part about the week was finding myself behind a Fisker Karma. Don’t worry. I also didn’t know what it was, but I looked up the price. Base: $94,000.

The Karma

The Karma

I hope the driver remembers that Karma is a bitch sometimes.

For some reason, Eric Cartman just entered my head.Eric CartmanI haven’t seen Southpark in a long time. Unlike Star Trek: The Next Generation, they don’t turn into different things on that show. They do a lot of funny crap, though.

Oh, there’s this other thing that popped into my head. The Moody Blues recorded an album called Days of Future Past that I have always been fascinated with.Moody Blues

It’s a concept album that takes the listener through the day from morning until night. Each song is about a certain time of day. The album includes Nights in White Satin and other songs, but it begins and ends with poetry. Those poems are what has fascinated me.

The Day Begins

Cold hearted orb that rules the night
Removes the colours from our sight
Red is gray and yellow, white
But we decide which is right
And which is an illusion

Pinprick holes in a colourless sky
Let insipid figures of light pass by
The mighty light of ten thousand suns
Challenges infinity and is soon gone
Night time, to some a brief interlude
To others the fear of solitude

Brave Helios, wake up your steeds
Bring the warmth the countryside needs

Late Lament

Breathe deep the gathering gloom
Watch lights fade from every room
Bedsitter people look back and lament
Another day’s useless energy spent

Impassioned lovers wrestle as one
Lonely man cries for love and has none
New mother picks up and suckles her son
Senior citizens wish they were young

Cold hearted orb that rules the night
Removes the colours from our sight
Red is grey and yellow, white
But we decide which is right
And which is an illusion

So, what is this post about?

It’s about a car that is a bitch to pay for and could be a bitch to drive.

It’s about Eric Cartman, one of the great authority figures of our time.

It’s about the poetry of the Moody Blues.

It’s about needing to write something and just letting stuff pour onto the screen.

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The Le-Al-Co Story – Epilogue

15 Mar

Part VII

In 1994, the Bell family sold Le-Al-Co to the Caradon Corporation in London. The facility in Lebanon produced windows and doors for another year with many of the same employees, but the operation eventually closed. Le-Al-Co products are no longer made and can no longer be purchased in cities across the nation. The sounds that filled the building at 301 Hartmann Drive are no longer heard – saws cutting aluminum; people talking in the break room; music blaring from the speakers; forklifts zooming around; telephones ringing in the office.LeAlCo

It would be easy to think that Charles Bell’s dream ended when the last product left the assembly line, but that is underestimating both Bell and his dream. Growing up, he wanted to succeed and possessed the necessary work ethic and dedication. Those, along with opportunity and help from others, allowed him to achieve the dream.

In the business world, success is measured by wealth, and, in life, success is measured in respect. Bell gained both through his work and commitment to the people who he worked alongside. This can be seen through the numerous industry awards that Le-Al-Co received, including the Home Depot Vendor of the Year in 1984; the National Home Center Show Award of Distinction in 1985; the DIY Home Warehouse Special Recognition Award in 1991; the Marvin’s Vendor of the Year in 1991; and, the Scotty’s Partner of the Year in 1992.

Production at Le-Al-Co has stopped, but, through the memories of the people who worked there, it will remain long after the last door and window are replaced.

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If You Can’t Beat Them Then Merge With Them

14 Mar

Part VI

Charles Bell actually created two Le-Al-Co’s, and those who knew about one did not always know about the other. The Le-Al-Co that has been described was Bell’s business, but the other Le-Al-Co, a softball team, was his hobby. Bell ran his team with the same drive for success and enthusiasm that he ran his business.

Bell’s involvement in softball began in the 1960s when he sponsored a fast pitch team made up of men from Lebanon and the surrounding area. Most of their games were played locally, but Bell wanted to treat the players to a vacation and an experience they would not forget. He scheduled a double-header with the Clearwater Bombers of Florida, a team that had a two-year winning streak and was considered by most to be the best in the world. Shockingly, Le-Al-Co defeated the Bombers 1-0, in what could be the greatest upset in the Bomber’s history.

Obviously, Bell had a successful fast pitch team, but the players decided to try slow pitch, a new version of the sport. Le-Al-Co won its first slow pitch tournament and began a new course. Bell partnered with Allen Skeen to build a team designed to compete in the new sport. Soon, the Le-Al-Co Storms, named after storm doors and windows, were dominating the local competition with players such as Ray “Pop” Nixon and Alex Buhler.

In 1974, Bell and Skeen realized that to reach the ultimate goal, a state championship, new players needed to be added to the roster. Skeen recruited Mac Stalcup, a Knoxville player, to move to Lebanon and join the team. With Stalcup inserted into a strong lineup, Le-Al-Co defeated the nation’s top ranked team to win the state championship. This began a string of state championship that would eventually total ten, the most of any sponsor in Tennessee history.

Through the 1970s Bell and Skeen continued to pick up players from around the state to replace the local ones. Simply, when they saw a player that they liked they would ask his team’s sponsor if they wanted to merge. When an agreement was reached, they would cut the sponsor and keep the player they wanted. Bell and Skeen often said, “If you can’t beat them then merge with them.” Through this method Le-Al-Co won more games than any team in Tennessee history.

Le-Al-Co’s renown reached past the borders of Tennessee, as the team was consistently ranked in the nation’s top ten and was one of the original teams to be classified in the Super level. This distinguished Le-Al-Co as one of the top five teams in the nation. With its victories and the SuperStorm emblem on the uniforms, Le-Al-Co became one of the most popular teams in the nation.Ring Pictures 002

Softball was also a family affair as the hobby was shared with Charles and Elaine’s youngest son, Rick Bell. He spent the summer weekends of his childhood traveling to tournaments with his father and looking up to the players. As Rick got older, he took on more responsibility and eventually became the bookkeeper and assistant coach. When his father stopped sponsoring a team, Rick continued to coach nationally ranked teams. Despite these accomplishments, a memorable story took place during Rick’s childhood. As Le-Al-Co played on a Saturday night and into early Sunday morning, Rick, refusing to go to bed, leaned on his knees and fell asleep standing up.

After a brief hiatus, Bell sponsored the Le-Al-Co SuperStorms for the last time in 1991. The team finished second in the nation, and the roster included Bruce Meade, possibly the most famous player in slow pitch history. He joined Stalcup, who had played for all but one Le-Al-Co squad since 1974. Le-Al-Co’s success on the field led to Bell’s induction into the Tennessee ASA Softball Hall of Fame in 2010.

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