Gene Dawson's Music Room
My name is Gene Dawson. I began playing guitar in the early 60's in my home town of Memphis, TN. when I was in my teens. In 1966, I was enlisted into the US Army and served 2 years , (67/68, Vietnam). While stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland in 1966, I met my wife, Susan. After I was discharged from the Army, we lived in Memphis for a year, then we moved to Maryland in 1969. That was a time when long-hair Hippies roamed the Earth. We have lived in various places in Washington, D.C. and the Maryland and Virginia suburbs, including a group house in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. where there was always music going on. We've been married 45 years and have a 34 year old Daughter who was married on September 20th, 2003, who just had our Grandson, Jack, on March 3rd at 12:03 PM, my first Grandson. We also have a 47 year old Daughter, (my step), who's children are Brittany, Sharon Lee, and Jacob. Sharon has 2 children and Brittany has 2 children.
We live in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb in the greater Washington, DC area. We have a Shih-tzu named Sunshine, (rescue), 4-years old. I recently retired from a national real estate manager position with McDonald's Corporation after 26-years.
I first started playing guitar as a kid in Memphis with a few friends who played; we learned together, mostly "boogie woogie" stuff. I recall going down to Beale Street to hear the bands playing in the clubs, alleys and streets, then going home to learn what I heard on an old, beat-up Wabash guitar. When I got an electric guitar, (from a pawn shop on Beale Street), I would play it unplugged in the bathroom late at night so no one could hear it. I also frequented the local East Memphis T. W. Walker YMCA for the Saturday night dances to hear bands. My Mother bought my first guitar for my birthday when I was about 13; it was a 1955 Silvertone from Sears, (see the picture in this page), and boy was I proud! I had it partially restored and in 2006 donated it to the Rum Boogie Cafe on Beale Street in Memphis for their collection.
My first musical experience in front of an audience was in 1963 when performing at the Treadwell high school talent show. I played lead guitar in an all instrumental band called The Imperials. Alvin Simpson played rhythm guitar and sang, Richard Zini played drums, and Bobby Fisher played sax. We played proms and parties and appeared on the Memphis WHBQ TV dance party. (I have an old tape with a few of our songs recorded in a studio). We were popular, however fellow Treadwell students, Larry Raspberry and Jimmy Hart took the town by storm with a band named "The Gentry's" (remember the song "Keep on Dancin', Dancin' and a Prancin"?). Another fellow Treadwell student, Keith Sykes made a successful career of music and wrote and toured with Jimmy Buffett in the70's. Check out their Web Pages; just type in the name on Google or Yahoo.
But, back to where we were. My next musical adventure was the "Del Vontes". As a senior at Treadwell High School in Memphis, I met two sophomores who were doing a Smothers Brothers-type act with acoustic guitar and stand-up bass, Murphy Odom and Don McNatt. We joined together and started the Del Vontes, a "British Invasion" band with Billy Miller on drums. We grew our hair long (at least for back then) and played Beatles, Stones and other British act songs. We won "battle-of-the-band" contests, appeared on local Memphis TV and even had "groupies". (I have a studio tape of 3 of our songs). I left that band when I was drafted into the Army in 1966.
Recently, I made contact with Murphy Odom through Brad Webb, Son of one of my Mother's neighbors in Memphis who said he remembered me playing on the porch back in the sixties. Murphy has been in music ever since doing recording studio and engineering stuff. Brad made a music career as a blues guitarist. Don McNatt has also made a career of music, lives in Nashville, performs and hosts a songwriters cable TV show and coordinates songwriter presentations in the area. Billy Miller still lives in Memphis.
While in the Army, I met musicians, Rich Henry (Dallas, TX) and Terry Henderson (Memphian, Treadwell, '64) and we played and sang our way through the Army, including Vietnam (yes, got some old tapes). We got together once for a reunion in 1987 and we're still in touch on Facebook. When I got out of the Army, back in Memphis and married, I moved to the Washington, D.C. area where my wife is from.
I wasn't playing music for a while and my wife, Susan, knew something was missing, so she placed an ad in the musicians wanted section of the Georgetown University's underground paper, The Quicksilver Times, without me knowing about it. The next thing I know, all these people started calling and we met some students from Georgetown University and formed a group named "Meretrix". Michael Dellaria, Bob Smith, Joanne Dodds (from Catholic University) and Barry Hollibar comprised the band. I played lead 12 string acoustic guitar and contributed to the songwriting. Michael played 6 string acoustic guitar, vocals and did most of the song writing. Joanne and Bob sang and contributed to the songwriting as well and Barry played drums. We performed original songs in local coffee houses and clubs, then landed a gig as opening act for Livingston Taylor at Catholic University in Washington, DC. (See Below)
A local Washington, DC area promoter took us to New York City to audition for Warner Brothers, Columbia, Capitol and RCA records. Though none of them signed us, Paul Tannen, the East Coast new artist representative for Warner Bros. at the time saw potential in us and signed us then convinced Warner Bros. to fund a recording session, which was done at Track Studios in Silver Spring, Maryland. Warner Bros didn't sign us. Then, Paul took us to New York City for another session at A & R Studios. He tried to sell our music to producers without success. Everyone moved on but it was a memorable experience. I put our studio recordings on CD's and posted them on Soundclick as free MP3's at Meretrix MP3's. I'm still in touch with Michael who lives in Manhattan, NY and composes classical music and Bob who lives in Washington, DC and works for a tech firm. Barry went on to play with the "Fabulous Hubcaps" (an oldies band), and has been with them for over 30- years.
After Meretrix disbanded, Joanne Dodds and I played as a duo in the Washington, D.C. area for a while. When we stopped playing together, my wife took up guitar and singing and she & I continued to play in the area and developed a trio with a bass player. I picked up finger picking and bluegrass banjo. We came across the opportunity to travel to Europe and took our instruments with us. We played in Amsterdam, Holland and got booked at a few clubs. The best was the "Folk Fairport" where we played on a Saturday night to a packed house. Don McLean, "Bye Bye American Pie" actually played there once and sang "Starry, Starry Night", which he wrote about Vincent Van Gogh. The owner of the club recorded the entire evening of our performance when we played and gave us the tape (our Daughter, Erin loves it!). We met a lot of nice people there from Holland and Switzerland, stayed with them a while, and even visited on a few subsequent trips to Europe. We also played in England in wine bars.
Back in the states, my wife and I formed a new band and called it "Meretrix" even though I was the only original member. My wife's cousin, John Christopher Lyerly played bass with us. We played "Mid-Seventies-L.A. Pop", you know, The Eagles, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, etc., plus originals. We played in a number of local clubs then landed a gig as the house band at a club in Washington, D.C. on Wisconsin Ave. called Babes for a few years until our daughter Erin was born in 1979, then we quit music for a while. Meanwhile, I attended college and majored in classical guitar (it was difficult to play in a rock 'n roll band at night and study classical by day).
In the mid- 80's I started writing and recording songs again. I recorded them on a Tascam 4 track I learned about from my old Army buddy Richard Henry. I was really excited about it because it sounded so good compared to the old reel-to-reel tape decks. I used an electronic drum machine. I played a 1968 Gibson SG Standard, bass, simple keyboard and a Guild D-40 acoustic to round it out. I did vocals too, thanks to special sound effects. I contacted Paul Tannen, the previous Warner Brothers artist representative who recorded our 1970's group, Meretrix, and he said he'd listen to my tape. By then, Paul was a successful independent publisher/producer in New York and Nashville. He liked my first song and thought it had "hit potential" and published it. It's called "Baby Be Mine Forever". Nothing ever came of it, but, I sure enjoyed the experience and learned a lot from it, plus was able to send my tapes to family and friends, (my best fans).
BACK TO THE "BLUES"
Bassist, Chris Lyerly and I got together and learned that we were both really into Blues. I used my old Gibson SG and got a practice amp and we put together some songs. That's when we got the bug and found a harp player through a local music paper who knew a drummer, so we had an instant band. We named ourselves "Big E & The Blues Cats" (E for the big guitar string).
We put together a few sets of Chicago style blues songs that were hard drivin' and loud. The harp player and I kept getting bigger amps. I think I went through 4 amps and as many guitars in the first 6 months. We played blues jams and gigs (I think my hearing was permanently damaged). Chris and I played with various other drummers and harp players for a while. After a while, we found that we were good as a duo. So, we just called ourselves "The Blues Cats" or "Dawson & Lyerly". As a duo we appeared live on local TV with over 30 spots between Jan. & April, 2000.
Beale Street Y2K
Our family went to Memphis to visit my family and, as traditional, we all went down to Beale Street. It was a warm day and a Blues band "Big Jerry" was playing in W.C. Handy Park. I ask if I could sit in on a song and they let me. We did Stormy Monday and I played like I didn't even think I could (guess it was the magic of Beale Street). People were dancing and taking pictures and when done, the band all gathered around for high-fives and more pictures (photo link above). A homeless person who I had previously given $5.00 came up and said the music was so good that he wanted to givre my $5.00 back to me. I didn't accept it. What a way to bring Blues into the new year!!!
HOUSE CONCERTS, 2001
My wife & I got into contemporary folk music after hearing some great singer/songwriters on a televised Takoma Park, Maryland Folk Festival, including Tom Prasada-Rao. We saw Tom live and met him to learn that he's a Takoma Park native as is my wife. I asked if he ever played Birthday parties and he said it sounded similar to a house concert, which we'd never heard of. As it worked out, he played for my wife's Birthday at our house on March 30, 2001 and we had about 35 people there. It was an awesome event and we were hooked and Dawsonconcerts House Concerts was born (see link below). Tom Prasada-Rao was the first performer on 9/28/01 and we hosted over 80 concerts since then. I play a song every now and then at some of these concerts as well as sit in on guitar occasionally with the scheduled Artists. After the concerts, sometimes we have what we call a "song circle" where anyone in the audience as well as the scheduled Artists get together in a circle and play songs with each other, sometimes late into the night.
We're linked with the National House Concert circuit via the Internet and are promoted on radio, newspapers and other media. A major Washington newspaper did a large article on House Concerts and the reporter interviewed me by phone, which resulted in 3 paragraphs of the article. There have been numerous newspaper articles on Dawsonconcerts as well as a 2003 cable TV special and a 2007 Washington, DC area TV special, (link below). It's really nice to get involved in this type music and get to know many local and National Artists both in our house as well as out in the clubs, festivals and concerts. I've been inspired to write a lot of new songs myself, some which are posted on my Soundclick Music page, (also linked below). Check our house concerts web page for a list and photos of artists we've hosted at Dawsonconcerts.
GENE'S SONGWRITING
With all the songwriters coming through our house, I became inspired to write more songs and have put together a collection of songs I recorded on a Soundclick music page at, . Check out my newest song, "Train to New Orleans".
September 20, 2003
Our Daughter, Erin, was married to Matthew Tevelow at a beautiful ceremony at Maryvale Castle near Baltimore. It was just after hurricane Isabelle came through the area and knocked out power for a week. On the wedding day, the weather cleared up and we had a perfect day, although the power was via gas-powered generator. That was okay, since it was an old castle anyway.
Erin asked me to write a song for their wedding, so I wrote "You Are the One" and sang it as part of the ceremony. I got choked up and barely made it through the song. People have told me it's my best song. I finally recorded it on their 5th anniversary, and it can be heard on my Soundclick music page at Gene's MP3's.
MEMPHIS, NOVEMBER, 2004
We visited my family in Memphis this Thanksgiving for my Mother's Birthday. The whole family got together for dinner and the immediate family rode in a stretch limo. Joining us was a musician named Barbara Pittman, who was a neighbor of my sister, Faye. Barbara is known as The Rockabilly Queen and is in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. She recorded some hit songs in the 1950's at Sun Studio in Memphis. Sun is the studio where Sam Phillips discovered and recorded Elvis Presley. Barbara knew Elvis and recorded with him, and was his girlfriend at one point. After dinner and a limo ride around town, we went back to my Mother's house and I played some music. Barbara liked one of my songs called "Trip, Stumble & Fall", and asked if she could perform it at a Rockabilly Festival in England in March, 2004. Of course I said yes! Barbara passed away in 2005, and I'll never know if she ever sang my song in England.
My Mother told me that one of her neighbor's Son who plays music knows me. His name is Brad Webb. I didn't remember him, so I looked him up on the Internet to learn that he has had a music career since the 1960's and has toured around the world with blues legend Blind Mississippi Morris. He also writes songs and owns his own recording company. When I contacted him, he said he used to hear me play my guitar in the neighborhood when he was 10 years old and I was 15. He said I influenced him to start playing guitar. I guess it worked! While in Memphis, we went to his gig with Blind Mississippi Morris at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, so I finally got to meet him. He also re-connected me with Murphy Odom by phone, who was in a band with me in the 1960's. He also said I was an inspiration to him and the other musicians and has made a career out of music and builds recording studios. I'm the only one who didn't make a career out of music, but went into a corporate real estate career instead. Go figure?
RED RIVER, NEW MEXICO MUSIC FESTIVAL, AUGUST, 2005
Friend and musician, Keith Sykes, suggested that Sue & I attend the Red River, NM Music Festival held every August in northern New Mexico in the mountains north of Taos. Since we love to travel out west and love music, we went this year. What a cool little town, high in the mountains, (8-9 thousand feet). The music was held at various places around town, including at the top of the ski lift, but the center of it all was the Motherlode Saloon, where it was hopping until early morning. Keith was great, and we heard Richard Leigh, ("Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue"), who has appeared at tour house concert series too. We also heard artists new to us like Kevin Welch and Chuck Pyle. Chuck & Kevin both later appeared at our house concert series in. After Red River, we spent a week in the Taos, NM area staying at B & B's and listening to music. I played at the open mic in the Adobe Bar at the famous Taos Inn. We stayed in an earth ship B & B on the Rio Grande River Gorge called The Dobson House. It was constructed of all recycled materials and is solar powered. The owners haven't had a TV in 40 years.
MERETRIX POSTER
I was a member of the Washington Area Music Association, (WAMA). The president, Mike Schreibman, used to be a major concert promoter back in the 1970's, booking such artists as The Who, Country Joe & the Fish, Iron Butterfly, etc. Recently Mike announced a new off-shoot initiative of WAMA called Vintage New Era Poster Art. I checked it out to see that included in the featured items was a poster of a Livingston Taylor/Meretrix concert at Catholic University April 23rd, 1971. I was a member of the opening band Meretrix! (see above). The band recalled that the poster was very cool and heard that it was seen on the wall of a music club in Bethesda called the Psychedeli decades ago. Well, now we are certified Vintage. The band members bought all the posters on hand, and I have one on the wall of our concert room along with other music memorabilia.
Hear free Meretrix MP3's at Soundclick.com
THE MEMPHIS GARAGE ROCK YEARBOOK, 1960-1975s
I learned that the band I was a member of in 1963 called The Imperials is included in a book titled "The Memphis Garage Rock Yearbook, 1960-1975", by Ron Hall. A picture of our band and a short description appears on page 11. The book is available in Memphis area book stores including
RUM BOOGIE CAFE, BEALE STREET, MEMPHIS, TN, OCTOBER, 2006
My first guitar, 1955 Silvertone, (picture below), has been accepted to the private collection of guitars of The Rum Boogie Cafe on Beale Street in Memphis, TN. The Rum Boogie has numerous guitars in their collection hanging from the ceiling of the club on Beale Street in Memphis, including guitars previously owned by Elvis, Stevie Ray, and many other famous artists. And some not so famous ones, like me, which makes me even more honored to be represented in company of greats. Its interesting how 15 minutes of fame can last over 40 years. If you are in Memphis, check out the Rum Boogie Cafe for great live music and a great collection of guitars. Rum Boogie Cafe
HOUSE CONCERTS, (continued)
Now we've been hosting house concerts for 10-Years with over 80 concerts with recent appearances by Bethany Yarrow, daughter of Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary fame, Jen Chapin, Daughter of the late Harry Chapin, ("Taxi"), Sarah Lee Gurhrie, Daughter of Arlo Gutherie and Michael Ronstadt, Nephew of Linda. Check our house concerts web page for all the details at www.dawsonconcerts.com.
RETIRED!!!
Susan & I retired from House Concerts in early 2013 after hosting over 80 concerts over a period of 10-years. And, I retired from McDonald's Corporation in June, 2013, after 26-years in their Real Estate Development Department.
MEMPHIS TREADWELL ROCKIN ROCTOBER JAM, 2013
I am honored to have been asked to perform at the 2nd annual Memphis Treadwell High School Rockin Roctober Jam on October 12, 2013 at the Minglewood Hall. I was asked to perform at the original Jam in October, 2011, but couldn't make it due to business travel, but now that I am retired, I was able to join the 2013 Jam. I played with 4 of the bands, including a reunion performance with the original members of the 1965 band I was in called The Del Vontes, who I hadn't played with since 1965. I started out with an instrumental band playing hits from the Ventures and others. I finished as a member of the band backing headliner Keith Sykes, the first time ever playing in a band with him. The set included many of his hits, including Volcano, which he co-wrote with Jimmy Buffet. I understand that the evening of performance was recorded on video and audio; pics & You Tube to follow.
Guild D-40 Acoustic, 1974
Martin HD-28, 2011
Fender US Stratocaster, Ivory, 2003
Fender Deluxe amp, 2003
Sennheiser & Shure mics, Tascam analog recorder
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Sears Silvertone, 1955
(Donated to the Rum Boogie Cafe, Beale Street, Memphis, TN, October, 2006, displayed in their private collection)
My Favorite Links
Gene's Alias Max Guernsey's free MP3's
Well, that's it for now, and thanks for visiting this web page. To get in touch, click on the E-mail link at the bottom of the page or sign the guest book.
Gene Dawson
(301) 949-1888
Cell: (301) 802-2989
Also on Facebook
Email: dawsonconcerts@gmail.com
