The
Ancestors
Dublin,
Georgia
1965-1970
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Tom Patterson, Blair
Tanner, and Edward Tanner formed the Ancestors in
the summer of 1965. The Tanners and Tom had been
friends since 1958, when Blair and Tom met in the
first grade, while Edward was in the second grade.
The three shared a common interest in the Three
Stooges and, together in 1958, formed the Official
Dublin (Georgia) Chapter of the Three Stooges Fan
Club. The group received their membership papers,
chapter charter, and numerous other items of
Stooge-related memorabilia.
The three remained close
friends, with Blair and Tom sharing first through
twelfth grade classes together, along with Allen
Tindol, who joined the Ancestors in
1966.
In the summer of 1965,
after many years of watching television together
and several years of listening to pop music
together, the three founders decided that the only
way to escape the tedium of a central Georgia
summer was to start a band. Blair and Edward played
guitar, and Tom, who was a drummer in the school
band, was the natural selection as the group's
drummer. In the beginning, Tom handled most of the
vocals. The band wrote its own material, including
such ditties as the instrumentals: "Sewer Rat,"
"Instrumental Ballad of Rabbit Tooth," and
"Lumbago." Additional songs included: "Tater Soup"
(which had sixteen or seventeen verses), "Here Come
Missy," "On Your Own," "Goody Goody Two Shoes,"
"Klepto Joe," "Bongo Bonzo," and "The Ballad of
Hermie Brandt."
In 1966 the band began
performing covers of then popular tunes like
"Gloria," "It's All Over Now," "Land of 1,000
Dances," and "Louie Louie." The band temporarily
added a nasal-voiced lead singer, Jimmy McDonald,
who lasted a few months before being replaced by
Allen Tindol, on bass guitar and vocals. The band
gradually became more proficient on their
respective instruments, slightly more mainstream,
and somewhat commercially acceptable, playing
fairly often for teen dances at the local Teen
Center, American Legion Hall, National Guard
Armory, church dances, and the occasional birthday
party.
Allen left for a while in
1967-1968 -- partially as a result of differences
regarding selection of performance material and
partially to pursue a career in acting with the
Dublin High Drama Club -- and was temporarily
replaced by a church choir organist with no rock
music experience whatsoever, either as a listener
or a player. The young misfit/miscast keyboardist's
name was Lewis Smith. The Tanners and Tom convinced
Lewis to perform wearing a flowerpot for a hat,
wearing Nehru jackets, with flowers attached to his
buzz cut hair. They encouraged him to perform tunes
like "The Marines' Hymn," "Dixie," and other
audience-torturing songs during the band's
increasingly infamous performances. Lewis's obvious
discomfort with his rock band experience was
betrayed by a highly visible and unhip facial
twitch that plagued him throughout each
performance. During this time, the band began to
use color wheels, strobe lights, exploding cherry
bombs, sulfur bombs, and home movies projected onto
a bed sheet behind the band members as they played.
The band's set list was made up of songs by the Who
("Whiskey Man," "I Can See for Miles"), the Doors
("Light my Fire"), Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles (title
cut, "With a Little Help From my Friends," "When
I'm Sixty-Four," "Magical Mystery Tour"), Mothers
of Invention ("Status Back Baby," "Motherly Love")
and oddball novelty numbers such as "Bill Bailey."
The band also used prerecorded tapes of bad local
radio commercials between songs. All of this was
largely viewed with disdain by their shrinking
audience of young Dublinites.
In 1968, Allen rejoined
the band and, despite maintaining much of its
quirkiness, the unit was temporarily welcomed back
into the fold of listenable and tolerable bands --
at least by Dublin standards. Through the addition
of a more traditional repertoire, and due in no
small part to Allen's friendship with one Randy
Stinson, a very popular guy who never tired of
promoting the band, the Ancestors began their peak
period of commercial success, sometimes earning as
much as $30-$40 each from one show.
Allen left again in 1968
and was replaced by singing bassist Johnny
Fountain. The Ancestors added a new keyboardist,
Mike Harrell, who knew nothing about anything other
than the music of "Steppenwolf." Allen later
rejoined the band for a third time, from 1969 until
its demise in 1970, as a featured vocalist, along
with Johnny Fountain's cousin, Bobby Fountain. The
band played songs by Spirit, Blood, Sweat, and
Tears, Three Dog Night, the Hollies, Wilson
Pickett, the Beatles, and Rolling Stones during
this final era.
In August 1973, Tom,
Blair, Edward, Allen, Bobby, and Johnny reunited
for a performance at Teen Town (formerly
Churchwells Department Store), using the dual band
names "Hunch Punch" and "Puked Guts From New York
City." This heavily attended (approximately 10 - 15
in the audience) final performance was a critical
success, and the band wisely decided never to
perform as a unit again.
All former members are
alive and engaged in meaningful activities, with
possible exceptions Mike Harrell and Jimmy
McDonald, about whom the writers don't know
nothin'.
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Personnel:
Tom Patterson -
drums, vocals 1965-1970
Blair Tanner - lead guitar, vocals 1965-1970
Edward Tanner - rhythm guitar, vocals 1965-1970
Jimmy McDonald - tambourine, vocals 1966
Allen Tindol - bass, vocals 1966-1967,
1968-1970
Lewis Smith - organ 1967-1968
Bobby Fountain - vocals 1969-1970
Johnny Fountain - bass, vocals 1969-1970
Mike Harrell - organ 1969-1970
Influences:
The Beatles, The
Byrds, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix,
Frank Zappa, John Coltrane, The Ventures, Wes
Montgomery and a lot of other famous people.
Additional influences included The Dukes of York,
The Bushmen,Mouse and the Boys with Brass, The
Roemans, The Tropics, The Knights of Darkness,
Brother Dave Ensley, Uncle Ed Powell, Roy Styles,
Mike Kirby, Dick Killebrew, Mr. Hand, the late Bo
Allen, Mack, and others too numerous to
mention.
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Setlist
Sample:
The Horse, The
Horse, The Horse, The Horse, The Horse, and The
Horse. (For an encore, well, The Horse was always a
crowd pleaser.)
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Equipment:
Blair - Kay, Kalamazoo, and Gibson guitars, Kay,
Vox Cambridge Reverb, and Fender Super Reverb
amps
Edward - Kent, Harmony (with built-in,
battery-operated tremolo unit), and Gibson guitars,
Kent, Harmony, and Fender Vibrolux amps
Tom - Leedy drum set, Ludwig drum set
Allen - Teisco Del Rey bass with Silvertone amp,
Vox violin bass with Fender Bandmaster amp, Teisco
Del Rey bass with Fender Bandmaster amp (after Vox
bass was repossessed)
Lewis - Wurlitzer organ with Leslie speaker,
purchased from Steve Scarboro of the Dukes of York,
plus a Kay amp Bobby - Voice trained by Jefferson
Street Baptist Church and Mrs. Champion
Johnny - Fender jazz bass with Fender Bassman
amp
Mike - Baldwin electric piano and Kustom organ
(with built-in amplifier)
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Rehearsal
Space:
The Tanners'
basement usually, but occasionally the private
dining room of Tindol's Restaurant, and the Shanty
(a World War II-vintage quonset hut officially
designated the Dublin Teen Center, partially used
to store parks maintenance equipment such as
tractors and lawn mowers)
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Band
Vehicles:
Dr. Tanner's green
Cadillac and Mrs. Tanner's 1965 Ford Galaxy 500
"Mr. George" Tindol's 1962 Chevrolet Belair (when
not being "rawhided" by his son, "cutting donuts"
in the East Dublin "sand pits")
Edward's 1967 Volkswagen Beetle (sporting big green
and white letters from the official Dublin High
School decal "DUBLIN," rearranged to spell the word
"BLIND")
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Fashion
Statement:
Flower pots and
pimples.
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Best
Gig:
A weekend dance at
the American Legion during senior year in high
school, 1970.
Highlights of the evening included: a flawless bass
line by Johnny Boy Fountain on "More and More" by
Blood,Sweat, and Tears; an exquisite performance of
Lennon/McCartney's "It's For You" by Johnny, Bobby,
and Allen;strong guitar work by the Tanners on
"Honky Tonk Women," Spirit's "I Got a Line on You,
Babe," and Cream's "BADGE"; slick skins by Tom
Patterson (as well as some Creedence vocals,
including the chorus to "Proud Mary" sung in
Spanish); soulful organ by Mike Harrell ("call me
'Wolf'"); hambone by Wayne Fatum. Dewey, of
course,kept everyone off the porch, and Snake
didn't like anyone leanin' on his car.
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Gig from
Hell!:
Christmas Dance,
Wrightsville High School, Wrightsville, Georgia,
1968.
During this particular gig, at the height of the
Vietnam Conflict, Edward dressed in a Santa Claus
suit and at intervals taunted the crowd with chants
of "Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh." The audience repeatedly
requested songs by Slim Harpo, or at least
"something we can dance to." Teachers did not take
to The Ancestors' strobe light, and requested that
we "turn it off, 'cause it hurts our eyes." Some
students requested we turn off our home movies as
well. They were projected on a screen behind us as
we played. The students claimed they "came to
dance, not to watch movies." Truly a Gig from Hell!
Thank you, Wrightsvillains!
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Last
Gig:
1973 reunion at
"Teen Town" (formerly Churchwell's Department
Store) in downtown Dublin. Blair played in his
bathrobe, with a nylon stocking over his face, as a
cigarette dangled from one side of his mouth
(outside the stocking, of course). As an addition
to his drums, Tom played a gumball machine, and his
clothing ensemble was accentuated by a brown paper
grocery bag for a hat. Under these ceremonious
circumstances, and with heavy hearts, The Ancestors
bid a fond farewell to their Dublin fans...both of
them.
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The Ancestors, Allen, Tom
and Blair, take a bow
(Edward is just out of frame to the
right).
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A still taken from one of
the home movies
they used to project at their shows;
Blair in his Woody Woodpecker
costume.
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Ancestors business card.
St. BEAT booking agency
stood for
Blair,
Edward,
Allen,
and
Tom.
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For more information on The
Ancestors, check out
The
Ancestors Official Web Site!
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What
they look like now?
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The Ancestors in the
mid-1990s: from left to right, Allen Tindol, Edward
Tanner, Blair Tanner, Tom Patterson. This
photograph, of great historical significance, was
taken by Mrs. Tanner in front of the Tanner home in
Dublin, Georgia.
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Allen Tindol, Edward
Tanner, & Tom Patterson 2002
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Where they at
and what they up to?
Tom Patterson is a
journalist, author, and curator in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina.
Blair Tanner is a physical
therapist and a married father of a boy and girl,
living in Atlanta, Georgia.
Edward Tanner is an
attorney, married, the father of two fine young
sons, living in Atlanta, Georgia.
Allen Tindol is a
physician in Savannah...nope, Atlanta...nope, make
that DUBLIN, Georgia. (There was that annoying
paternity suit and then that nasty parole
violation.) He is still single and available,
ladies, and has his own transportation.
Lewis Smith is a computer
specialist, father of five children, living in
Atlanta, Georgia (we think).
Bobby Fountain is a
physician and father of four, living in Forsyth,
Georgia.
Johnny Fountain is (to
this day) an outstanding bass player and musician,
based out of Dublin, Georgia.
Randy Stinson is listed as
the "emergency contact" for his daughter's Girl
Scout Troop. Pretty scary, huh?
The whereabouts and
occupations of Mike Harrell and Jimmy McDonald are
unknown to the writers.
Pictures at the top of the
page:
Allen Tindol with his Vox
violin bass, Electro-Voice microphone, and
(borrowed from Jerry Pinholster of The Dukes of
York) Ampeg B-15 bass amp; Tom Patterson on Ludwig
drums. The photograph was taken at the 1967 Dublin
High School Coronation dance.
Blair Tanner (left) with
Gibson guitar and Vox amp, and Edward Tanner
(right) with Harmony guitar and Gibson amp; Tom
Patterson on drums. Dublin High School Coronation
dance, 1967.
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