DAVID LEE

TRANSCRIPT %u2013 DAVID LEE
[Compiled July 7th, 2010]

Interviewee: DAVID LEE

Interviewers: Brendan Greaves

Interview Date: September 2nd, 2008

Location: David Lee%u2019s home in Mooresboro, North Carolina

Length: Approximately 2 hours

INTRODUCTION: The recording begins with Brendan Greaves telling David Lee about the Destination Cleveland County oral history project for the Earl Scruggs Center.

BRENDAN GREAVES: I%u2019m Brendan Greaves; I%u2019m here with Mr. John Lee.
DAVID LEE: Okay, I%u2019m David Lee.
BG: David Lee. I%u2019m sorry.
DL: David Lee, that%u2019s my daddy%u2019s name [laughter], my father%u2019s name.
BG: I just spoke to someone named John this morning and that was the confusion. I%u2019m sorry.
DL: That%u2019s his name, really. My father%u2019s named John Leo Lee.
BG: And when was your date of birth?
DL: The fifth month, third day, 1936.
BG: Okay, and where were you born?
DL: Born in Shelby, North Carolina.
BG: All right, sir. What did your parents do? What was their work?
DL: My father, he worked in the Thompson Lumber Plant. He shipped out lumber. So, he stayed busy with that. My mother died when I was six years old.
BG: What was her name?
DL: Mary Lizzie Lee.
BG: And were they both from Shelby as well?
DL: Well, originally they was from Georgia, Greene County, Georgia. Boll weevils sent them up here.
BG: All right.
DL: That%u2019s what happened. [Laughter] BG: So how did you get involved with music?
DL: I started out writing just the words, the poetry. Before long, I found out I was going to have to write music. I got rejection after rejection. It%u2019s terrible to feel rejected. It is.
BG: It sure is.
DL: I would get off to myself when I opened a letter that I sent to a publisher, and sweat would just be pouring off me and there it is: reject. Anyway, it took a long time. I sung a song; I didn%u2019t like the way I did it myself. I sent it to Miami, (3:36) Records. The guy%u2019s name was Jack Curry. I thought maybe that I would send him a demo. I sent it and he put me on it. Anyway, they played my song over several states. They gave me cards of proof that they played it, but I still didn%u2019t like the way I did it, and I just did it as a demo too.
BG: And what was the name of the song?
DL: %u201CI%u2019m Going to Keep on Trying.%u201D That%u2019s what I did; I kept on trying.
BG: And what year was that? Do you remember when that was?
DL: That%u2019s been around forty years.
BG: Okay.
DL: It%u2019s been around forty years, a long time. Well, do we go further before we go into this?

BG: Yeah, yeah, we can do a little more background. Did you grow up writing music and writing poetry or singing?
DL: The way I did it, somehow I got to a guitar, and I played guitar and sung on it and tried to do songs that way. I went out and I didn%u2019t know I was successful. I went one Christmas to a place over in Kings Mountain to sing, and the place was packed just as full as you could get it. When I got up, the people were screaming, hollering; I didn%u2019t know--I said, %u201CWell, it%u2019s all in that thing.%u201D I didn%u2019t know I was successful then, but when I heard myself I said, %u201CThat sounds too country,%u201D so I started writing for other people. I%u2019m working on a country tune now that--it%u2019s in the works.
Anyway, when I found out and realized, then now, more people will accept me as an African-American, even on both sides. But back then, you wouldn%u2019t be accepted, I don%u2019t care what you do. But anyway, that was my background. When I gave Anne Sexton her demo, that demo, it sounded a whole lot country, and when she got through with it, it was a different thing.
Man, it was tremendous; I knew it was a hit then, but I didn%u2019t know it was going to take so long.
Now, yeah, it%u2019s on there, but anyway, the song that I wrote, she came from Greenville to play in a band, play at the Washington in Shelby. You%u2019ve seen that old place. Well, she sung in there, and she sung %u201CWho%u2019s Loving You?%u201D and so I said, %u201CWhoa, please, I want her to sing my song.%u201D I went and asked her and she was really gracious. She said, %u201COh, you want me to sing your song?%u201D I said, %u201CYeah, I want you to sing it.%u201D She said, %u201CWell, I will.%u201D I said, %u201CWhat do we have to do?%u201D I said, %u201CWell, what I%u2019ll do, I%u2019ll make you a demo and I%u2019ll book you right back in the place. I%u2019ll give you the demo with the words, and then you come back the next week and have it booked in here again.%u201D She come back and oh, I was surprised what she had did with that song, with the horns and all that in it.
BG: Now which song was that?
DL: %u201CYou%u2019re Letting Me Down.%u201D
BG: Okay.
DL: It was that one. Well, she sung it and I put it on my Impel label.
BG: Now was that your label? How were you%u2026?
DL: %u2026The Impel, that%u2019s right, that%u2019s my label.
BG: So you started it yourself and ran it and everything?
DL: That%u2019s right. So, I put her on there. Oh, I%u2019m cutting you off. Go ahead and tell me.
BG: Oh, no, go ahead.
DL: So I put it on my Impel label and I was buying records in Charlotte for Mangold-Bertos. I went down and asked him could I put it on the floor? They put it on the floor; it had like five hundred copies. You know, they distribute it out all over North Carolina. But anyway, it moved kind of slow. I come in there and there was a girl named--her name was the same as Anne, Anne Burton. Well, she%u2019s a Burton and Anne Sexton is a Burton. She said, %u201COh, where did John R. (Richbourg) go? Is John R. still back there with Mr. Wiseman?%u201D I said, %u201COh, can I see John?%u201D Ooh, chills went all over me. I said, %u201CCan I see John?%u201D They said, %u201COh, yeah, go on back there.%u201D They said he was looking for me. I went back there to the office and I was trembling and a-going-on. He talked with a heavy voice, if you ever heard him. %u201CHow you doing?%u201D I said, %u201CI%u2019m doing fine.%u201D I said, %u201CI would like for you to play my record over WLAC and he said, %u201CWell, I%u2019ve got to listen to it.%u201D I handed him a copy and he said, %u201CYeah, I believe I%u2019ll give it a spin.%u201D I said, %u201COoh, Lord.%u201D Ooh, you talk about somebody excited. I was really excited. So I turned on the radio; it was on AM WLAC, Nashville, and it was playing. I said, %u201COoh, Lord,%u201D and I thought that was instant success. That%u2019s what I always looked for, instant success. But anyway, he stayed on it heavy for like three weeks, and he pulled it. So, I went to Nashville then. He said, %u201CWell, I never did hear from you.%u201D [Laughter] That record was selling like this. Man, when he put it on there, it was packing those records out and you couldn%u2019t imagine. He said, %u201CWell, I need a contract.%u201D So we got a contract and we put it on Seventy-Seven. This is set, right, it%u2019s Seventy-Seven records. So he put it on that, and man, that record, I went back in, I guess, three or four weeks, and he%u2019s just stacking records up everywhere, shipping them out. [Telephone rings] Oh, Lord, have mercy.
BG: Oh, no problem.
DL: And [telephone rings again]%u2026
BG: Oh, here you go.
DL: And he was like a bookie; he had three phones in that--and he was selling those records out of the basement. He was selling the records out of the basement and he had three phones. He was hanging up one and just on two at a time, he was selling records so fast. So that record stayed up on WLAC and Randy%u2019s Record Mart for eight months on the best-selling list.
BG: Wow.
DL: And it sold ninety thousand. You know, back then ninety thousand was a whole lot of records, but now it ain%u2019t. But anyway, it sold ninety thousand, I tell you, and Randy%u2019s Record Mart and all those record--Ernie%u2019s Record Mart. I know you haven%u2019t heard of them. [Laughter] BG: No.
DL: Lord, they was big. They was all over the country. One thing they said about my wife--we went to Nashville, and we was coming back. She said, %u201CDavid,%u201D that was Nellena, my wife is Nellena Lee, she said, %u201CDavid, how do you feel having your music heard all over the United States?%u201D I said, %u201CI feel like a million.%u201D It made me feel good and I remember that, and that%u2019s been thirty-seven years. When you get encouraged by someone, it goes a long ways, but if they don%u2019t encourage you, you forget it quick. It%u2019s gone, because you%u2019ve got to; you can%u2019t dwell on that. You know, a lot of times I had criticism, but I got encouraged there. That was a sign to go on and do what I was doing. So we got back and John R. called me and he said, %u201CDave, you need to do another song, and we want another %u201CYou%u2019re Letting Me Down.%u201D I said, %u201CWell, I%u2019ll do my best.%u201D I heard people say they was on an airplane and they wrote a song and it was instant and all that, but it took me eight months putting the words together like they ought to be, and then eight hours to write the music. It may be some songs that are instant success, but usually, they don%u2019t hold up long. These have held up for thirty-seven years, and see, I have proof. Oh, I may need to make you some copies of that before you go, but let me see, %u201CYou%u2019re Letting Me Down,%u201D there it is, and let me see, it%u2019s got a date up here somewhere, but I got this week-before-last, I believe.
BG: The 11th, yeah.
JL: Now that%u2019s the (13:05) original song by Ann Sexton. It%u2019s on download now. This anthology, it says for $49.99. When I bought this copy--this copy, it was $27.99, and that%u2019s been a couple of years ago maybe. This record, without that record, it%u2019s no--well, this one stands up better. But anyway, when you put them both together, you%u2019ve got a great, great product there. Everything she did just turned out good. It%u2019s big-time in England. Now you have to ask me questions so that I%u2019ll be able to get in things. You know, I%u2019m thinking of things that I think of, and what you think of may be a different thing.
BG: Yeah.
JL: What do you need to know?
BG: Well, I have lots of questions. [Laughter] JL: Okay, I better shut up. Sure, I better shut up. Now I%u2019m listening.
BG: All right. Well, I think I%u2019d like to start by rewinding a little bit, back to your youth and your days as a boy and a young man. I%u2019m wondering what artists influenced you in your writing and your music, and who you were listening to, maybe in this area or nationally, what kind of music you liked?
JL: Seems like anything like what Elvis Presley did, those %u201CBlue Suede Shoes%u201D and all that, and then had Joe Turner. Clyde McPhatter must have been my best.
BG: He%u2019s great.
JL: Umm, he was. I tell you, I went to the Coliseum to see Clyde McPhatter.
BG: In Greensboro?
JL: In Charlotte.
BG: Oh, in Charlotte.
JL: He got up to sing; you couldn%u2019t hear; all he had to do was mumble; the people was screaming and hollering and throwing stuff. They went wild; and he had a lot of fans, I tell you. But anyway, that%u2019s one that--he had a unique voice. No one could sing the way he did. He had that keen voice and all that, and it would make you tremble when you hear it.
Well, I was in the record business. I heard about James Brown. James Brown would carry albums around and give them to you on his personal appearances. I was in the business and I went down--I did get to see, you know, go down and talk to Bobby Byrd, but I didn%u2019t get to talk to James Brown. But anyway, that didn%u2019t pan out for me. I thought maybe I%u2019d get me some albums and sell them. [Laughter] That didn%u2019t work out, but I get to see Bobby Byrd.
Who did that song, %u201CSlip Away%u201D? I went to see him. But--Bo Diddley--it%u2019s amazing. He%u2019s dead now. But that%u2019s the one that I--I really did love the way a lot of them sung. Mainly, I came out of the country, for Roy Acuff is my special.
BG: Really?
DL: You know Roy? You heard of him?
BG: Oh, yeah, sure, sure.
DL: Okay. Man, that%u2019s my man. I love to hear that man sing. But, during that time, I%u2019ll say again, during that time, it wasn%u2019t acceptable with the people I lived with though. I couldn%u2019t go get his record from him. [Laughter] BG: Because he was a country singer and a white country singer?
DL: That%u2019s right. That%u2019s right. But now, people don%u2019t--. I%u2019m glad to be able to live long enough to see people growing on out of that and listen to different types of music. But that was my favorite one, him and Hank Williams. Ooh, that lonely blues, I tell you. I listened to it all--see, and WSM Nashville is where that came--. You remember that one then?
BG: Um-hmm.
DL: WSM, yeah. That%u2019s what they came over.
BG: Right.
DL: Nashville, sure did. Oh, I guess you heard that with Earl Scruggs?
BG: Um-hmm.
DL: Yeah, he was something. Then, that%u2019s one I envied too, though. Earl Scruggs, I loved to hear him play. And Bill Monroe--ooh, Lord! There%u2019s just nothing can touch what he did, is it? Nothing can touch Bill Monroe. Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys. He could get that (18:10). I guess that%u2019s what--he make that thing (18:12).
BG: Um-hmm.
DL: And the way he--you know, the octaves, the way he%u2019d say his words and stuff. It was just--. So, evidently, I probably envied all those guys--Pat Boone. [Laughter] And Ricky Nelson, yeah. Otis Redding, I wanted to sing like him. But I found out I had to sing like David Lee. Then, I started being successful, but I couldn%u2019t go around trying to sing like other people. Of course, that%u2019s not even possible. Now, if I need to back up again, you have to start me over again.
BG: [Laughter] I%u2019m interested how you were influenced, inspired by all kinds of music. Sounds like you had very eclectic taste. You were into R&B and soul music, and then you were into country music and bluegrass. I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about those various tastes and how that wasn%u2019t, maybe, accepted by folks.
DL: Oh, yeah. Let me see.
BG: It sounds like you felt a bit, like in, maybe you felt a bit different because you were interested in different kinds of music.
DL: So, it was a thing that I grew up with people that--they only listened to their own type of music, and like you said, their own artists. But that pushed me towards trying to do what they did, and I found out that it wasn%u2019t possible. So, I had to move on in and do--. I don%u2019t have that label. I didn%u2019t get one of them, but I got one called SCOP. It%u2019s soul, country, opera, pop. It%u2019s spelled S-C-O-P.
BG: And that was another one of your labels?
DL: Um-hmm. That%u2019s one of my labels. I forgot to get it out before to show it to you. I did the song that I did here on my SCOP label.
BG: Okay.
DL: Oh, I don%u2019t have a copy for that thing, but I%u2019m in the works of getting a couple of women to sing behind me on that [pause] and put it on out there, put it on download.
BG: When you were a younger man, what kind of venues do you remember seeing musicians play at [pause] around these parts?
DL: Well, Holly Oak Park, we had--Otis Redding came to Holly Oak Park. Then, the Armory down in Shelby, we had Kool and the Gang come, and Bo Diddley. If you had never seen Bo Diddley, you missed a treat.
BG: I never did. I wish I had.
DL: I tell you, he%u2019d get that guitar and start (21:17). He%u2019d just march up there and man, I tell you, it got the people off their feet. Kool and the Gang, I remember when they came. When we first got there around eight-thirty or something, Kool and the Gang was just getting out of New York. Man, it was like twelve or one o%u2019clock before they got there. Lord, when they hit those horns, ooh, everything lit up. Man, it was a sight to see those guys. I still am not up to that yet. But anyway, that%u2019s some of the ones I%u2019ve seen around here. Then I went to the Coliseum in Charlotte and then the Park Center. Let%u2019s see, Clarence, Clarence [pause] Carter--.
BG: %u2026 Clarence Carter, yeah.
DL: And James Brown. I went to see James Brown twice. I saw him at the Coliseum, then saw him at the Park Center. But anyway, I went to see them. That gave me a music background. During those times and years before, I was writing poetry. I looked up this anthology and that%u2019s what that was, poetry. It%u2019s a collection of poetry. So I started writing those. Never did have one to be taken up by doing it that way--not one, by writing just the poetry. I found out Anne is a natural-born talent and artist. But she took %u201CLove, Love, Love,%u201D she took this song in the studio in Memphis, Tennessee and did it. Did it from the music there. I said, %u201CLord!%u201D Now that%u2019s the way a real artist is. It took me, like, months. But she did that one, and then those guys what we looked at, you said--you probably hadn%u2019t heard of Bowlegs Miller, but Bowlegs Miller did a lot of producing. That guy right there [looking at pictures], Bowlegs Miller, he--and you know that%u2019s Anne, right there?
BG: Um-hmm. Now, was your family musical? Was that an influence?
DL: No, I don%u2019t believe so. We sang in the yard and stuff, but just yard singers. But other than that, there wasn%u2019t anyone else that came out of--.
BG: In church, did you sing in church?
DL: Yes, yes, yes. I sang there in church. Lay speaker too.
BG: Really?
DL: I get to preach every once in a while.
BG: Good.
DL: Mmm, I love it.
BG: Do you still preach?
DL: Yes. Oh, I%u2019m in--that%u2019s what I was doing when I talked to you.
BG: Oh.
DL: I%u2019ve got to study for a course I%u2019ve got to take. Ten hours--two different five hours. Sure, I get to preach often, and I know my bible.
BG: What church do you go to?
DL: I%u2019m United Methodist. Mundy%u2019s Chapel United Methodist. You%u2019ve got to meet some big-time requirements in that. The pastor asked me did I want to further my ministry. I said, %u201CI%u2019m too old!%u201D You know, running up and down the road, an old man. But anyway, I%u2019m a United Methodist, and I%u2019ve been that for forty-seven years. Worked my up to that and I love it. I started off writing my speech and just reading it. But now, God has fixed it so that I can--I write my speech out in case I need to look on it, but I don%u2019t know what happened. He gives it to me when it comes time, and I stick right with the scripture because people can get very mad with you about what you have said. I say, %u201CWell, read your Bible and see does it say that?%u201D See, it%u2019s not me. So, it is very important to stick with it, because if you lean out there too far, you are in trouble. You%u2019re out there and can%u2019t get back.
BG: So when you preach, you would say you feel the words coming through you?
DL: That%u2019s right.
BG: Through the Spirit.
DL: They come to me, sure. It just keeps coming. The same thing I have studied, it keeps coming. It%u2019s very important that you do it in that way, really. I guess the first three or four times, I had that paper, and reading that paper--. But anyway, I don%u2019t have to do that now, praise God. To God be the glory, and I%u2019m not bragging. That%u2019s what I just got through reading in there, not to brag. [Laughter] (26:29) Let%u2019s see, so that brings--. Oh, I guess I do need to give more of my background. I was a great hunter. I loved to hunt, and I used to go out and bring in five rabbits a day. I went one day and I was up on the hill and the dogs ran the rabbit down in the valley. That rabbit came out of them bushes. I run that rabbit until he just couldn%u2019t run--picked him up. He was just as stiff as a board. I run him down. If you%u2019re hungry, that%u2019s some of the things you%u2019ll do.
I was hungry, and rabbit was our meat then. I have to admit that.
BG: Rabbit%u2019s good.
DL: Ooh, yes.
BG: I like it.
DL: So, I was brought up on a farm after my mother died. I was six years old. We had one year, and this will tell you about prayer again. We had all the barley we could get, all the wheat, and we raised it. I%u2019m at twelve years old, the leader of the farm. But, had all the barley, there%u2019s cotton and corn and all. They had everything filled. See, we did it on halvers. You remember Mr. Blanton. Oh, you don%u2019t; you%u2019re not from Shelby. Well, Mr. Blanton, he%u2019s the owner of First National Bank, and we was on his farm. He got a barn there uptown. We%u2019d get him a load of corn and then get us a load of corn. Filled up all the barns, and we raised twenty-seven bales of cotton. That%u2019s a whole lot of cotton, [pause] twenty-seven bales. It was bringing forty cents a pound then, and we paid off everybody we owed. That%u2019s the first time and it might have been the last too. But anyway, we raised all of that and I believe they give us the seeds, and it come to, like, two hundred dollars. Back then, two hundred dollars was a lot of money. But we got all the money for the seeds and half of the cotton. He actually divided with us, but anyway, we paid off everything. So, we moved down to Mr. Yarboro%u2019s place, and that%u2019s where I started writing at, Mr. Yarboro%u2019s place.
BG: And how old were you then, when you started writing and you moved there?
DL: I must have been, like, fourteen years old.
BG: Okay.
DL: When I started writing. That%u2019s where I started writing at. We stayed there about six years, I guess, or more. But anyway, I was out hauling wood, and here come the people that helped and some of the other boys to help haul coal--ice plant. So, they couldn%u2019t find who they was looking for, so I said, %u201CI%u2019ll go, I%u2019ll go, I%u2019ll go.%u201D %u201CWell, you look to little, but I%u2019ll take you on.%u201D I went on--man, I was bagging that coal and all that, and they fell in love with me. Ooh, they gave me things. Well, I must have been around eighteen then, but I hauled coal and ice and all that. I have worked twenty-four hours in a day at the ice plant. In real hot weather, see, you%u2019ve got to keep that compressor going. You have to be there with it, and you can%u2019t leave the compressor running by its self. So, I had to be there twenty-four hours in one day. But anyway, I did that work. I worked there eight years.
BG: And where was the ice plant?
DL: It was right across the street from where the Farmer%u2019s Market--up on Morgan Street.
BG: Okay.
DL: It%u2019s torn down now. Got a mall there now. I can%u2019t call the name of the mall. But anyway, I worked there eight years, and they really hated to get rid of me. I had a little bit of sense. I had a man come by and say, %u201CDavid, why don%u2019t you come work for me? You%u2019d make plenty of money. You could be hauling cement and stuff. Come on and work for me.%u201D [Laughter] I didn%u2019t do that. So this lady came by, and she had club work and [pause] Mrs. Staley, Mrs. Roscoe Staley. She had a lot of confidence in me. So, she came by and then I gave this guy at the ice plant [pause] two weeks notice, I guess. But anyway, they was real mad with me because I was leaving them. They didn%u2019t want me to leave. They give me things and took them back because I was leaving. Gave me a pot, and they tell me to bring that pot back. [Laughter] A wash pot.
BG: Uh-huh.
DL: He said, %u201CThat%u2019s been in my family. I want to keep it in my family.%u201D So I carried it back to him. But anyway, I moved on to the club and it was tough work.
BG: And what club was this?
DL: North Lake Country Club.
BG: Okay.
DL: North Lake Country Club. So I went there, and that%u2019s where I was sitting there. That%u2019s a write-up about this album here. Mrs. Grace Hamrick, that%u2019s who wrote that up. So they knew then that the album was a hit, and I couldn%u2019t see it. I guess my business wasn%u2019t out on the streets where you could really sell, to know. But they knew then. They said, %u201COh, yeah, we do (32:44) with your record. I was giving them away. I was buying those albums and giving them to them. But anyway, I went there and worked, and that%u2019s where I retired at. I worked there thirty-six years.
BG: At the club?
DL: At the club. I worked in the mill too. I worked at the mill two years. Burlington Mill.
BG: Which one?
DL: Burlington.
BG: Okay.
DL: I worked there.
BG: And what kind of work did you do there at the mill?
DL: I made roving. I had a hard time leaving them people. They didn%u2019t want me to go, but I had third-shift work and I got tired of it, and these people, they had offered me to come back to them. They gave me a better time, saying, %u201CYou don%u2019t have to work on Saturdays or Sundays or Mondays.%u201D I said, %u201COoh, I can%u2019t turn that down.%u201D I guess the guy that started--James [pause]. Aw shucks, James--. But he was my boss. Then, when I gave him the notice, he wouldn%u2019t give me my check, so this overseer came by; he wouldn%u2019t give me my check, and then asked me to stay. So, the personnel man--what%u2019s he doing here at six-thirty in the morning? He said, %u201CDavid, would you stay with us? We just need you to stay.%u201D Then he didn%u2019t bring my check. Then Mr. West, he%u2019s the plant manager, he told me %u201Cthe way you%u2019re moving up in this mill, you could someday have my job. The same thing you%u2019re doing is the same thing I did back then.%u201D He said, %u201CAny time you need a job, just give me a call.%u201D I said, %u201CLord,%u201D so I praise God for that. To God be the glory that I worked hard enough that people recognized what I was doing. That is the way you%u2019ve got to do with music. You%u2019ve got to work hard towards it. You can%u2019t quit. You can%u2019t be no giver-upper. You%u2019ve got to hang in, and the words that you do, and when you stretch them out over years it looked like--. You know, once you live it, then you can put it on paper. Mainly, that%u2019s what happened in those songs. Things was happening, and it took that long to really put them together, come together. See, if you just put, just %u201CI want to be loving,%u201D it just wouldn%u2019t be what you want. Then, you know, sometime you write songs that keep on going and going and going and never turn back. So, you find that when you come back, you do it and it%u2019s in (35:36). I learned that in lay speaking up there. I didn%u2019t know that%u2019s what I was doing. Once you come back to it, then you get it into the people%u2019s mind. With me, that%u2019s the way it happened.
BG: So do you find when you%u2019re writing songs with poetry, do you find the words come to you in the same way they do when you%u2019re preaching or writing a sermon? Is it similar?
DL: It sure is. So that%u2019s a gift too then, sure is. Sure, exactly. Somehow, when you read the scripture, you get the parallelism. Sure, when I first spoke, it scared me. I was so scared I didn%u2019t know what to do. I didn%u2019t know what was happening, %u2018cause I was reading. I looked down and I just saw lines. I couldn%u2019t see no reading, nothing to read. Then I kept on going. The class had to speak before twelve people, and they was carrying on and hollering and carrying on so that the instructor said, %u201CBe quiet. Quiet in here.%u201D He said, %u201CDavid speaks like the old prophets. Everybody don%u2019t speak like that.%u201D He said, %u201CHe%u2019s speaking in parallelisms.%u201D I didn%u2019t know what parallelisms were. So I found out it was a compliment, but I thought that was a put-down. It was a compliment. But anyway, mainly, you%u2019ll find in this that they keep coming back to the top, and that%u2019s your subject. Like, if you go on and on, you can%u2019t stay on your subject if you%u2019re going that way and that way, and not go and come back.
BG: So you mean, in terms of repetition and parallelism in the speech?
DL: Um-hmm.
BG: Okay.
DL: Sure. That%u2019s good. Works the same way with music.
BG: Right.
DL: So I wrote some spirituals. I don%u2019t know, maybe I wasn%u2019t successful in them. So I%u2019m a member of ASCAP. I guess you see I got that.
BG: And this says that you idolized Ernest Tubb at one point.
DL: I did. Ooh, Lord! Yeah, I was crazy about--. I had so many that I just loved. Yeah, that was my man. See, he had that voice that trembled, and I just loved it, loved the way he sung. Yeah, Ernest Tubb. That may have Roy Acuff on there though.
BG: He might be in here too. It says Hank Williams as well.
DL: Who?
BG: Hank Williams.
DL: Oh, yes. Oh, okay.
BG: How many songs do you think you%u2019ve written?
DL: I sure don%u2019t know because I had a lot of them when they was rejected. I just pushed them on the side and kept going forward. But, I have three that%u2019s successful now, currently.
BG: And which are those?
DL: This one [sound of pages turning] BG: This one.
DL: Oh, I better call the name. %u201CI Want To Be Loved%u201D is the name of the song. John Richbourg, he named it this because there%u2019s another song on the album that%u2019s %u201CI Want To Be Loved,%u201D so he%u2019s put %u201CLove, Love, I Want To Be Loved.%u201D But anyway, that%u2019s successful, and this one is very successful, %u201CYou%u2019re Letting Me Down,%u201D and %u201CYou%u2019ve Been Gone Too Long.%u201D I wrote the music to it. Anne and Melvin wrote the words to %u201CYou%u2019ve Been Gone Too Long.%u201D
BG: So all three of those songs have been recorded by Anne Sexton?
DL: Sure, um-hmm. Sure, she was the most success. This, it came out in %u201993, and they went so far, and now they released it again in %u201999. This one. Oh, what%u2019s the name? Oh, can you say it? I can%u2019t say it.
BG: %u201CYou%u2019re Gonna Miss Me.%u201D
DL: %u201CYou%u2019re Gonna Miss Me%u201D is the name of that album. %u201CAnthology%u201D came out sometime during the nineties. I%u2019ll bet it%u2019s 2000. Wait a minute, 2000 and%u2026
BG: %u20262004, it says.
DL: Anthology?
BG: Yeah.
DL: Okay. That%u2019s right, 2004.
BG: Did you have teachers, music teachers or instructors?
DL: Oh, okay, I have one teacher and he lived in the white house across the road. He%u2019s dead now. It%u2019s good you brought that up. See, I%u2019ve got to stop and let you talk. He gave me a book; I wish I had kept it. I put that book up and can%u2019t find it. But, do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do, and it had all that kind of--had all of your scales in it, how to write your music. He taught me all of my basics. Mainly, that%u2019s what you really need when you%u2019re writing songs--going to write, because if you get too deep, then you%u2019ll be too complicated for the people that%u2019s going to sing the song. So, you don%u2019t want to be complicated. You need to be simple and plain, so that when people get the song, they know exactly where you%u2019re coming from. I tried to find this other song, %u201CI Am In Love,%u201D but in Memphis, when--. That%u2019s the guy that did that clucking guitar in that song, [Looking at pictures] in %u201CLove, Love.%u201D
BG: What was his name?
DL: Aw, man, that%u2019s the first day I seen him. It was on a Monday.
BG: Do you remember the name of your music teacher across the way?
DL: Everett Freeman.
BG: Everett Freeman, okay.
DL: Everett Freeman. Yeah, I%u2019m glad you said that. I%u2019m talking ahead of myself. That guy may have been the piano player on that song. But anyway, man, they picked that song up and just right on, picked it right up and carried that song. They made two takes and it was made. I better go back a little further on that one, because when I met Anne--you know, I told you that we%u2019d come back to it. She come back and went to Greenville, South Carolina to record. It was that Mark IV and Sand Castle. You heard of them, in Greenville, South Carolina, there on White Horse Road?
BG: No.
DL: We went there and we pulled out four hits in a row, but John R., he wanted to go to Memphis, so I had to carry it to Memphis to do these other songs. So, we did this album there--this one, but that one, this is the one that John R. and Melvin did--her husband. They did the production work on it. What I found out--it takes a lot of work, long wait, and some disappointments--songwriting. I%u2019m a member of MCPS and ASCAP. MCPS is on there somewhere. That%u2019s in London. But that%u2019s who%u2019s supposed to be getting the royalties.
BG: Okay.
DL: And I%u2019m having a time with them people.
BG: Really?
DL: Sure.
BG: So they%u2019re a publishing company or a--?
DL: They are like ASCAP. The company is supposed to give them accounting of what the sales is, and for a percentage, they get your money and send you your part and they keep theirs. They are a society.
BG: Right, okay.
DL: That%u2019s what that S on there is. It%u2019s %u201CMusic Composer Publishers Society.%u201D
BG: When you write songs, when you write the music to songs, are you mostly writing the music on a guitar, or are you%u2026?
DL: %u2026Piano.
BG: Piano, okay. So you play both?
DL: Yes, sir. Well, a little bit of%u2026
BG: %u2026A little bit of everything?
DL: [Laughter] BG: What else do you play?
DL: They%u2019re basically the same, but I write it from the piano. I have to admit, my baby boy, he wasn%u2019t but like eight years old and he was good on music--he might have been twelve. I did it to give him a background in music. I sung it [telephone rings] and he would play the notes, and he would tell me what notes he would play. He played it and tell me notes he played and I wrote the notes, wrote them down. [Telephone keeps ringing] Well, that thing came back through.
BG: We can pause it if you want to answer the phone.
DL: All right. Let me see. No.
BG: No? Not important?
DL: Huh-uh. I don%u2019t know how they got back through that. But anyway, now where was I at?
BG: You were talking about your son.
DL: Oh, yeah, my son.
BG: And what%u2019s his name?
DL: Maurice.
BG: Maurice?
DL: Maurice F. Lee. But anyway, he did that and I played it, but it didn%u2019t get his name on the record. That was very offensive, and I could have took eight more hours and wrote it myself, but I thought it was giving him a music--well, it did give him a music background, %u2018cause he went on--he%u2019s an A-1 player in school. Now his son%u2019s an A-1 player. But when he didn%u2019t see his name on there--. He was too young to put it on there. If I had put it on there, then I was having a hard enough hassle as it is. But it would have been a hassle then, to get my money and get his too. He never did understand it. He%u2019s still carrying that, and that%u2019s been thirty-something years ago.
BG: Oh, no. [Laughter] But he%u2019s a musician himself now?
DL: Sure, he%u2019s real good. Man, he can blow that trumpet, I tell you.
BG: And does he live around here as well?
DL: Sure, he lives down the road.
BG: And you said his son%u2019s musical as well?
DL: Sure is. That%u2019s how he went to school. But he%u2019s taking up foren--.
BG: I%u2019m not sure what you mean.
DL: It%u2019s something about getting those fingerprints and all them things.
BG: Oh, forensics.
DL: Forensics. Yeah, he%u2019s at Western North Carolina.
BG: Really?
DL: Um-hmm. Oh, he can play any instrument. He can play any instrument.
BG: And what%u2019s your grandson%u2019s name?
DL: Maurice, he%u2019s second.
BG: He%u2019s Maurice?
DL: um-hmm.
BG: Okay. What kind of music do they play, your son and your grandson?
DL: Oh, he plays in--they both played in band.
BG: Yeah.
DL: School band.
BG: School band?
DL: I think he%u2019s going to end up there in Western Carolina. But he%u2019s taking forensics.
BG: Interesting.
DL: Um-hmm.
BG: Laughter.
DL: Shoo, I don%u2019t want to do that. [Recorder is turned off and back on] BG: Could you talk some about your labels and how you got those started and who you recorded and what you did there?
DL: Oh, okay. So that is right; the first time I was on (00:17), that was my label. (00:20) was Jack Curry. Impel was my first label, and I wrote a song called %u201CIf Everybody,%u201D and Brownie Guest and the Constellations sung it. It went a long ways for them. It carried them all in Virginia and all those places. But it was %u201CIf Everybody,%u201D and people just loved it. During that time, I didn%u2019t have a label to go off to that was a step up. But anyway, it carried them a long ways. Then people are telling me; I hadn%u2019t heard it, so I can%u2019t say that it%u2019s played in England now. But it%u2019s been over forty years I wrote that on my Impel label. So, let me see. I can%u2019t think of the first group. They sung %u201CSwitch.%u201D I can%u2019t think of the name. I%u2019ve been trying to think of it all day so I could tell you that group I had. Had a group that sang--they sung a song called %u201CSwitch%u201D I wrote.
BG: So you started the label, Impel, in the late sixties? Is that right?
DL: Sure did. That%u2019s exactly.
BG: And it was based here in Shelby?
DL: That%u2019s right.
BG: Where was it?
DL: It was out of my record shop.
BG: Okay. See, that%u2019s another thing we need to talk about. [Laughter] DL: Oh, okay.
BG: Did that come before the label or after the label, the record shop?
DL: Let%u2019s see, it came after the label.
BG: Okay, so we%u2019ll start with the label first.
DL: Okay. The label, that%u2019s right, and so I did those two groups.
BG: Was one of them The Ambassadors? It says The Ambassadors recorded something. Was that on your label? It says here that%u2026
DL: %u2026The Ambassadors was%u2026
BG: %u2026They were a local band, weren%u2019t they%u2026?
DL: %u2026another group. That was another group. Ray probably told you about The Ambassadors.
BG: Was that Bunny Clyde and Bobby London and that crowd?
DL: That%u2019s right, that%u2019s right.
BG: Okay.
DL: Sure, that%u2019s them. I wonder what I said about The Ambassadors?
BG: I know she thought you said something about them. [Laughter] DL: [sigh] The Ambassadors. That might have been telling about different groups or something. And I might have recorded--I guess I did record--That%u2019s who sung my %u201CSwitch.%u201D
BG: That%u2019s who did it?
DL: Um-hmm, that%u2019s who did %u201CSwitch.%u201D
BG: And they were local guys?
DL: Sure was. They did that one, that first one. That%u2019s what%u2019s on there. I was trying my best to think of what group--it was Ambassadors. Then John L. Hardy, you know, he took over. And Bunny Clyde, during the time I had them, I don%u2019t think Bunny was with them then.
BG: Okay.
DL: Anyway, John did real good with them. Apple of my eye. So, they did the %u201CSwitch%u201D for me, and that%u2019s the only one they did on my label. The next one was The Constellations. Back then, it was a bi-racial group. They was way ahead of their time, but they wouldn%u2019t go nowhere without their--they wouldn%u2019t go into a place and be separated. They did a lot of fraternity parties.
BG: And where were they from, The Constellations?
DL: Shelby.
BG: They were too?
DL: They was around here--and Lattimore, Shelby, sure.
BG: Wow [whispers], so much music from this area.
DL: Sure is. Everybody seen all that and thought it was overnight. [Laughter] If I thought it didn%u2019t have (3:45), I never would have started. If I knew that, you know. Then the trouble--see I have had trouble with identity theft. I don%u2019t know how--during these days of computer, and see, these songs have been out thirty-seven years, and MCPS is not going back but six years. Identity theft--I%u2019m not going to--I don%u2019t think I%u2019m going to sue those people. But see, I%u2019ve got my copyrights, and I don%u2019t know how they went about getting it. Then, to get in MCPS--. Am I getting too far again?
BG: So, somebody else was getting paid for those songs?
DL: Yeah. And see, that%u2019s what I%u2019ve been writing them for the proof, but they haven%u2019t sent it yet. But it%u2019s a guy named--uh-oh, I better not call his name because I may be getting in trouble.
BG: Okay. [Laughter] DL: He was a Lee, but he was getting it.
BG: Ah, that%u2019s a shame. I%u2019m sorry.
DL: And the publisher was getting it. It%u2019s known because I%u2019ve got it in writing that--Westbury, they sent me some money. Like, one year, and then they drew up.
BG: Do you think it%u2019s sorted out now? Have you been able to claim your copyrights?
DL: Oh, yes. I%u2019ve got everything because I had to have a birth certificate, marriage license, Social Security number, checking account--all those different numbers to get it straightened out. So, they%u2019ve been working on it a year-and-a-half. More--I looked at a letter a while ago. It was October, so almost two years. I just got a thousand--thirteen hundred seventy-six dollars and twenty-six cent from Westbury, but they closed the thing out on Westbury. They let them alone. Westbury, like I said, that green record, it was out since %u201993. Then they went back and released in %u201998 again. So, it sells for $19.95, I believe. This is the big one. It%u2019s the one that they run five stars for, six years I know of. Sure, five stars. The music that is done, it followed through with the line I started out with. It amazes me that %u201CYou%u2019re Letting Me Down%u201D is being downloaded, and that was our first song.
BG: That%u2019s a good song.
DL: Um-hmm, sure is.
BG: It%u2019s a good one. [Laughter] DL: Sure is.
BG: A classic, right?
DL: Sure, that%u2019s what it is, a classic. Exactly, sure something.
BG: Could we go back to talking about Impel a little bit. We left off at the Constellations.
DL: Oh, okay, they was on my Impel.
BG: Right. And what other groups did you record?
DL: Let%u2019s see, the Yakety-Yaks. They was on Impel. What did I do? I%u2019ve got proof of it too. [Shuffling papers] I had it, didn%u2019t I, in my hand? The Yakety-Yaks, they was on my label. I may have a date. Ain%u2019t that amazing? [Continuing to look through papers] Oh, yeah, that was on my Impel.
BG: This is the Brown Sugar, Inc.
DL: Brown Sugar, Brown Sugar. The name of my record store was Washington Sound, so this is back there with the same thing about labels. It%u2019s good you went back to it. But the Yakety-Yaks, they was on my label%u2026
BG: %u2026And were they local?...
DL: %u2026and it was Washington Sound on the cut. It was a blue label. I%u2019ve got it back there somewhere, got one record of it.
BG: Were they local as well, the Yakety-Yaks?
DL: The Yakety-Yaks came out of Spartanburg, South Carolina.
BG: Okay. Now this record, it says published by Washington Sound, but recorded at Reflection Sound Studios in Charlotte. So they recorded out in Charlotte, but then you released it through your label?
DL: That%u2019s right.
BG: Okay. So did you have a studio?
DL: No, see, what you do, you hire studios to do, and I just put Reflection Sound. You go in the studio and produce your records. You pay them hourly, whatever they charged an hour to cut it, and that%u2019s where it was recorded, Reflection Sound. See, like, Anne Sexton recorded that in Greenville at Mark IV.
BG: So Washington Sound didn%u2019t have the recording studio in it?
DL: No, no.
BG: It was label headquarters and record shop.
DL: You talking about expensive! Woo!
BG: I didn%u2019t know. [Laughter] DL: It was just a label, and the place of business was the record shop. I sold records in there and my records was on the shelf like all the rest of them. I guess I better not go into detail on that, but that (9:31), I had a hit. I had a guy, he was a schoolteacher; he was too smart. He wanted to tell the engineer what to do. You don%u2019t mess with your engineer.
BG: Right.
DL: If you%u2019re producing, let your engineer talk to you, ask you if you want to bring the horns up a little bit, he said, %u201COkay, now how do the horns sound now?%u201D He had the horns just like they%u2019re blowing by their self. %u201CWell, yeah that%u2019s good.%u201D %u201CWhat about the guitar? How does that guitar sound?%u201D He%u2019d bring that guitar up there. I can let you hear a little bit of %u201CYou Let Me Down%u201D out there in the car, and you can hear how it brought the horns and stuff up there. But, that%u2019s mainly what you do in producing. The way I feel about a good producer is a good listener, and I%u2019m talking too much when I should be letting you talk.
BG: [Laughter].
DL: That is one of the things that they taught us in lay speaker training: be a good listener. They say to see can you let someone talk for five minutes and you don%u2019t say nothing. It%u2019s one of the hardest things you could do. But anyway, he%u2019d be a listener. He%u2019s got to listen to what the engineer says. It%u2019s like you say you don%u2019t get above your teacher. That%u2019s the same way about engineer and the producer. The producer, he approved the music, but the engineer engineered it and brings it up to the part where you want it at, and asks you is that okay and all. Usually, when you%u2019re producing, you really don%u2019t need your band members in there because you%u2019d probably ask them, %u201CWhat do you think about it to get it mixed?%u201D
BG: So did you attend a lot of recording sessions yourself?
DL: Oh, yeah. That%u2019s the way I had to do it.
BG: So, all the bands that you released records for, you went to the recording sessions as well.
DL: That%u2019s right. Exactly.
BG: So you knew what was going on and what sound you needed. [Laughter] DL: There you go. That%u2019s exactly, sure. So that finally paid off with Anne Sexton.
BG: So what other bands had you released? Do you remember other bands on Impel or on SCOP? We haven%u2019t even talked about SCOP yet.
DL: Let me see. Who all have I--? I recorded on SCOP. [Pause] And who else? Yeah, Joe Brown and the Melloaires. That was a quartet group. I recorded them on SCOP. I believe it was just two different ones. It was myself and Joe Brown and the Melloaires. So two releases on SCOP.
BG: So two releases on SCOP?
DL: That%u2019s right.
BG: And how many releases on Impel do you think you had?
DL: Let%u2019s see. See, I put the Ambassadors, the Constellations and myself. Now what did I say the name of that group?
BG: Brown Sugar.
DL: Brown Sugar, sure. I believe that%u2019s all I had on it. Oh, that%u2019s Impel.
BG: That%u2019s Impel, yeah.
DL: [Pause] So, anyway, they%u2019re the same color, the label is. I believe that%u2019s all I%u2019ve got on SCOP, was myself and Joe Brown and the Melloaires.
BG: And when did you start the SCOP label? That was later, in the seventies?
DL: That%u2019s right, that was the last one I did was SCOP. And Anne Sexton, she was originally released on Impel.
BG: So how many labels did you have? Impel, SCOP, and were there others as well?
DL: Washington Sound.
BG: Washington Sound, yeah.
DL: Yeah.
BG: So three. And how many releases total do you think you put out?
DL: Well, [laughter] it wasn%u2019t many. So it costs every time you release one. You%u2019ve got to do the studio time, and then you%u2019ve got to do the pressing, then hope that you get them distributed. It was quite expensive, and I have to know that the Lord brought me all the way, because those things I wouldn%u2019t have been able to do. But things with Anne Sexton, it came about. It made me think about people stepping out on faith; I just stepped out on faith that I could do it, and God%u2019s help, that did come through.
BG: Do you have a discography or a list of all the records that you put out?
DL: I sure don%u2019t.
BG: That%u2019s something we%u2019ve got to work on.
DL: [Laughter] Sure.
BG: That would be a good thing to know for historical reasons, to figure out what all the records were on each label and when they were recorded, right? Some of that, I think, is on that guy, Jason Perlmutter%u2019s website. He has a list of, at least, of the Impel releases he%u2019s found, and there are, I think, six or seven of them that he%u2019s found.
DL: Good.
BG: Yeah, he%u2019s done his homework.
DL: Sure has. Golly! That%u2019s the one I%u2019ve got to get this to?
BG: Yeah, I think he%u2019s the one who%u2019s interested. I%u2019d love a copy myself, but that%u2019s too pricey, too much for me, I%u2019m afraid. [Laughter] DL: Yeah, too much for me too.
BG: And I bet it%u2019s worth more than that.
DL: Sure.
BG: So, you might be able to get more for it if you ask.
DL: Sure. See, I don%u2019t have a computer. I can get my daughter to bring it up for me. Oh, you%u2019ve got a--?
BG: Yeah, I can send him an e-mail.
DL: Oh, send him one for me then.
BG: %u2018Cause he lives in the same town as me.
DL: And tell him I%u2019ve got that record.
BG: We work at the same radio station.
DL: And my number. He can call me.
BG: Okay, I%u2019ll give him your phone number. And I%u2019m going to tell him that it%u2019s worth more than fifty dollars.
DL: Sure, that%u2019s right. Sure, say it%u2019s in good shape.
BG: Because I looked online, and there was a copy selling for two hundred dollars somewhere. So, if you don%u2019t mind, I%u2019ll send him your number, and I%u2019ll say, %u201CMr. Lee knows that it%u2019s worth more than fifty dollars.%u201D But you talk to him in person.
DL: Sure.
BG: Do you have other copies of your records?
DL: You know, I had a doctor out in California bought that. He called me. I don%u2019t know why he wanted unknown labels like that. They%u2019re all gone. This one, see how it%u2019s wore out, but it%u2019s on CD now though. They say these records are coming back.
BG: Yeah, I listen to a lot of records on vinyl.
DL: From wax--vinyl?
BG: Yeah.
DL: Oh, okay.
BG: So you think you don%u2019t have many of your own Impel forty-fives left?
DL: I believe that%u2019s the only one.
BG: That%u2019s the only one?
DL: I%u2019ve got one of Washington Sound. You need to see that Washington Sound?
BG: I%u2019d love to see it, yeah.
DL: I guess I could give you that one, %u2018cause I%u2019m not going to keep them.
BG: Oh, thank you, but--. [Laughter]. [Pause while Mr. Lee goes to find the record] DL: I%u2019ll put it in this sleeve there.
BG: Oh, amazing. Thank you so much for showing me this stuff.
DL: Yes, sir.
BG: This is great. So you wrote this one? %u201CSoul Night.%u201D It says David Lee, Jack Dover.
Was Jack Dover one of the Yackety-Yaks? He was in that band?
DL: Now he%u2019s the guy that gave me that hard time in the studio.
BG: Oh, was he? Well, there%u2019s always somebody that%u2019s going to give you a hard time.
DL: Oh, no, he%u2019s not the one. I%u2019m sorry.
BG: Oh, he%u2019s not?
DL: That%u2019s not. That%u2019s not.
BG: Oh, there you go, you found another Impel.
DL: Yeah. Oh, okay. This one was the gospel group, the Relations.
BG: Oh, okay. Wow, look at that.
DL: That%u2019s a gospel group that I did on my label.
BG: The Relations Gospel Singers.
DL: That guy did that one, David Lee.
BG: Ah, there--there%u2019s a SCOP one. Look at that.
DL: I believe that%u2019s the only copy I%u2019ve got left.
BG: So this one, you did write with your son? It says, %u201CDavid Lee and Maurice F. Lee.%u201D
DL: That%u2019s right. What I did, I didn%u2019t let him help me. He cried and cried, so I wrote and put his name on there. I%u2019ve got a few songs I wrote and put his name on there, but I don%u2019t want him helping me no more. [Laughter] I don%u2019t need his help. I didn%u2019t need his help then.
BG: Well, that%u2019s amazing.
DL: That happened over several years, over forty years, I guess.
BG: This SCOP record says %u201C1985.%u201D So how long did the labels go? How long were you running them?
DL: See, I run Impel all the way up to--we saw it a while ago didn%u2019t we? Let me see if there%u2019s a date on it.
BG: That%u2019s %u201977.
DL: That%u2019s %u201977.
BG: And then this SCOP record is %u201985, and this Impel one doesn%u2019t have a date on it.
DL: Back then, wasn%u2019t putting dates on.
BG: This is 105-A. This is 106.
DL: They got so far spread until I didn%u2019t--.
BG: And the Washington Sound record, what does it say on it?
DL: I bet it don%u2019t have it. It%u2019s old.
BG: This doesn%u2019t have a date. So was this%u2026?
DL: %u2026That goes way back...
BG: This was earlier than the--?
DL: Sure. Yes, it was.
BG: Then the SCOP stuff, or was it earlier than Impel?
DL: It was earlier than Anne Sexton. Sir?
BG: This is the Washington Sound one, the Yakety-Yaks.
DL: That%u2019s right. Let%u2019s see, what did I say that--? Brownie Guest [in a low voice] and Constellations. They came after the Constellations.
BG: Okay.
DL: The Constellations were the first group I recorded.
BG: Late sixties or early seventies?
DL: That%u2019s right. I bet if I had copies of that and the masters [20:05]. There%u2019s a lot of that stuff I did.
BG: Where are the masters?
DL: The master of this, it%u2019s in England, of all of this stuff here. Now there%u2019s another--I don%u2019t know what label I put them on. I can%u2019t call the name of the group; it was a quartet group. I recorded them on the label. I made an album. I had one song called %u201CShow Me.%u201D
BG: And which label was that?
DL: That must have been on SCOP.
BG: SCOP.
DL: I believe it was %u2018cause it don%u2019t go too far back. And they got the master. What made me think about it, they got the master to it.
BG: Okay, so the masters are kind of all over the place?
DL: Um-hmm. See, her husband--Iola Dillingham, her husband did the--paid the money for the session and all that, pressing and all that. So that%u2019s why I just said, %u201CWell, you take the master.%u201D I%u2019m glad I did that thing. I did the right thing if my memory is right. But anyway, Iola got the master to that. Let%u2019s see, I can%u2019t think of the name of that group. [Pause] I can%u2019t think of their name. They got popular, but they wouldn%u2019t sing their songs. That%u2019s why I dropped them. They could have went to the top. They was good.
BG: This wasn%u2019t the Ambassadors?
DL: Hm-umm, it was a gospel group.
BG: Oh, gospel group. Oh, the ones who did %u201CShow Me?%u201D The quartet?
DL: That%u2019s right.
BG: That%u2019s what you%u2019re talking about.
DL: That%u2019s right.
BG: Okay.
DL: Sure can%u2019t think of their--. [Recorder turned off and back on] The Vocaleers.
BG: The Vocaleers.
DL: So, they%u2019re the ones sung %u201CShow Me,%u201D the song I wrote--gospel. They was a real good group. They sung good. But anyway, they had some shortcomings. That was another one that we had on SCOP. Now, more questions? You think of anything else that I need to--?
BG: When did you get out of the record business? When did you stop releasing records?
DL: Evidently, the last one I recorded was myself, David Lee.
BG: So, is that this one?
DL: It was amazing, the first and the last.
BG: %u201CI Can%u2019t Believe You%u2019re Gone?%u201D About %u201985, 1985?
DL: Sure.
BG: This was the last one?
DL: Um-hmm.
BG: Okay.
DL: That was the thing about music. See, %u201CI Can%u2019t Believe You%u2019re Gone%u201D is on CD now, and I%u2019m still working on it. I want to put some people in the background. Going to put it on download, once we get some background singers on it.
BG: So this is the one you%u2019re working on now?
DL: That%u2019s right. Oh, that%u2019s some of the things that--yeah, I am missing something there. [paper shuffling as he looks at memorabilia] Now these days, people have a record service. They will service the record for you. They will put it all together. And this amazes me; I didn%u2019t know it until like a week or so ago. See %u201CWe Got to Get Together?%u201D I wrote that, and I wrote it singly, but look whose name is on there. Mary Ann Burton, Melvin Burton, and Clifford Curry; I know all three of them people.
BG: Clifford Curry? You worked with him? I know his music, yeah.
DL: Oh, yeah, I worked with Clifford. He%u2019s on this CD of Anne.
BG: I like that song %u201CShe Shot a Hole In My Soul.%u201D
DL: Yeah.
BG: I like that song a lot.
DL: He come and sung that down at Washington Center, sure did. But yeah, see, they all was buddies, Clifford Curry and Anne Sexton. See, this is Hilltop Records, and it%u2019s in [pause].
BG: In Hollywood, so it%u2019s%u2026
DL: %u2026Hollywood, um-hmm, California.
BG: So this is a compilation?
DL: Um-hmm.
BG: Interesting.
DL: But still, you pay them to%u2026
BG: %u2026Yeah%u2026
DL: %u2026to record your song. I don%u2019t know, how did they get their name on there?
BG: %u2018Cause that was just you.
DL: That puzzles me. Yeah, it was just me. That tells me where to get in touch with them, but when you get into a society, you can%u2019t rat on the society. They have to find it out for themselves. Like when I was working with John R, he was saying that ASCAP wasn%u2019t any--I needed to get in BMI. I got in BMI for a while. Then, I didn%u2019t like BMI; I went back back to ASCAP. ASCAP collected some royalties for me on this one, %u201CYou%u2019ve Been Gone Too Long.%u201D That%u2019s the one me and Anne and Melvin wrote. That was Anne, myself, and her husband. Anne Sexton%u2019s name is Mary Anne Burton, but, in discovering her, I gave her that name because it would be catchy, be easy to remember.
BG: Sexton?
DL: Yeah.
BG: So you just made it up, or you liked the name?
DL: What happened now, she had married Melvin Burton, and she%u2019s Mary Ann Burton, but she was, in the beginning, Mary Anne Sexton. So I just made it %u201CAnne Sexton%u201D and made it easy to remember. That%u2019s going for her now even. I thought of that with God%u2019s help. It was his help. I%u2019m always thinking I did this and I did that. Had to be his help that it catches on and easy to remember and makes her music easy to find on the internet.
BG: Could you tell me a little bit about the record store, Washington Sound? Could you tell me about the history of that and where it was and how long it ran and who all went there?
DL: Oh, black people only! [Laughter] I see people now that I meet, but I can%u2019t think of the dates and numbers, but I stayed there twenty years. I was in business for twenty years at Washington Sound. Finally, automation automated me on out because eight-track first came, then the cassette came, and whenever CD come, it was just--it was too much. You had to have some money to invest in the CDs %u2018cause they%u2019re a lot higher. But during the time that I started is good to remember that you could--as a retailer, you could buy wholesale for twenty-five cent apiece and sell for a dollar, so you had a good%u2026
BG: %u2026For a forty-five?
DL: Um-hmm.
BG: And your labels just released forty-fives, or did you release long-players as well, LPs?
DL: On those like the Vocaleers, it was on an LP.
BG: Oh, was it? Okay.
DL: [Pause] Let%u2019s see, the Vocaleers and Joe Brown, it was on an LP.
BG: Okay.
DL: And that %u201COn My Way Up,%u201D that%u2019s one we didn%u2019t get. Let%u2019s see what label it%u2019s on. Oh, I thought I had it with me.
BG: Is that this one here? Oh, yeah, here you go, The Relations Gospel Singers.
DL: That%u2019s right, it was on Impel. So this was just a single record. So, I did two albums, two LPs, sure did. The record labels, evidently, they run like fifteen, twenty years, about as long as it--. Yeah, I released the song I did in %u201977, didn%u2019t I?
BG: This is %u201985.
DL: %u201985?
BG: This one%u2019s 1985, yeah.
DL: %u201985, %u201985, I%u2019m sorry.
BG: So that must have been the last one.
DL: I believe it was. Yeah, it was. That was the last one I did.
BG: Now where was the store located?
DL: On 716 Buffalo Street.
BG: Okay.
DL: It started out down on Wilson Street. [Laughter] BG: So you moved, you changed locations%u2026
DL: %u2026That%u2019s right%u2026
BG: %u2026at some point.
DL: I stayed down there about a year or so, and moved up higher on the street.
BG: Now what%u2019s in that building now? Is the building still there?
DL: Sure, it%u2019s there. They%u2019ve got a hair--what do you call it?
BG: Hair salon?
DL: The other one. It was wholesalers for perms and stuff. But they got something down there still. But it just got too much. Well, one thing, I did PA work, PA systems. You can really lose a lot of money working on PA systems because the people want a whole lot more than they can pay for. They left me picking up the tab. So that%u2019s what put me out of business. I would have still had a business. [Interruption after a knock on the door, recorder turned off and back on] Now where was we at?
BG: Oh, we were talking about the record store.
DL: Oh, that%u2019s right. What helped keep me in business, I did install the eight-tracks and cassettes and the CD players. I get to do some of the CD%u2019s now. You know, install them. People come by and they remember from the past and I go out and put them in. I did electronic work and I did Palmer%u2019s Grove original work on their PA. I put in PA systems, [00:40] phone; they could talk while sitting in the office and talk all over the church, tell people to come to the phone and different things. Then I put in security cameras, then put a security system in it. I did a lot of that work, but that work--when you%u2019re doing work on a higher scale like that, then you can easily override your--your costs override you. My costs, it got so it was too great.
BG: So were you renting PA systems or fixing them or both?
DL: I was installing them.
BG: So, in clubs?
DL: No, in churches.
BG: In churches. I see, okay.
DL: I don%u2019t guess I did any in a club, I don%u2019t guess. I don%u2019t believe I did. Mainly churches. I did around fifty PAs.
BG: Wow.
DL: I started out making it, but it drew down. So let%u2019s see, tell me something else.
BG: Well, did the record store get crowded?
DL: Oh, I had times when they was standing in line, buying records, ooh, law! Man, it was a bonanza.
BG: Were there other record stores around or was yours the one to go to?
DL: Mine was the main one to buy soul music, really. Sure was. Just had to specialize in it. So they would come, and man, on Saturday, you better have plenty of records %u2018cause you will sell out. They were lined up in there. It amazed me. It was successful for a long time. I just branched it out into the wrong part.
BG: Now did you book any performances for the artists you recorded?
DL: Oh, yeah, okay. Anne Sexton, I did. I booked her for a place in Johnson City, Tennessee when we first put out %u201CLove, Love.%u201D I was working at the club during that time. It was on a Friday, I believe. I booked her into Greeneville, Tennessee too, but I went with them on that Greenville. I couldn%u2019t get to go with them on the one in Johnson City. You%u2019ll notice on your paper there that she was at #46 with a bullet. She came in with a bullet and went all the way up to #46 on a bullet. Anyway, the people called me at nine-thirty at night asking me where was they at? I started trying to find them and I found out they was still sitting down there in Greenville, South Carolina. The people called back about ten-something and said, %u201CThis place is full as it%u2019ll go. If we just had the word that they was coming,%u201D they%u2019d stay %u2018til they come. That%u2019s how popular she was. She was wide open. I called back and talked to Melvin again. Melvin was a pain in the side, thorn in my side. %u201CI ain%u2019t got no way.%u201D That%u2019s what he told me, %u201CI ain%u2019t got no way of getting there,%u201D so they didn%u2019t go. Then, that next Saturday night, John R. called me and asked me where Melvin was at. I said, %u201CLet me call you back.%u201D I called him, called down to Melvin%u2019s and he was still sitting there, and the people looking for him in Texas. So, mainly what he was in was killing that record. %u201CLove, Love,%u201D it was headed to #1, sure was, but that killed it when he didn%u2019t show up in Texas and didn%u2019t show up in Johnson City, that did it. So, I believe that%u2019s the last time I booked was in Johnson City, Tennessee. But them people, they wanted to see her real bad. Oh, she went up to Greeneville, Tennessee and she just rocked the house. Oh man, she had them jumping. Ooh, law! You know, I never had it that I wrote a song and people screamed and hollered like on %u201CYou%u2019re Letting Me Down.%u201D That was the song that was very popular. %u201CLove, Love%u201D would have been more. %u201CYou%u2019re Letting Me Down%u201D--there was a radio station I can%u2019t--WEAC, I believe; I think it%u2019s out now, but %u201CYou%u2019re Letting Me Down%u201D went to #12 on their chart. It didn%u2019t hit the Billboard chart, but Cashbox is the one that--she went to Cashbox on %u201CLove, Love, I Want To Be Loved%u201D and %u201CYou%u2019ve Been Gone Too Long.%u201D Let me see, %u201CYou%u2019ve Been Gone Too Long%u201D was Billboard and this one%u2019s Cashbox. %u201CLove, Love%u201D was Cashbox. But anyway, she%u2019d been a great inspiration if he had half the spunk that she had, boy! Lord, she just had it, and got it now. Evidently, I see on some of these--see, she got everybody on to that--she%u2019s in another record here. Maybe someday I%u2019ll buy it and see what it is. She%u2019s on another album now, so evidently they did find her. I know on this CD here [pause], on that CD, it said that %u201979 was the last time they heard from her, but evidently they have now because she had recorded more for that company. But Lord, she%u2019s an artist. She wrote--she helped--wrote some songs. I%u2019m proud that I met her. If I hadn%u2019t met her, then these others would have meant nothing, wouldn%u2019t have meant anything, and the copyrights and all that wouldn%u2019t have. A lot of times, your life leads you into things and you have to be up with God.
BG: Are you still writing songs now?
DL: I have one, a spiritual song I%u2019m writing now. I%u2019m in the copyright with it now. %u201COnly You Can Make It Happen--It Only Happened Because Of Jesus.%u201D [8:08] Just the words in it, %u201Cit only happened because of Jesus.%u201D
BG: Have you written the music for it yet.
DL: Mm-hmm, I sent it in for copyright. I%u2019ve got, like three more weeks to get them some money to get the copyright. You know what it costs? When I first started copyrighting, it was ten dollars. Now it%u2019s forty-five.
BG: Really?
DL: So many people are copyrighting now.
BG: Yeah.
DL: But yes, I wrote that, and like I say, that %u201CCan%u2019t Believe You%u2019re Gone,%u201D I%u2019m in the makings with it. I%u2019ve got a CD on it, but it%u2019s not like I want it. It takes a whole lot to please me, especially about myself.
BG: [Laughter] DL: I have another song out on [9:15]. [Shuffling through CDs] It%u2019s laying here somewhere.
BG: This one says %u201CAmerica%u201D on it. There%u2019s another one?
DL: Americhord or something.
BG: That%u2019s Anne Sexton.
DL: It may be under all this stuff, but I know I brought it in here. I don%u2019t know what I did with it.
BG: Yeah, I don%u2019t see it.
DL: Anyway, there was a guy, he sung the one I%u2019m singing, %u201CI Can%u2019t Believe You%u2019re Gone,%u201D and it%u2019s Bobby, Bobby Lloyd sung it. It%u2019s on one of these like this one. [Looking at CDs] But I believe that%u2019s about all I can think of. I%u2019ll think of a lot of things I should have told you when you were here.
BG: I don%u2019t know if I asked this, but the Yakety-Yaks, they were local too?
DL: They were Spartanburg, I believe.
BG: Spartanburg, that%u2019s right. You mentioned that.
DL: Spartanburg, South Carolina. They were some that come and sung at that--and see, that was the name of that place I named the label and my company shop out there, Washington Sound.
BG: Right, right.
DL: They come and sung at it and I picked them up. I really was crazy about that song there. It was good. Oh, that%u2019s right, I%u2019m giving that to you.
BG: Yeah, thank you so much. I%u2019m excited to hear it. I can%u2019t wait to hear it. I%u2019ll go home and play that.
DL: That%u2019s what I used on my advertisement for my shop, %u201CSoul Night.%u201D
BG: Oh, really? Was that a television or radio advertisement?
DL: Radio.
BG: Radio advertisement. Oh, wow, that makes it even more special. [Laughter] DL: Sure, that%u2019s right.
BG: I think we%u2026
DL: %u2026And that%u2019s the only copy. I don%u2019t have another copy.
BG: What we%u2019ve got to do, I think, and I%u2019ll try to talk to some folks about this, but it would be great to put out a compilation record of all the releases that your label has put out, all the records you put out and put them in one place. That would be amazing if we could track down some of those things. I would love to see that.
DL: So I%u2019ve got to be thinking along those lines then.
BG: I think so. You%u2019ve done such good work and it%u2019s a shame that you don%u2019t have the masters in one place, but we can track these records down and put them on one release together and represent all the work that you did as a label owner and the work you did as a writer as well.
DL: See, that %u201CSwitch,%u201D I don%u2019t have no--I sold out of those copies and didn%u2019t buy no more. I sold all that I could get of them.
BG: Well, if we can track down some of the copies, at least, even if we can%u2019t find the masters, then that%u2019s a way of doing it.
DL: Now, I%u2019ve got one of the masters for the things I did on this, but that%u2019s the only master I%u2019ve got of, and I recorded on my Impel--. Aw, shucks, that one didn%u2019t do no good though anyway.
BG: What about recordings of yourself? Do you have recordings of yourself around, other than stuff that%u2019s not on the records, but maybe just recordings you made yourself?
DL: Um-hmm.
BG: No? It%u2019s all gone?
DL: Sure, they%u2019re all--and that%u2019s the only copy I%u2019ve got of that.
BG: Yeah. I%u2019ll hold on to that one.
DL: All my CDs--but now, with digital, you can bring them out like you want them to. The one that%u2019s on this label, that%u2019s what I%u2019m in the process of getting it blown up a little higher. This song, %u201CWe%u2019ve Got To Get Together,%u201D is [pause], it%u2019s pop. It%u2019s pop. I heard it on the radio before it was released. Sure did. I said, %u201CCool. That%u2019s all in my song.%u201D I didn%u2019t quite say it in that direction--found out that was it, sure was. I just caught about half of it.
BG: So what station did you hear it on?
DL: Oh, it was on a pop station. It was over there at ninety-something. I know it was ninety-something. I was just thumbing through the radio and got it. I should have kept it down, but it was a long time before I got this, and I got this and I said, %u201CWell, that was my song.%u201D I hope they still play it. But, see, it was on a pop station and I listen to that 106.9. Do you ever listen to it?
BG: Yes.
DL: My station?
BG: You like that one?
DL: Yeah. That%u2019s my station, 106.9, Billy Graham. Those guys, they preach pretty close to the Bible.
BG: If I could ask you another question about your writing, wondering if when you write songs, are you writing from personal experience or are you writing from the perspective of an idea or a character? How do you write? What%u2019s your process?
DL: That%u2019s exactly--the first one.
BG: The first one, the personal experience.
DL: Sure, exactly. When you first hear it you say, %u201COh, Lord, I%u2019m exposing myself.%u201D I found out that is the best way. I can%u2019t think of anything that I wrote that I didn%u2019t use--see, that %u201CShow Me,%u201D it came out of personal experience. It was a gospel, but it came out of experience. %u201CI%u2019m at the crossroads. Show me, Lord, please show me which way to go.%u201D I was almost in tears when I was writing that. I might have been in tears. So that%u2019s exactly like %u201CI%u2019m Going To Keep On Trying,%u201D the first one I did. That%u2019s how it come about. You know, I got all those rejections and had it on my mind to say, %u201CI%u2019m just going to quit. I%u2019m not going to go any further,%u201D and that song come to mind, %u201CI%u2019m Going To Keep On Trying.%u201D That%u2019s right, those, I guess, was on the back side of %u201CSwitch.%u201D They sung that; Ambassadors sung it. I liked the way they sung it, [singing] %u201CI%u2019ll keep on trying, oh, yes!%u201D Oh, that%u2019s the one I sung. When they sung it, I come back and sung it.
BG: You sang it with the Ambassadors?
DL: I sung it by myself.
BG: By yourself, okay.
DL: I thought I was making a demo, and actually, when I sent a letter, the guy, he%u2019d send me some of the records and told all the stations he was sending them to them. Then it wasn%u2019t long, h e had proof the he had played. But I didn%u2019t like it [16:44] because if I had went in the studio--. I went in the studio on this one, %u201CI Can%u2019t Believe You%u2019re Gone.%u201D
BG: So the demo, was that just you on piano?
DL: That%u2019s right.
BG: And you recorded it just at home%u2026?
DL: %u2026in the house%u2026
BG: %u2026in the house?
DL: Um-hmm. I was trying to think of that guy%u2019s name. His name was [17:09].
BG: Yeah, I%u2019d love to hear that recording. If you find a copy of that, I%u2019d like to hear you.
DL: Well, I%u2019ve got a copy of my master for %u201CI Can%u2019t Believe You%u2019re Gone.%u201D
BG: Really?
DL: Um-hmm. Let me see, [pause] yeah, this is did at Mark IV, and the one that%u2019s on that label, it was did in California. They did the music, then I went to a computer--what do you call them?
BG: A synthesizer or keyboard?
DL: Digital. They recorded it off on digital, then I sung with it, put headphones on and sung with it. I said, %u201CI want to blow it up bigger and I want to put some girls, a couple of women in the background, strong voices, blend with them. Sell all I want to then. I%u2019ve got my oldest son, his name is David M. and I said I might name it %u201CDavid.%u201D In getting my birth certificate, I had to put an %u201CM%u201D in there %u2018cause of so many David Lees. Anyway, that%u2019s what he%u2019s going to school to do. He%u2019s a [pause] ordained minister.
BG: Oh, okay.
DL: David M. is, and he%u2019s a United Methodist and he%u2019s a chaplain in the Air Force and he%u2019s a captain.
BG: Wow.
DL: So I praise God for him. He went on and made something out of himself. He%u2019s getting into downloading and that%u2019s what he wants to do, download now, because that%u2019s what%u2019s going now. People look at it, and I have to take a long time. When I saw that download, I said, %u201COh, yeah, they can get that for eighty-nine cent.%u201D But then, you can%u2019t put just eighty-nine cents on a card. [Laughter] So, they end up buying the whole album. That%u2019s what happening.
BG: So you have four kids or five kids?
DL: Four.
BG: Four kids.
DL: I better call all their names because if you get it on there and get one and don%u2019t get--.
BG: Yes, please.
DL: My oldest son is named David M. David M., David Martina Lee. My baby boy, that%u2019s Maurice F., the one you see on here, Maurice Fredricker Lee. Then, my oldest girl, Dana Lee Gaffney, and my baby girl is Sonya Lee George. They%u2019re all married, and my wife, better get her name on there for sure. I%u2019ll be a dead duck. They%u2019ll say, %u201CWhere%u2019s David?%u201D %u201CThat%u2019s that duck hanging up there.%u201D My wife, Nellena, Nellena Lee. You know, I mentioned about her asking me ho do I feel hearing my song played over a station that reach from New York to California, and I said, %u201CI feel like a million.%u201D That was just a feeling, too. That was a spur-of-the-moment. Did I get all--that%u2019s all those names; there%u2019s four of them and my wife.
BG: And your wife.
DL: That%u2019s right. [Laughter] BG: Where%u2019s your wife?
DL: She helps our daughter, Dana, in a day-care center. They work in day care. They%u2019re taking care of children. I say it takes a special person. I can%u2019t do that.
BG: Yes, sir, it does.
DL: It%u2019s just like it is writing music; it takes a special person. That%u2019s what they%u2019re doing. They%u2019re working. During the first of this year, they had a time when the business went down. Now, it%u2019s coming back up, but in summertime it gets hard with day care, all this vacation and stuff. So, I don%u2019t know what I did with Bobby Lloyd. I might have left him in the car. Bobby Lloyd did a good job on singing that. But that company wasn%u2019t what I thought they were. I thought they was going to really put the stuff out there, but they were just servicing the record for me. They did a good job. I don%u2019t have no complaints. I%u2019ve got to get together; we%u2019re going to go in the studio and get it on digital and bring up the guitars, bring up the horns, bring up the voice. You know, bring everything up.
BG: Good.
DL: Won%u2019t have no trouble with download then.
BG: You recorded that here?
DL: My original I did. I was right there with my set and my piano and all that, and I recorded it and then sent it to California, then Cody Lyle did it.
BG: Okay, I see.
DL: Yeah, so Cody Lyle, that joker, he%u2019s a good singer, man. I%u2019m going to sell it by him, recorded by Cody Lyle. I guess I can put Bobby Lloyd, blow him up and put him on there too, but put a trust fund for them, like four percent. If they ever complain, draw it out of their trust fund and send it to him. And meanwhile, be contacting them too, let them know I%u2019m putting it out. Sure, that%u2019s right, I can do both of them and I don%u2019t have to sing %u201CI Can%u2019t Believe You%u2019re Gone.%u201D I guess I better sing it though, the way I want it sung.
BG: Yeah, I think so.
DL: Man, I didn%u2019t have no idea that because it wasn%u2019t as strong as I want it, but put it out and I guess I had [pause] two orders made on it. I should have known, but people are buying it. Then, about two or three months later, after I had quit selling it, a man down 18, he was bootlegging it. He was selling it, and he said, %u201CMan, this thing is flying off the shelves.%u201D %u201CHey, I know that man that sang that song.%u201D [Laughter] I%u2019ll try to get him to get me a copy. I was scared to go in there. I%u2019m scared I may scare him off %u2018cause he%u2019s making my song popular. So, he%u2019s making it popular, it%u2019ll be ready when I get the girls in behind me and download it. Sure make it popular. He%u2019s got me wide open like Anne was. See, she was wide open; they didn%u2019t know it. Man, she had a tremendous hit. Ooh, Lord, it was tremendous.
BG: A lot of heartache in those songs.
DL: Oh, sure is.
BG: You know?
DL: Sure, well, that%u2019s what%u2019s selling.
BG: [Laughter] DL: Well, I found it relates to everybody though. The same downs I had, they have them too. It relates, and that%u2019s why, if it%u2019s something you get that don%u2019t relate, then soon they forget it. Advertisement sells it. But you best seller is, what did you say, heartaches? It relates.
BG: Everybody can relate to %u201CYou%u2019re Letting Me Down.%u201D
DL: Um-hmm, %u201CLove, Love.%u201D You haven%u2019t heard %u201CLove, Love%u201D have you?
BG: I haven%u2019t heard that one, no.
DL: Have you heard %u201CYou%u2019re Letting Me Down%u201D?
BG: Oh, I%u2019ve heard that, yeah.
DL: Oh, okay. And they%u2019re really buying it too. Lord have mercy. Oh, Germany, looks like those are the people that%u2019s the big buyers on it.
BG: Yeah, soul music is big over there.
DL: Uh-huh.
BG: Well, usually the last question I like to ask is: Are there any questions that I should have asked you and I didn%u2019t, or is there anything you want to add that you didn%u2019t get to say?
DL: Let%u2019s see, I mentioned Cody Lyle. I mentioned Bobby Lloyd. And the main thing, to mention my wife and my family. [Laughter] BG: Good. [Laughter] DL: So I believe we got it all. We mentioned everything about Anne Sexton, John Richbourg. John %u201CR%u201D is John Richbourg.
BG: The deejay.
DL: Uh-huh, and he%u2019s the--. But they will play you some of that other one too, %u201CLove, Love.%u201D You know, they play some of it on--I was going to play some of it, so you already played it. You already heard some of it.
BG: Do you have a stereo in here?
DL: My CD, I can play it in the car. It won%u2019t take but a minute to run it up there to it and play it.
BG: Yeah. Yeah, I wouldn%u2019t mind to hear some of that stuff again. I%u2019d like to hear it with you, the author.
DL: [Laughter] BG: That%u2019s a different experience, hearing it with the man who wrote it, so we can do that.
DL: Okay, let%u2019s hear that then. I believe we got everything. I mentioned the requirements to get into this MCPS.
BG: Yes.
DL: And ASCAP picked up on one of my songs, [pause] %u201CYou%u2019ve Been Gone Too Long.%u201D I don%u2019t know why ASCAP didn%u2019t pick up on %u201CYou%u2019re Letting Me Down.%u201D It had been played all over the United States and they didn%u2019t pick it up, and I did register it with them.
BG: All right, I%u2019m going to leave you with my contact information, my address and my phone numbers and everything so you can get in touch with me.
DL: Oh, okay. Like if I do find anything really important, but it looks like I told you everything that I can remember.
[Remainder of this track is concerned with the interviewee signing release forms and the interviewer describing how the forms will be used. Also, the interviewer states the importance of a project to get some of the releases put together in a compilation so that people could hear them all together. The recorder is turned off before the interview moves to the interviewee%u2019s car, where the two listen to CDs after the recorder is turned on.] BG: Sounds good. Yeah. [Spoken as they listen to %u201CI Want To Be Loved%u201D in its entirety] Well, thank you. That was beautiful. I%u2019m glad to hear that. It was nice to hear that with you, too.
DL: Sure. [Recorder turned off and back on] DL: My music is available in London; that%u2019s Britain; and Germany, Japan, China, United States and Canada--one other country that I know of, so I am blessed.
BG: Yes, sir.
DL: And I feel blessed. I am glad you came and I%u2019m glad to let someone know that I%u2019ve been trying.
BG: Yes, sir, you have.
DL: Sure, I have been trying. So that is something that we didn%u2019t get, but it%u2019s available in all those countries. When you bring it up on Amazon, you%u2019ll see it. Well, like if you buy a CD, it will tell wherever you can get it at. But Lord, the CDs are too high. [Laughter] Forty-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents!
BG: That%u2019s expensive.
DL: I wonder who in the world is buying that record.
BG: [Laughter] DL: Yeah, and they jumped twenty dollars since I bought mine. I haven%u2019t had mine but about a year. Sure jumped twenty dollars. More than that, ain%u2019t it? Let me see, twenty-eight to forty-eight. That%u2019s twenty, ain%u2019t it?
BG: Yeah. Twenty dollars.
DL: Ooh, Lord!
BG: [Laughter] DL: I can%u2019t imagine that, but I%u2019ve got to praise God. I%u2019ve got to thank him every day, and if I don%u2019t get no more out of it, then I%u2019m pleased that it%u2019s available. But I believe they%u2019re going to pay me some later.
BG: Yeah, I hope so. I hope so.
DL: Me too. I need it bad. I have to admit, I%u2019m down and out. Been a tough year.
BG: Oh, it%u2019s hard. It%u2019s hard for everybody. Bad shape, we%u2019re in bad shape.
DL: Yeah, that car there, it hasn%u2019t been up to the post office today. You see, the post office is right up the road. I don%u2019t see how you found this place so good.
BG: I looked at a map. [Laughter] DL: Oh, oh! I wondered how on earth. If they put me out in a place like that, I never would get back. I%u2019d be out there.
BG: I think I%u2019ll make it back. I%u2019ll make it back.
DL: [Gives interviewer directions to Boiling Springs, NC] So good to meet you, I tell you.
BG: Yes, sir. It was a real honor.
DL: Bless you, bless you.
BG: Really, it was a privilege.
DL: God bless you.
BG: And keep up the good work, sir. Keep writing. [Laughter] DL: It%u2019s getting tough now. Copyrights are forty-five dollars.
BG: Yeah.
DL: People used to tell me to write a letter and send it back to your self. That don%u2019t work. People will steal your identity now, even if you%u2019ve got a copyright.
BG: Well, good luck.
DL: Yes, sir. Thank you. I sure appreciate it. This is a project from the school or something?
BG: UNC-Chapel Hill is involved, but then the Earl Scruggs Museum and the group called Destination Cleveland County.
DL: I tell you, I listened to Earl Scruggs. Wonder how old is Earl Scruggs?
BG: He%u2019s, I think, eighty-two years old now.
DL: Oh, okay.
BG: He%u2019s still around.
DL: I know he%u2019s up there because he was singing as far back as I can remember.
BG: He lives in Nashville now.
DL: He was singing over the radio. That%u2019s one thing I didn%u2019t remember. I went to Nashville twice during the time I signed the contracts. Oh, you need to be recording.
BG: Yeah, I%u2019m still recording.
DL: Oh, uh-oh. [Laughter] BG: [Laughter] DL: I went to Nashville twice, and the second time I went--I went to John R%u2019s--they got him an operating place, and when you mentioned Nashville, that brings my memory back to it. Anyway, they would have places in a house, and maybe the house has sheds, and they keep the records in where the shed%u2019s at. You know, the recorded records. Okay, right where John R%u2019s place of business was, you could throw a rock on Johnny Pride%u2019s place. Lord, it was just lined like this, and all of them was recording studios.
DL: Sure, where they operated out of. But that was an experience. I was just standing there shaking, Johnny Pride. [Laughter] But Johnny had one big song and a lot of the time that%u2019s all it takes.
BG: So, wait--Johnny Pride? I know Charley Pride.
DL: I meant Charley Pride. Oh Lord, Charley Pride!
BG: Maybe they%u2019re brothers.
DL: Sure. No, Charley Pride.
BG: I love Charley Pride. Yeah, %u201CKiss An Angel Good Morning.%u201D That has to be one of the things that %u201CI Can%u2019t Believe You%u2019re Gone%u201D is patterned after. [Singing] %u201CI can%u2019t believe you%u2019re gone.%u201D I didn%u2019t let you hear that, did I ? [Singing] %u201CI can%u2019t believe you%u2019re gone, I sat by the telephone, I can%u2019t believe you%u2019re gone.%u201D [Laughter] Say I miss you every night. Oh, if you want to hear a little bit of that, I%u2019ve got it in the car.
BG: Oh, sure, yeah. Yeah, why not?
DL: And if you want to tape it then, you can tape it, too. I didn%u2019t think about that while I was in there.
BG: So Charley Pride must have been something of an inspiration to you as an African-American country singer.
DL: Sure, he had to be because that song, I did pattern it after him. This is my master. See it?
BG: There we go, yeah. [Recorder turned off and back on] DL: Now, you%u2019ll hear they I do sing.
BG: Good.
DL: Aaah! It%u2019s bad!
BG: [Laughter] [Pause while song is located on CD] There we go. [%u201CCan%u2019t Believe You%u2019re Gone%u201D plays in its entirety on car stereo] DL: That was David Lee.
BG: That sounded great to me. I like your singing voice a lot.
DL: Oh, you do?
BG: Yeah, it sounds great. It%u2019s got a nice little twang to it.
DL: Oh, okay.
BG: I can hear the influence of all those country singers.
DL: [Laughter] BG: Yeah, it sounds good.
DL: When I first heard myself, I said, %u201COh, Lord, I can%u2019t sing!%u201D
BG: No, that sounds good. That was a great song, too.
DL: [4:12] work on it more.
BG: [Laughter] So that%u2019s the one you%u2019re going to put some female backup vocals on?
DL: That%u2019s right.
BG: Good, good.
DL: See, we%u2019ve got a studio uptown there in Shelby. I can go up there and put it on.
BG: Yeah. What studio is that?
DL: It%u2019s at the court square.
BG: Okay.
DL: Like if you%u2019re going in--yeah, if you%u2019re going into Shelby on Warren Street--. You know Warren Street?
BG: Yeah.
DL: Okay, you go all the way to Loy%u2019s Men Shop and it%u2019s upstairs there.
BG: Upstairs? Okay.
DL: Jerry [pause] Glenn. Jerry Glenn.
BG: Jerry Glenn. Okay, maybe I%u2019ll try to talk to him.
DL: He%u2019s the one who recorded that. I mean, see now, the music came from California; he recorded the voice on it.
BG: Okay. Right there. All right. See, I didn%u2019t know about that studio. But that%u2019s where the Earl Scruggs Museum is going to be, right in the courthouse there.
DL: Oh, okay. He%u2019s right across the street. That%u2019s on the court square. Well, that%u2019s on this side in the far corner. You know, when you get ready, like you%u2019re leaving by the courthouse, he%u2019s right there on the right, upstairs.
BG: Okay.
DL: Sure is.
BG: All right.
DL: So good to meet you. I can%u2019t think of anything.
BG: Likewise. Thank you. Thank you for your time.
DL: Yes, sir, and your time.
BG: Well, take care of yourself, and we%u2019ll be in touch.
DL: Okay.
BG: I%u2019ll give you a ring, and I%u2019ll send you a copy of the interview. We%u2019ll come back at some point and do a presentation on all the interviews we did, so I%u2019ll talk to folks in town a little bit about your work%u2026
DL: %u2026Okay%u2026
BG: %u2026and what you%u2019ve done and your songs and your labels.
DL: See if they remember me.
BG: Exactly. I think some will. I think some will.
DL: Sure. I worked at an exclusive club; they ought to. They backed me too. I was amazed how they fell into what work I was trying to do. They was getting those albums like hotcakes--boom, boom, boom!
BG: [Laughter] DL: Sure, it%u2019s too hot out here for us to be standing.
BG: It is; it%u2019s too hot. It%u2019s too hot. I%u2019m going to get into the air conditioning.
DL: And it%u2019s hot enough in--. [Laughter] BG: Yes, it%u2019s hot everywhere. You can%u2019t help it in this weather.
DL: Sure.

END OF INTERVIEW
Mike Hamrick, July 7th, 2010