In February of 1964, the Beatles came to America. If you were under the age of 30 then and spent a major portion of your income or your allowance on 45 records or batteries for your transistor radio, this invasion was a life-changing event. When I saw the Ed Sullivan show on that Sunday night with the Beatles first live U.S. performance and witnessed the out-of-control behavior of the teenage girls in the audience, I knew I had to learn more about this phenomenon. From that point on, Elvis, Little Anthony, Chubby Checker and the Four Tops were all old news to me. I could tell my future was with the Lads of Liverpool, John, Paul, George, and Ringo.
My family has always been musical. I grew up listening to my mother playing the piano in the living room. Dad would sing his favorite French ditties at six in the morning while he cooked breakfast. He learned those special vocal renditions overseas during WW II, and my older brother and his pals were having Hootenannys and doing the folk music thing. I took piano lessons to satisfy my mother, but it just wasn’t meant to be, and I was very doubtful about my prospects as was my teacher, Miss Celestine. Finally, it ended on the day when that dear sweet lady came into the practice room, and I was playing “Come on Over Baby, Whole Lotta Shaking Going On” by Jerry Lee Lewis. I was framing away on those ivories, and thought I sounded pretty good, but it was just too much for Miss C. With tears in her eyes, she sadly suggested that I try another musical instrument besides piano. I loved her very much at that moment. However, before I concluded my piano career, I did deliver a masterful recital performance of “The March of the Lilliputians”.
At any rate, I took Miss Celestine’s advice, and by the summer of that year, I had learned about five chords on my brother’s guitar. By Fall, three of my buddies and myself had formed a band with a repertoire consisting of seven songs which we enthusiastically played over and over. We were waiting for the high school girls to adoringly lose control over us. We waited and waited. It never happened. Apparently, they did not appreciate that we were a bona fide working band. I do remember one night at a skating party in Gibson, however, when one girl actually screamed when she tripped on her skates. That was close enough to count. The Regents Four was our name even though the used amplifier that we paid ten bucks for had, “The Rockin’ Country Playboys” on the front of it. We spent every spare minute we had working on our act. We played at the community house after football games, at birthday parties, and at dance parties. We played at Saturday night “teen towns”, bowling alleys and skating rinks all around the area from Augusta down to Collins and at places I never heard of.
We had a rotation of different musicians that came through that band. Some of them really had special talent and went on to play with other outstanding groups. Most of us were just average players who loved music. Obviously, The Regents Four never made the big time, but it was great fun for a few years. That was all more than 60 years ago, and I can still remember the words to most of the 48 songs on our playlist. I just can’t sing them anymore. I think The Regents Four and The Four Plys were the first “garage bands” formed in Swainsboro right after the Beatle craze hit. Following that, it’s a fascinating story of how many really great local bands came along from right around here. It was just an average small town, but we had Sam’s Drive In, the record hop, plenty of stores around the square and plenty of above average folks who allowed us to dream, have a little fun, and believe in ourselves. That’s just a little random look back at a different time in Swainsboro.
