black music on the radio. I was always at- tracted to that kind of music. When I got into high school, I started hearing about the clear channel stations that broadcast at night. There was WLAC in Nashville and WCKY in Cincinnati as well as a station in Del Rio, Texas. These big stations boomed all over the south and played black music at night. They played the early Chess Records like Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley, among others. These stations had sponsors from Nashville that were primarily record shops. I recall that Randy's and Ernie's record shops were two of the sponsors. Their advertised specials were you could get six or eight records for half price. While I didn't turn out to be a musician, hearing black artists on these stations did have a big influence on me. At the same time, Duane and Gregg were also listening to the same programs at night as well as a lot of other guys. You'll find that a lot of musicians, especially those from the south, were really influenced by what they heard on WLAC radio.


to get my foot in the door. It all pretty much evolved after I met Twiggs Lyndon. I met him through a mutual friend, Scott Hayes. Twiggs was quite a character even back then.


Jack Weston and Willie Perkins. (John Charles Griffin Photo)


JW: How did you get your start in the music business? WP: As I was growing up, I always had in the back of my mind the desire to be involved in the entertainment business. Not in the per- forming side but the business side of it. At first I didn't really have any exposure or way


JW: What time frame are you talking about. WP: This was back in the early sixties. Proba- bly 1961 or 1962. We all had a lot in common in that we liked hot rod cars and black music. We all remained friends during college and through the years in general. In 1964 Scott, Twiggs and I took a trip to Las Vegas. Twiggs ended up staying out there and then later went to LA and hooked up with Little Richard. Little Richard was doing one of his many comebacks and had an outfit called the Royal Guard. They were all dressed up like these English Beefeater guys. Little Richard was originally from Macon. This was just one of the incarnations of Little Richard and it was like in 1964 or 1965. Jimi Hendrix was in the band! Jimi had been playing in a band for Jackie Wilson. Little Richard hired Jimi in Atlanta. Of course we all know where that went. Hendrix apparently got some of his in- fluences through Twiggs from Johnny Jenk- ins who did the Ton Ton Macoute album. At any rate, Twiggs went in that direction. At the same time Phil Walden, as a college kid, grew up the same way we did. He got involved pro- moting Otis Redding. Phil had to sit outside in his car when Otis did talent shows at a black theater in Macon because he couldn't go inside in those days. When Phil got into a fra- ternity while in college, he got involved hiring bands for the frat house dances. Almost all of the fraternities' back then had black bands play at their dances. That's how Phil Walden Artists and Promotions started off, which was basically a booking agency for black R & B artists. Twiggs came back off the road with Little Richard and then he got involved with Phil working with Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, and Arthur Conley. He did road managing for all these guys at one point or another. The


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