of high school. We really didn't have a corpo- ration set up or anything. I believe it was an advance on the first record or something like that. It was our first real check. So, it's just Tommy and myself, and we go in to cash the check. The lady at the teller window says, “no, no sir - we can't cash your check.” So, Tommy tells her, “you don’t understand, these are my people, and I've got to give them their money.” She still refused, saying you can talk to my boss if you want. And Tommy said, “Get him out here.” He could really get fired up. He really wanted our money and he was really adamant. He started screaming, “Get him out here!” He told the guy, “Look, these are my people. They need this money.” The guy came out, and Tommy talked to him for about 30 minutes and finally convinced him to cash the check. But he got our money. (Laughs) I could tell you million stories like that. That’s just the way he was.


Well I wasn’t a personal friend like you, but I knew him a little bit, and I certainly knew his talent. It was like he was the leader of the band, at least it seemed that way to me. Everybody re- spected him. It was like Ronnie Van Zant in Lynyrd Skynyrd. Ronnie was that person. Without question. I mean, he was the younger brother of Toy, but he was the leader. I mean it wasn't an arrogant stance, it’s just that he was a natural born leader. He just put every- one at ease. He could talk to people a certain way. For instance, if George was upset about something, Tommy could talk to George. George was older than everyone else, but if he got upset about something, Tommy could talk to him and calm him down. He was that way with all of us. When we first played Madison Square


Garden, all of our families were there, and I think half of the New York Jets, and Mo Austin from Warner Brothers had flown in. We had just signed with Warner Brothers and


all of these people were there, all of this press. It had sold out like in two seconds or some- thing. So everybody was a little nervous going on. But by the time Tommy got through talk- ing to us in the dressing room, everybody was laughing and at ease. It was like there was nothing to it. You didn’t even think about it. You just say, let’s go out and play and do what we do. And that’s what he had. He just had this great gift to make you feel confident and at ease. And he did that in the studio, if any- one got upset or was troubled about some- thing, he’s always be the one that would make it okay. He was always the rock that you could lean on.


I remember when he passed away, and we all wondered if you guys could, or would, continue onward. And of course you found a bass played back home in Spartanburg who had been friends with the band and early on played in bands with Toy and George, and had enjoyed some level of success on Capi- tal Records as a member of Garfeel Ruff, Franklin Wilkie. One of the first things you did was record a fine album called Dedicated, in memory of brother Tommy, that included the beautiful song for him, “Ride in Peace.” It was really a great album, and I am so happy you guys found a way to carry on. Thank you Michael B. We all just talked about it a long time and decided that Tommy would want us to keep playing. So that’s what we did.


Of course a few years later we had an- other death in the family when Toy Caldwell passed away. I just have to say that, as a guitar player. Toy was always my number one influence. He was like a hero. I remember way back in the Toy Factory days, going to see him at Uncle Sam’s on Asheville Highway. I’d sit as close to the stage as possible and watch


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