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University of Alabama Dental School Alumni, 1967
Guitarist Al Talley entertains at a dinner for University of Alabama Dental School alumni, press photo, 1967.
Singer, Festival of Sacred Music, 1963
Attendee Pearl Benson at Birmingham’s Festival of Sacred Music, press photo, 1963. Birmingham’s third annual Festival of Sacred Music opened on November 26, 1963, with an emotional “farewell” to President John F. Kennedy, who had been killed just a…
Hurtsboro High School Marching Band, 1989
Hurtsboro High School marching band, Hurtsboro Christmas Parade, Main Street, Hurtsboro, Alabama. Press photo by Joe Maher, 1989.
Sensational Gospelaires Publicity Photo
Sensational Gospelaires, Selma, Alabama, undated publicity photo.
String Band, Baldwin County
String band, likely Baldwin County, Alabama, undated. William Riley Cooper, far right; other musicians unidentified.
Happy Hal Burns, 1955 Publicity Photo
Happy Hal Burns (Harold Frank Byrnes) was a popular, longtime Birmingham radio personality and a mentor to many of the city’s “hillbilly” and country acts, including Hank Penny, Sidney “Hardrock” Gunter, and Gordon Edwards “Country Boy Eddie” Burns…
Happy Hal Burns, Wartime Publicity Photo
Happy Hal Burns, Birmingham radio personality, “and his little dog ‘Sissy’” in a wartime promotional photo. Photo is addressed to Mrs. M. R. Daniels in Thomasville, NC, and accompanied by a form letter from Happy Hal’s sponsor, the American Snuff…
Sponsor Letter to Fan, Happy Hal Burns
Letter from the American Snuff Company to a fan of Birmingham’s Happy Hal Burns. (See previous image).
Woodstock Bluegrass Festival, 1971
Banjo player Darrell Mogran at the Woodstock, Alabama, Bluegrass Festival, November 1971, photographer unknown.
Woodstock Bluegrass Festival, 1971
Guitarist Junior Crowe at the Woodstock, Alabama, Bluegrass Festival, November 1971.
Woodstock Bluegrass Festival, 1971
Fiddler Horace Worley at the Woodstock, Alabama, Bluegrass Festival, November 1971.
Splunge Creek Bluegrass Festival, 1998 (2)
Jam circle, Splunge Creek Bluegrass Festival, Winston County, Alabama, 1998. Photo by Burgin Mathews.
Willie King at Gip's, 12/20/2008 (Featuring Elnora Spencer and Kendra Sutton)
Willie King and Friends live at Gip’s Place, Bessemer, Alabama, December 20, 2008. Featuring: Lenny Madden, Kendra Sutton, Jock Webb, Elnora Spencer, Henry “Gip” Gibson, and others. Recording courtesy Roger Stephenson. “I’m gonna let y’all jook on…
Bobby Rush at Gip's, 12/19/2009
Bobby Rush live at Gip's Place, December 19, 2009.Recording by Ray Whirlwind, courtesy Roger Stephenson.Running time: 53:13Tracklist (approximate):
00:00 Intro / Jimmy Reed Medley / You Just Like a Dresser
10:30 Uncle Esau
15:30 What’s Going…
Industrial High School Band, 1930-1931
Industrial High School Band, 1930-1931. Band director John T. “Fess” Whatley at far right.
Industrial High School Band, 1920s
Bandleader John T. "Fess" Whatley stands at far left in the center row. Many of Whatley's students would go on to professional careers as jazz musicians.
"Fess" Whatley and Black AFM Delegates, 1937
John T. “Fess” Whatley with other Black delegates to the 42nd annual convention of the American Federations of Musicians, Louisville, Kentucky, 1937. Barred from participating in Birmingham’s white musicians’ union, Whatley co-founded Local 733 for…
Fess Whatley’s Sax-o-Society Orchestra, 1940s
Fess Whatley’s Sax-o-Society Orchestra, c. 1940s.
Industrial High School Printing Department Card
Industrial High School Printing Department, undated business card. Best remembered for his profound musical influence, “Fess” Whatley officially worked at Industrial / Parker High School not as bandmaster but as printing instructor. For years, his…
John T. "Fess" Whatley, 1968
John T. “Fess” Whatley (1885 – 1972), Birmingham’s legendary “Maker of Musicians,” 1968. From 1917 into the 1950s, Whatley’s music program at Industrial / Parker High School produced numerous professional musicians, many of whom performed in the…