March 29, 2009

Tac ventriloquism album to be released

The follow up to Tac's platinum-selling comedy album "Harry & Tac" is scheduled to hit stores this Tuesday.

harry and tac live album.jpg

"Harry & Tac Live" features the live ventriloquism act featuring Tac and his hilarious partner Harry, with all of their classic bits, such as:

"That ain't right"
"The problem with heroin"
"I'll tell you who don't wear panties"
"Five minutes of awkward silence"
"Harry phones a prostitute"
"Squirrels in the recipe"
"You are making me sick"
"Harry's list of personal grievances" (20 minutes of new grievances added to the live performance!)

...and much, much more!

The album will be available at all Stuckey's restaurant/convenience store locations.

Posted by Phil at 8:00 PM

July 5, 2005

Record crowd at Fourth of July Jamboree to see Sonny, Playaz


Record crowds came to see Sonny James & the Playaz

Wow. What a show we had.

Probably a record crowd, they say, to have ever come to Myrtle Beach to see a concert. They were crowded onto the beaches, on top of the Tilt-A-Whirl, watching from closed-circuit television inside the
Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. 500,000 I'm guessing?

I must say we had some great support. Bell-Biv-Devoe was great in
opening the show, doing their hit song, "Poison". They did a 5 minute
set. Tom Wopat did a 3 minute set. Then Lee Greenwood had them weeping
with the best rendition of "God Bless The U.S.A." I've ever heard.

Then on came Ray Stevens. He came on right before us. And boy, did he get the crowd worked up into a frenzy. Hit after hit. And when Ray came out for his third encore and did "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival", I swear I thought they would burn Myrtle Beach down.

Then we were up. Sonny laid back in the dressing room and made the
crowd wait. I was anxious to get on stage, but it was pure genius.
"Take it easy on the coffee and mini-whites, Sonny," I joked. "This
ain't 1981, you know." That gave Sonny a good laugh and eased our
nervousness. Sonny was cool as a cucumber. After about 30 minutes of
chanting and screaming our names, we walked out one by one. Tac with
his fiddle. Then Bon with his accordion. Wayne and his flute backed by
his trademark stand with a row of 12 different recorders and oboes. He
even has one double-flute he plays, one stacked on top of the other.
Then I came out with my washboard. The crowd was deafening. Manny came
out last, with his jug. But you really should have heard it when Sonny
came rising out from underneath the stage as we broke right into
"You're The Only World I Know". Whew!!

We played for 5 hours, doing a lot of free-form jam sessions. We did a
30 minute version of "Young Love", that included Manny doing a 7 minute jug solo. At one point, Bon was bringing women up on the stage and letting them work the accordion in and out while Bon played the keys. Sonny himself was working the crowd like never before. He always timed his pelvic thrusts perfectly, causing the ladies to absolutely lose control.

Of course, the crowd kept screaming for us to play "Red Mud", which we
saved to close out the set.

We did 7 encores. My face was really red after the sixth encore because I threw my washboard into the crowd, thinking that was it. But then Sonny stunned the Playaz and the audience when he said "Let's play 'Dawn'". "Dawn" was a little known, "lost classic". It brought the crowd to tears.

Since my washboard was gone, I harmonized with Sonny on
the chorus. Maybe the best version of "Dawn" we've ever played.
When it was finally over, we just unwound back in the tour bus. Ray
Stevens and his posse were trying to get in to see us, but we just
wanted to relax. It was a good time, but we probably won't be playing
live again for quite a while. We plan on laying down some tracks at
this year's Playaz Ball, but we'll see what happens.

Until next time, I hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

Posted by Phil at 10:22 AM

June 26, 2005

Sonny James & the Playaz reunite for Fourth of July jamboree

Sonny James & Playaz.JPG
Sonny and the Playaz pose for this 1981 tour publicity photo

The Playaz have agreed to perform once again with the great Sonny James at the Fourth of July Jamboree to be held at the Pavillion in Myrtle Beach. Sonny and the Playaz will be headlining the event that will feature artists such as Tom Wopat, Ray Stevens, Lee Greenwood, and Bell-Biv-Devoe.

The Playaz have not performed with James since 1981 during James's infamous "Red Mud Tour". While a bit out of practice, the Playaz admit they are honing their musical skills to recapture the magic of the Red Mud Tour, that drew record crowds and was performed at race tracks all over the country.

Sonny will once again play guitar and sing lead vocal. The other Playaz will play their old instruments the fans came to know them for in the 60s & 70s:

Phil: Washboard
Wayne: Flute / recorder
Manny: Jug
Tac: Fiddle
Bon: Accordion

Posted by Phil at 12:59 PM

May 5, 2005

Backstage at Knotts Berry Farm


Kenny backstage
1975 was a crazy year for the Playaz. We were roadies for Kenny Rogers
that year, and were in the middle of a 200 date tour. Kenny was a lot
wilder in those days, and was very demanding of his crew.
Bon (who I will introduce to you later), was in charge of supplying
Kenny with women after the shows. When Kenny was singing "Rueben
James", Bon would look for Kenny's 'signal' as to which woman in the
audience Kenny wanted, and Bon would then invite her backstage. Kenny
was also into an assortment of masks, suntan oils, and silk sheets, all
of which Bon was responsible for supplying.
This particular night we were doing a show at Knotts Berry Farm. Kenny
was high on mini-whites or something, and he was on edge that evening.
Bon had arranged for Kenny to hook up with Diane Parkinson and some
woman out of the audience for that evening. Well, apparently Kenny did
not like the mask selection for that night, and started cussing out
Bon.
Bon, as you will see later, is a volatile person himself, and did not
take kindly to Kenny's abuse over the masks. So the next thing you
know, Bon and Kenny are going at it just minutes after Kenny finished
his set (closed with "The Gambler"). They are knocking over the
catering tables, amps, guitars, everything.
Now, when I saw this, I summoned Tac & Manny over. We were all
pretty loaded, doing cocaine and eating pork rinds all night. So we
jumped in and began to pummel Kenny about the face and neck. Kenny is
one hell of a scrapper, and did pretty well for himself. About 30
minutes later, police finally arrived and arrested us all. A bloody and
remorseful Kenny apologized to us and to Bon. We all shook hands and
eventually finished the tour together, but decided to part ways after
the last leg. We've had a good relationship with Kenny ever since that
night, but we were never invited back to Knotts Berry Farm.
Wayne was forced to defend Kenny and the Playaz for all the damage we
had caused, as well as get Bon off on charges of solicitation and
possession of mini-whites.
Just another crazy night in the life of the Playaz.

Posted by Phil at 10:29 AM