My memories of the Catacombs and Piedmont Park era are of great fondness. I went to high school and lived in Forest Park. I was a senior in 68′ and played in a band called “The Celestial Voluptuous Banana”. I use to sneak out at night when my parents were asleep and steal their car and drive up to 14th Street to frequent the Catacombs where I got turned onto a lot of great music.

Doug Merrill(rip) was the owner and I wasn’t really aware of all the supposedly illegal things going on behind the scene but became friends with The Hampton Grease Band, The Bag and many other groups. I met Steven Cole (rip) who understood the possibilities of the music scene way before other promoters actually acted on it. He predicted that one day bands would be playing huge venues to packed audiences. It was under Steve’s management that The Celestial Voluptuous Banana, Hydra, The Fifth Order, Booger Band, Radar, The Hampton Grease Band, The Bag and many others started working clubs and performed in Piedmont Park.

The Catacombs was home to a lot of different characters that have scattered to the wind but I remember a guy named Jim Nieman who was a regular there and he would perform solo with a great voice and a pretty good sense of humor. Jim also had a gig for a while on a radio station based in south Atlanta called WBAD. His show was called “The Nasty Lord John Show” and he played some very hip stuff. A special show was put together at the old Atlanta City Auditorium which was promoted through the station and the band was called “The Jeff Espina Banana Boat Blues Band and Traveling Freak Show Too featuring Eddie The Road Manager”. I went to the show which was sparcely attended but the band kicked ass and then you also had the strobe lights and smoke machines. I also got turned onto Ellen McInwayne and still have the 45 that she put out and sold from the catacombs. Ellen left and went to New York to work with a band called “Fear Itself” and I only remember Steve Cook as one of the band members.

I remember seeing some incredible music at the Catacombs including a band from DC called “Flavor” which was a three piece group that killed as did the night I saw the “Candymen” there. The Candymen was the basis for later formed “Atlanta Rhythm Section”. I can remember the catacombs just like it was yesterday and the smells of the smoke machine which was furnished by “The Electric Collage” which was owned and ran by Frank Hughes who was also a partner of Steve Cole of the Discovery Agency.

I remember performing at Piedmont Park and the crowds were incredible and receptive. The Banana was nothing more than a cover band but still, the crowds were great. During that time (68-70) you could see and hear a lot of great music in the park like the time I saw the Allman Bros. with Boz Skaggs sitting in and Chicago Transit Authority staying over after a concert at the auditorium and they would perform with Santana. Local groups got in the act as well with Booger Band being one of those groups that people would make sure not to miss. Keyboardist, Will Boware (sp?)was formally with “The Souljers” and he was not unlike Stevie Winwood in the respect that he was a child phenom. He sang, wrote and played an amazing Hammond B3 and keyboard bass. The drummer, Joel Maloney (rip) was an amazing young drummer and the guitarist, Ted Trombetta was equally incredible on guitar.

Most of my memories are great ones although I do remember being hassled by the man. Yeah, don’t stand there and keep moving. Some restaurants wouldn’t serve you and if they did then they demanded a minimum. One restaurant located at 14th & Peachtree at the time (the name escapes me), demanded a 50 cent minimum order so one night Doug Merrill took a bunch of us over there and packed out the place and we all ordered the minimum and pissed off the owners. Cops were called and since they couldn’t do much they busted some of the ones that they could figure out charges on such as minors etc.

I remember the riot on Peachtree when the buildings were set on fire and the cops were called and remember getting the hell out of there as cops were on a rampage to make arrests.

I remember the frat boys coming up from Ga. tech trying to get a piece of free love and hassling the groovy chicks with tie dyed shorts etc. I also remember some of those same frat guys driving by and throwing urine at the “hippies” standing around.

I remember thinking that the neighborhood started going down when drugs started making it’s presence. Sort of like the time one of our guitarist drank beledonna (sp?) that was laced in his soft drink. Met a lot of incredible people there and a few I still am in contact with but have no idea where Jim Nieman is or what happened to some of the great musicians I saw but they all left an impression on me.

I also use to go to the 12th Gate which was on 10th and it was a house converted into a coffee house/music venue. I saw some of the most incredible music ever including drummer Elvin Jones, Pianist McCoy Tyner, Sonny Fortune, Oregon and many others. I performed there once with a collection of other local guys and it was just a place for magic to be on a stage that had seen some of your childhood idols. I could probably go on and on but that’s pretty much the gist of a lot of my memories when music had so many possibilities and there were so many places for us to get our fix.

Darryl Rhoades