Paper, Scissors, Rock-n-Roll

Paper, Scissors, Rock-n-Roll is deeply steeped in Southern music, but scarcely nudges the genre of Southern Rock. This memoir encompasses a period from 1964 through November of 1969, before The Allman Brothers Band skyrocketed into nationwide prominence, when author Bill Thames was a budding teenage musician in Daytona Beach, Florida. Each chapter is based on never-before-heard stories of Duane and Gregg Allman, plus Ringo, the influential manager of The Martinque club, as well as others. Coming-of-age in the mid-60s when Daytona Beach was the neon center of the east coast of Central Florida, there was a commonality of musical excellence there, born of strong competitiveness, imitation, and emulation. Musicians as bright and different as the topmost two rows of the large crayon box populated Daytona Beach's stages. A person could easily stroll through town and hear five incredible up-and-coming bands in as many hours. Thames's teenage glory years serve up countless personal stories told from a point-blank perspective, as well as hours of personal stage time with Duane and Gregg as the brothers honed their craft. These compelling stories will transport both younger and older readers back to those tumultuous mid-to-late-60s, and delves deeply into the primal days of segregation, integration, and the racial divide that sadly continues in our country today.