“This guy, Mylon, was wild,” he told me. “He had a huge white cross painted on the back of his leather jacket. He turned around to show it off and told the crowd he followed Jesus. I was completely in awe and impressed.” Now, Mylon was definitely a mainstream artist. He wasn’t really doing Jesus rock like we were, but the fact he would make such a bold statement for Christ at a big time rock show was very cool and real to us.
I was a new Christian at that point. I had never seen or heard anything like that before. I was inspired by the story and the fact someone else from the rock ‘n’ roll world accepted Christ. Maybe we weren’t as alone as it sometimes felt in Memphis.
So, Mylon calling me was a big deal. He asked if I was Eddie DeGarmo and said he’d heard our song “Long Distance Runner” on the radio while driving in Atlanta. He said he was so struck by it he had to pull his car off the road to take it in.
“I’ve spent the last three weeks trying to track you down,” he said. “I want to meet you!”
A short time later I flew to Atlanta to meet him. I’ll never forget him picking me up at the airport. He showed up in a red Mercedes convertible. His long, jet-black hair was halfway down his back. He wore big Elvis-looking sunglasses. In fact, I’m pretty sure he thought that he was Elvis. He looked a bit more Native American than Elvis, though—like a handsome Indian brave.
I spent three great days with Mylon and his family at their home in Atlanta. We talked a lot about Jesus and music. Although later he would become a major Christian artist, in the late seventies he was still deep in the vestiges of his mainstream rock ‘n’ roll glory. He had recently kicked a long-term drug habit, and was deepening in his understanding of the Gospel, but he was definitely still a creature of rock. He would stay up all night, go to bed at 5:00 a.m., and wake up around 1:00 in the afternoon. He was like Elvis in more ways than one. I later learned Elvis recorded one of Mylon’s songs. How many people get to say that?
Over the next few months Mylon made many trips to Memphis. Dana was single then, so Mylon stayed with him at his house. We started working together at Ardent, crafting and tracking songs. Mylon was still under contract with Mercury Records. He owed them a new album and invited Mint Productions to produce it. We were extremely honored to be working with him.
The first recording sessions were wild. I mean, like, “Monkeys In The Zoo” wild. Although standard practice at the time was to record the instruments in the band individually first and then to add the vocals at the end, Mylon was his best and most comfortable when he was surrounded by musicians in the studio. He wanted the recording process to feel and truly be like a live show. So we set his vocal mic in the center of the studio with some sound baffles around him. Then, we positioned the band all around him in a loose semi-circle. We flew in a couple of his musician buddies to be in the band with us.
One of the players was a percussionist from Jamaica named Jamal. He wore a sock on his head, sandals, and traditional Jamaican garb. One day, as we prayed to start the session, Mylon closed us out by giving thanks to “The Most High.” Without missing a beat, Jamal jovially quipped, “I think I qualify as the ‘most high’ in the studio today!” He was so right! We set up his congas and assorted percussion instruments in a small drum isolation booth in the corner and often couldn’t even make out his shape through the glass walls because the ganga smoke swirling around in his booth was so thick.
It was a fun way to record. The chemistry between the band members, though at times feeling almost totally out of control, was actually pretty amazing. The interaction was electric and zany at the same time. We wrote and recorded the songs as a group. Then we went back later and over-dubbed individual parts to get the sound perfect. The record we made was never released in its entirety. Mylon really wanted out of his mainstream contract with Mercury in order to work with people who understood the spiritual side of his new music. That’s ironic in today’s music world. These days most artists would die to be with a major mainstream label. A few years later, in 1982, some of the songs we made with him were included on his first completely Christian album, Brand New Start.
Even later, when D&K were flourishing in the eighties, I always made time to produce albums for others. Usually those projects, like the records I made for Farrell and Farrell, happened between our tours. I always felt that working with other artists helped me stay well rounded and fresh for our music. It’s possible my next major transition came a little more naturally because of all that.
TWENTY-FOUR
Nobody Loves Me Like You Do
Over the course of the next several months, Dan Brock and The Tame Agency were able to book D&K a two-week East Coast tour with shows from southern Florida all the way up to Boston. The only problem was we didn’t have a band. It was time for us to find a new bass player and drummer.
Larry Raspberry was a local Memphis music boy who made good. In the 1960s his band The Gentrys scored a huge top ten hit with “Keep On Dancing.” They appeared on all the national TV shows and became an inspiration to a lot of us kids trying to make it big. Larry was a local hero ever since.
By 1979 The Gentrys were old history, but Larry formed a popular local band with a major label deal called Larry Raspberry and The Highsteppers. They happened to be recording their first album at Ardent. Dana and I became good friends with Larry and his band. His drummer was an eighteen-year-old kid named Greg Morrow whose drumming was over the moon. He and I bonded by talking music in the studio lounge for hours on end. He was interested in the DeGarmo and Key story and liked our music.
One day, sitting by the coffee pot outside Ardent’s central garden patio, staring at the largest crepe myrtle tree in Memphis, I asked Greg if he would be interested in playing drums with us on our two-week tour. I explained our plans were to tour for a couple of weeks in the spring and a couple of weeks in the fall, and we were looking to find a high quality drummer and bass player to work with us. Greg was elated to be asked, but said he couldn’t do anything to interfere with The Highsteppers’ plans. He would need to speak with Larry before committing to anything. I asked Greg if he knew of a bass player who might be available as well.
“If I am able to go,” he said, “it only makes sense that Mike Brignardello, The Highsteppers’ bass player, would be free to go as well. Do you want me to ask him?”
“Yes! Talk to him.” I was elated. I didn’t know Mike as well as I knew Greg, but I trusted Greg’s judgment.
Greg called me the next day and said, “It looks like your tour is a perfect fit for Larry’s schedule. I can go. Also, I spoke with Mike, our bass man, about it. You should meet him. He’s interested, but doesn’t know anything about Christian music and what you guys do. He wants to know more.”
“That’s great news!” I exclaimed. “It also makes perfect sense that Mike wants to know more and may be a little skittish about the Christian music world. At the end of the day, you guys are just going to play our music. That is all there is to it.”
A day or two later I sat down with Mike Brignardello and explained to him what our concerts were like. I could tell he had some apprehension about Christian music, and religion in general, but by the end of our talk he agreed he was game to go along.
Dana and I were thrilled. Both Greg and Mike were great musicians. We were a bit apprehensive about whether these guys would be accepting of our faith. But we thought it was a good thing to be with them regardless. Perhaps we could introduce them to something good.
The tour came up in a couple of months and it went extremely well. Both Greg and Mike were awesome additions. Greg grew up in church so he walked alongside us in our Christian faith very quickly. Mike was a little slower to warm up, but he asked a million questions, and I truly believe he had a spiritual awakening on that tour. When we got home, he shared with his wife Kay everything he saw and experienced. Kay was firmly planted in the hipster and chic crowd in Memphis. She founded and owned a boutique called “Chelsea.” Her shop was located in the geographic and c
ultural hub of the local scene at Overton Square, and it was the coolest and most influential boutique in all of Memphis.
At some point over the next few weeks, Kay had a lightning bolt experience with God and pronounced to the entire community Jesus changed her life.
That message had a ripple effect through our Ardent friends. Kay was very close to all members of the local music community in Memphis. She dressed most of them in their rock ‘n’ roll clothes. Kay and Mike began holding Bible studies and gatherings in the Chelsea boutique. People’s lives were being changed. Sadly, a few years later, Kay Brignardello was hit and killed by a car while walking their dogs on a suburban Memphis street. What a sad day that was for all of us, especially Mike. It was devastating. She lives on in our memories to this day.
That first tour was the only tour Mike played bass with D&K. He went on to become one of the top go-to session players in Nashville. Greg, however, stayed with us for almost ten years. Because we played together for so long he will always be known as the Drummer of Record for D&K. Today Greg and Mike both still play with Amy Grant. I’ll explain more about that later.
A few months after Straight On was released and we completed that first tour, Lamb and Lion named a new president. Dan Raines was his name, and neither Dana nor I knew much about him. Our contact at Lamb and Lion was Doug Corbin, who left to do other things. It wasn’t too long before I got a call from Dan Raines.
Dan came to visit us at Ardent shortly after, and we spent an entire day together. He was interested in our story and our mission. He also wanted to figure out how to boost the sales of our albums. They weren’t selling badly, mind you, but there was room for improvement.
Dan was intrigued by the production business we built with Mint Productions and how our relationship with Mike Blanton and Dan Harrell seemed to be good for all involved. He was also anxious to hear our side of the story on the lost opportunity with Mercury Records and how frustrating that was to us personally.
Toward the end of the day he asked if we had ever thought about having Blanton and Harrell “executive produce” our next album. Both of them had seen some real success in the music business. They also seemed to have a bead on what kinds of songs would work on Christian radio. It was an interesting idea that could work well, he thought.
The role of executive producer on an album is different than the role of producer. An executive producer is much more about casting a musical vision and establishing a high level overview related to finances, marketing, and more. The producer’s job is very hands on and “in the room” with the artist at all times. The executive producer comes and goes and helps the artists reach their audiences. Dana and I talked it over and told Dan Raines that we thought it was a good idea to get more input into our process. We would be happy to approach Blanton and Harrell about helping. We called them, and they were ecstatic to come on board with us.
Another challenge for us when we began This Ain’t Hollywood was the fact we didn’t really have a band for recording. That was a major departure from our earlier records. Instead of us working the arrangements up as a band in a rehearsal room as we always did before, Dana and I worked them up alone and then brought them into the studio for the guys to learn. It was a different dynamic. Our band for This Ain’t Hollywood was Joe Hardy on bass and John Hampton on drums. We even used their pictures on the back cover with us. Both of these guys were staff producers and engineers at Ardent. I was the studio manager and Dana was engineering rental sessions. We were an Ardent family.
Mike Blanton and Dan Harrell did a good job educating us about the parameters of Christian radio acceptance. That was a good learning experience for Dana and me. We were big fans of The Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan. I think some of the pop and jazz influence on This Ain’t Hollywood rubbed off on us from those two groups.
We wrote the songs in the same fashion that worked for us in the past. Dana came up with the lyrics for “Stella, This Ain’t Hollywood.” I supplied the music and melody. “When He Comes Back” was a song I wrote the music and chorus for, and then Dana supplied the lyrics to the verses. I wrote “You Gave Me All” and “Love Is All You Need” by myself. Dana wrote “Never Be the Same” and “All Night” by himself. We wrote, “Light of the World” and “Over and Over” together.
Shortly into the tracking process Mike Blanton came to Memphis to ask me if we would be interested in having Amy Grant appear on the album. He said they wanted her image to have a bit more edge, and he and Dan Harrell thought that having her sing on our album might help that. My only concern was we’d never done any male/female duets before. It could be a challenge to find the right song and we were already in tracking mode.
“Mike, we don’t have a song that fits a duet at all,” I offered.
He looked back at me and said, “Go write one.”
If it were only that simple, I thought to myself.
That night I went home and wrote “Nobody Loves Me Like You Do.” I played it for Dana the next day.
“Wow,” he said, sincerely. “That’s different than anything you have ever written before!”
“Different good or different bad?” I asked.
“Uh . . .” he eeked out slowly. “Different good, I think.”
I only had a verse and a chorus so I asked Dana if he would write the second verse. We went into the studio that night and recorded it. I had Dana sing both parts of the duet on the demo and mailed a copy to Mike Blanton overnight. Mike called me the next day astonished.
“That’s the perfect song for Amy!” he marveled. “How did you do it so fast?”
I didn’t have a good answer. “We got excited,” I offered.
Amy came to Memphis with Mike Blanton and Dan Harrell a week later to record her vocals on the duet. It turned out fantastic, but it was definitely an artistic stretch for both D&K and Amy to come together on that song. It would have been a stretch for any song, actually. It worked, but we all would soon understand it would create a bit of a stir and backlash from her fans and ours.
TWENTY-FIVE
Temporary Things
Dan Brock booked a string of concert dates on the West Coast to support the release of This Ain’t Hollywood. We needed to add a guitar player to support Dana for the music on that album. We were fortunate enough to land Jack Holder, another notable Memphis musician, for that tour. Jack played guitar with Black Oak Arkansas, one of the biggest bands ever to come out of our area. He was one of those guys who could play anything. If I needed help re-creating the numerous keyboard parts live, he could help with that too. He was an amazing addition. He was also a bit of a character.
Additionally, since Mike Brignardello decided to focus on session work instead of touring, we found ourselves in need of a new bass player. The rumor around town said Target, the epic mainstream rock band I mentioned earlier, was about to break up. Despite major label support, and opening tours for Black Sabbath, Boston, Robin Trower, Bob Segar, and a host of other well-known mainstream acts, Target just never caught on nationwide. Jimi Jamison, their lead singer, did some background vocals on This Ain’t Hollywood, for us. I checked with him and he confirmed the rumors. Interestingly, after Target, Jimi went on to become the lead singer for the group Survivor on some of their biggest hits.
I had been a big fan of Target’s bass player, Tommy Cathey, from the time I was in high school. He was part of several very good and respected Memphis bands I saw play around town. I wondered if he might be interested in playing with us. After letting Dana know about my idea, I found Tommy’s number and called him. To my surprise he was excited to meet with me.
When I met with Tommy that afternoon he shared with me he was looking for something deeper and more purposeful in his life. He'd experienced the highs (or lows, depending on your perspective) of rock ‘n’ roll madness and debauchery and found it lacking.
“I’m ready for something different,” he said. “I’d love to give it a shot and play with you guys.”
I was thrilled.
On the other hand, I wondered what Tommy would think when he came to our improvised little practice shack behind our tiny little ramshackle house with the exterior paint all chipping away and a dude named Gator living across the street.
Tommy stayed with us for fourteen years. He became a big part of our personality and sound. He was the “coolest of cool” and became known as the gangster persona in our shows with his white fedora and black pinstriped zoot suit. Without Tommy Cathey and Greg Morrow, it’s hard to imagine D&K in the eighties.
That West Coast leg of the This Ain’t Hollywood tour took us through Oklahoma, Arizona, and California. The final date was at Knott’s Berry Farm in Anaheim, California. For those unacquainted with Knott’s Berry Farm, it’s a theme park and a close cousin of Six Flags or Disneyland. Knott’s was the first of the major theme parks to sponsor a Christian Music Day. They sold out every year. We performed there a few times over our career. This particular time was unforgettable for several reasons.
First, Pat Boone and his wife Shirley were planning to see us perform. It was the first time Pat saw us play, so it was a big deal for us. We were to play three, repeated, one-hour sets in a very nice theater in the park that had excellent sound and lighting. We were happy to have that much control over the environment. Concerts in amusement parks can often be disrupted by the noise of the rollercoasters, rides, screams, kids getting sick, and other chaos. At least we wouldn’t have to deal with all that.
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