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THE ORIGINAL MIND BENDERS: STILLWATER From Houston County and still boasting a strong Central Georgia following, Stillwater is one of the few homegrown bands to have signed with Capricorn Records. Their two Capricorn albums, Stillwater (1977) and I Deserve the Right (1978), led to national tours with major acts and the song "Mind Bender," which hit 46 on Billboard charts. Even after disbanding in 1982, Stillwater remained popular through annual sell-out reunion shows. Plus, they got a bump in popularity for allowing their name to be used in the fictional movie "Almost Famous." Stillwater's original lineup was Mike Causey, Bobby Golden and Rob Walker on guitars, Al Scarborough on bass, Bob Spearman on keyboards, Seabie Lacey on drums and Jimmy Hall on most lead vocals, though others pitched in. Pre-Stillwater, band members played in area groups like The Goldens, Coldwater Army, The Coachmen, The Prisoners of Time and Blackbird. But after high school, most headed to work or college. "I went to Georgia Southwestern," Lacey said. "Then I got a call from Mike about a band they were starting. I left school to join Stillwater." Lacey now co-owns Strato Cleaners, a chain of three Warner Robins dry-cleaners. "Our goal was to get a record deal so signing with Capricorn was huge," he said. "We toured with great bands, but one favorite memory was playing San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom with Charlie Daniels. Mike was absolutely tearing it up on guitar, and the place went crazy." Today, Lacey said Causey is retired from media sales, Golden a software engineer, Hall in industrial sales and Scarborough a mail carrier. Walker is retired from a career with the Band of the Air Force Reserve and gives lessons locally. Spearman died of cancer in 2002. In recent years, those nearby join forces at times in bands like The Wall, Tres Hombres and The Has Beens. You can also catch Causey and Scarborough playing with The Grapevine Band. — MICHAEL W. PANNELL EUROPE'S SOUTHERN ROCKERS: DOC HOLLIDAY What became the band Doc Holliday was first a Warner Robins blues band formed in the early 1970s under the name Roundhouse. Founded by Bruce Brookshire, the name changed in 1979 when the group signed a multi-record deal with A&M records. Today, an online Doc Holliday search reveals as many foreign language references as English, including a year-old Portuguese YouTube posting of their song "Dead Man Road" that has a phenomenal 7.4 million views. "We ended up more popular in Europe than here, though our first album did hit 30 in Billboard," Brookshire said. Doc Holliday's original lineup at signing included Brookshire and Ric Skelton on guitars, Eddie Stone on keyboards, John Samuelson on bass and Herman Nixon on drums. Brookshire sang most leads. Doc toured extensively opening for name acts like The Outlaws, but Brookshire and Stone agreed a highlight was playing Madison Square Garden with Black Sabbath. Then, headline tours took them to Europe. "We realized we had a really large following there, and it changed everything," Stone said. "We started regular European tours, and a German company put out Doc albums." Brookshire said there was a farewell tour in 2011, but the band continues off and on in various configurations, lately with Stone as bandleader. Stone also plays with the likes of Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie and others. For 15 years, Brookshire has stayed close to home pastoring Warner Robins' Grace Fellowship Church. He was ordained to ministry by the late blues-singing evangelist and one-time Grinderswitch guitarist Larry Howard. Samuelson made a career in IT while Skelton returned home to North Carolina. Nixon is deceased. Prominent latter-day Doc Holliday mainstays included Daniel "Bud" Ford, bass, and Danny "Cadillac" Lastinger, drums. All still play at times for events, at restaurants and at occasional concerts. — MICHAEL W. PANNELL PHOTO BY HERB KOSSOVER 68 maconmagazine.com | JUNE/JULY 2022