The Nashville Shadows
A rock n roll combo from the mid-60s with several members and connections to other acts of the day.
Performing as The Shadows, The Shadows Combo, the Nashville Shadows, they were known as Sam Robinson and the Nashville Shadows when he was their frontman. They backed Lou Christie on his southern tour in the late 60s. The group briefly reformed to play the 2007 Glencliff HS 40th year reunion of the class of '67.
Not to be confused with the other The Shadows, led by Chip Curley.
History[edit | edit source]
History from Larry Rice: Shortly after the Beatles came on the scene in 1964, Larry Rice, Mike Kelly, Ed Waller, and Baily “Bear” Gibson, all Glencliff High School friends, decided to start their own band. Mike wanted to be the drummer so that part was easy. Nobody wanted to play bass, but since all the girls swooned over Paul McCartney, Larry decided it might be worth a try. The other two guys wanted to play guitar. So, using paper route money and whatever they could scrounge, they bought Silvertone, Danelectro, etc. instruments, and a band was born. Not realizing that “The Shadows” was already a fairly popular name, they adopted “The Shadows Combo” as the name for their band.
Sporadically they played at friends’ parties and church functions until they came to the realization that no one could sing very well. Mike Kelly knew of a Central High School guy named Sam who sang and was looking for a band. Sam Robinson joined the band and things picked up immediately. Sam was quite a showman. His style was a combination of Mick Jagger and James Brown. At their first gig with Sam, a knife fight broke out resulting in a murder later that night. At the next gig, Sam did the splits and ripped his pants from front to back in front of a packed house at a Central High School basketball game. People began to notice. From there, it was Don’s Den, Pirate’s Cove, The Dog House, and many area high school dances.
In late 1965, due to high school graduations and such, some of the guys left the group. Larry Bell (an undiscovered guitar virtuoso) and Ronnie Batts (keyboard player from “Chip Box and the Corners”) joined the group. Then when Ronnie went to UT in Knoxville, Dennis Carney (now the well known Nashville photographer) replaced him. This was the band that most people remember as the “Nashville Shadows”.
Dan Hoffman, “D J Dan” of WKDA radio, became the group’s manager in 1966 and changed the name from “The Shadows Combo” to the “Nashville Shadows” to distinguish them from the other successful Nashville band named “The Shadows”. The “Nashville Shadows” went on to play Vanderbilt fraternity and sorority parties, high school dances, and concerts with acts such as The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Turtles, Lou Christie, The Circle, and B. J. Thomas for the next three years.
Eventually, Sam left to join “The Anglo Saxon”, Larry Bell left to start his own band, “Speed”, and Mike left because he said he hadn’t had a date in two years. Larry and Dennis continued the band with Tommy Becker as drummer, Terry Fain on guitar, and Larry Gould singing. The Nashville Shadows disbanded around 1971.
Bassist Larry Rice passed away on September 30, 2019. Ronnie Batts passed away in 2017.
Larry Reid sat in on one occasion: "I played regularly with the Majestics and Ministers of Sound, but I sat in as lead guitar when Larry Bell wasn't able to make a gig (who had a date that night). I remember playing at Overton High School as Sam Robinson and the Nashville Shadows. Larry Bell loaned me his Echoplex so we could do "We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet" by the Blues Magoos, and quickly learned to use a volume foot pedal for "Strawberry Fields." I was proud to perform with such talented musicians ~ especially in front of people I knew. I think this may have been in 1966 or early 1967."
Larry Bell's life after the Shadows: "I recall the Bradley's Barn, Chet Atkins / RCA, and Columbia Studio 'B' era, Shelby Singleton's first 16-track studio in town, and a lot of other stuff (like almost running over Bob Dylan and Charlie McCoy on 18th Avenue late one night after a club gig). In the 70's I decided against a musical career and became a synthetic organic chemist for The Upjohn Company (now owned by Pfizer) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I started playing steel and dobro in 1972 and felt my 'roots' coming back to me. In Michigan, I've played with numerous (mostly weekend) bands and have opened for Eddie Rabbit, the Oak Ridge Boys, Highway 101, Pirates of the Mississippi, etc. I've played steel guitar concerts with Buddy Emmons, Maurice Anderson, Jimmie Crawford, and others. My 'day job' became more and more computer oriented and I became responsible for computer application development and laboratory automation for Research & Development. I have a small project studio in my home. In 2004, I retired and have relocated to the south Gulf coast of Florida. I have been playing with local artists and doing a few theatre shows. I have recorded several instrumental albums."
Members[edit | edit source]
Larry Rice - bass. founding member
Mike Kelly - drums. founding member
Ed Waller - guitar. founding member
Baily “Bear” Gibson - guitar. founding member
Sam Robinson - vocals.
Larry Bell - guitar
Ronnie Batts - keyboard
Dennis Carney - keyboard. after Ronnie Batts.
Tommy Becker - drums. after Mike Kelly
Terry Fain - guitar.
Larry Gould - vocals. after Sam.
External references[edit | edit source]
https://pbase.com/deadelvis/shadows Nashville Shadows History according to bandmember Larry Rice.