Eddie Dempley: Lost Sounds from Louisville, Kentucky
More ’70s vintage vinyl lost in the thrift store’s dusty corners by Eddie Dempley . . . and Nick Jolley of Hindsboro, Illinois
Eddie D and the Blues Express, with Eddie Dempley in the white tuxedo, second from right.
Eddie Dempley, born on August 23, 1943, passed away on July 28, 2011, after a valiant, three-year cancer battle at the age of 67. Born in Oldham County, Kentucky, he excelled on the saxophone as a member of the Van Dells and Eddie D (aka Eddy Dee, and Eddy D) and the Blues Express, which also went by the American Xpress. Both bands came to compose music for the first two films by their friend: local, low-budget drive-in filmmaker, William Girdler.
The Successions of Louisville, Kentucky, with Eddie Dempley, bottom left.
Eddie started out as a lead vocalist alongside his school chum, bassist Richard Basin, in the Successions, in 1964, in Middletown, Kentucky. The upstart band quickly secured a coveted “house band” gig at Bells Country Club, located off of Poplar Level Road in the Poplar Hills neighborhood southeast of Louisville, from 1965 to 1967.
The Successions — even after their successful two year run as a house band — split, as most teen band hopefuls did during the earliest rumblings of the British Invasion. Eddie then pursued a solo career, issuing “You Can Have Her” b/w “Take My Hand,” as his debut single in 1967 on his own vanity press — a common practice of local, independent artists of the day vying for a playlist entry on radio stations, as well as the ears of record company A&R men.
Eddy Dee’s 1967 solo single debut on Dee Records, a Columbia Records Custom Pressing.
In addition to the denizens of Louisville fondly remembering Eddie’s Bells Country Club appearances, another popular club where he booked a coveted “house band” gig was at was The Doo Drop Inn on Story Avenue, a venue he continued to appear at up through the mid-1980s.
Eddie released his next, second single with his next band, the Blues Express, with “Let´s Go Steady” b/w “Make It Happen,” issued in 1971 on the band’s Dunbar-imprint.
The debut single by the Blues Express, issued in 1971 on the band’s Dunbar imprint.
As the 1970s continued and artists like Charlie Rich and Michael Murphy crossed over from the county to the contemporary “Top 40” radio and sales charts, the Blues Express reimaged themselves as Eddie D and the Country Connection. The Country Connection, as did the Blues Express, appeared numerous times at Louisville’s beloved Colonial Gardens and The Office Lounge. At that point, Eddie released his debut solo album, It Hurts to Want It So Bad, in 1974.
Eddie Dee with his R&B/soul-inflected, debut album, It Hurts To Want It So Bad, issued in 1974.
By 1979, Eddie Dempley, after his late ’70s stint in the retro-1950s rocking the Van-Dells — along with Jim Wilson, Jim Baugher, David Marasco, George Ashmore, Rod Wurtle, and Rob Brown — formed Eddie D and Energy. The “high entry,” disco-oriented band appeared at the Fern Valley Holiday Inn, Big Moes, The Old Churchill Inn, and Harold’s Club; the last, which was way out down yonder on the ol’ Dixie Highway.
“Every one of those Energy gigs,” according to Jim Wilson, “were six-month ‘house gigs’ of the type young players today will rarely get and there is no better way to learn your craft. Only having to load in or out once every six months. Now guys have to move their gear several times a week. It was the best of times.”
“Jerry Lee Lewis was booked at the old Colonial Gardens in Louisville,” Paul Povesis, another musician who had the pleasure of performing with Eddie Dempley, recalls one of Eddie’s opening gigs. “Jerry Lee insisted on playing a certain piano, so the club rented one for the show. At the end, Jerry Lee destroyed the piano. The Colonial Gardens ended up losing a lot of money, as result.”
The Van-Dells — featuring Eddie Dempley, with their second album, “Rock ‘n Roll,” issued in 1978. As Myron and the Van-Dells, the ’50s retro rock concern issued their eponymous debut album in 1975.
Don Powell, Eddie Dempley’s original, go-to drummer — from the inception of Eddie D and the Blues Express and up through the American Xpress — recalled, “It all started out on Dixie Highway at The Halfway House, The Dixie Lounge, The Say When, The Three Bells, and so many others. That’s around the time we got involved with William Girdler and recorded music for his first two films.”
Legendary and respected around Louisville, Kentucky, as a premiere entertainer, it makes sense that a then 23-year-old William Girdler, a Louisville-based burgeoning filmmaker, tapped his friend Eddie Dempley to record music for 1972’s Asylum of Satan, Girdler’s first film shot-in-Kentucky after his watching of a drive-in showing of 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby.
While Eddie Dee and the Blues Express do not appear in the $50,000-budgeted film, they provided the instrumental, “The Satan Spectrum Theme,” heard during the films’ end credits sequence. The song was written and arranged by William Girdler.
Eddie Dee and the American Xpress, 1972, with Eddie in the center, in white and holding the microphone, from the 1972 film, “Three on a Meathook.”
The films of William Girdler featuring the music of Eddie Dempley.
Then, with some trust fund cash in hand, along with additional funds and film stock left over from his debut film, as well as funds from Joe Schuleten, a local realtor-entrepreneur, Girdler created his infamous, second film — better known during its ’80s-VHS shelf life by way of the tape’s garish box art than during its original drive-in release: 1972’s Three on a Meathook. Then credited as Eddie Dee and the American Xpress, the band appears during bar scenes (even a serial killer enjoys a mug of suds and live music), providing the songs “You Gotta Be Free” and “We’re All Insane,” both serving as showcases for Eddie’s voice, and the piano-based, end credits’ “Love Theme” instrumental ballad.
Although the band changed monikers from the Blues Express to American Xpress between the two films: it’s the same line up of Bill Longale, Mike Mastin, Dave Goode, Waldo Weathers, Don Powell, Maury Bechtel, and Edward “Eddie D” Dempley. (There’s audio of “Hey, Josephine, in the below, You Tube playlist, from this era.)
By 1978, Eddie released one of his last singles, through the Ohio-based, regional Jewel Records imprint, “Fanny Mae” b/w “The Same Old Guy (Who Still Loves You).”
Nick Jolley: Another ‘Asylum of Satan’ Alumnus
An Illinois-born and New York-based theatre vocalist and actor, Nick Jolley made his lone, feature film debut — alongside Eddie Dempley’s soundtrack debut — in William Girdler’s debut film.
Scene from “Asylum of Satan” starring Nick Jolley.
In addition to appearing in the film, as the plaid-jacket-and-checkered-pant hero Chris Duncan, Jolley recorded the film’s signature song. As with the music in both of his first two films: “Red Light Lady” was written and arranged by William Girdler. The background musicians on the track are unknown and may or may have not be the Blues Express.
A Broadway actor and singer, Nick Jolley was born on February 17, 1948, in Hindsboro, Illinois. Jolley was an actor’s actor — one who could have easily made a living as a support and guest-starring actor in a wealth of ’70s U.S television series, but the stage was his calling.
The actor’s handwritten, autographed resume from the archive of Theatre World and Screen World, a comprehensive record of American stage and film since 1945. Image courtesy of History for Sale.
Nick Jolley, most notably, worked as an understudy and onstage performer in the Broadway theater revivals of Oklahoma! (as Chord Elam, December 13, 1979 — August 24, 1980; New York Times review) and The Pirates of Penzance (January 8, 1981 — November 28, 1982), as well as Damn Yankees. He also acted and sang in many TV commercials and traveling dinner theatre productions. It was during a dinner theatre tour through Kentucky that Jolley came to meet William Girdler.
You can hear Jolley sing “The Farmer and the Cowman” on the Oklahoma! Cast Album (1979) issued by RCA Records. His other stage musical credits included Kiss Me, Kate (1974), A Little Night Music (1976), The Music Man (1978), The Brooklyn Bridge (1983; review), Up in Central Park (1984), and South Pacific (1985).
Nick Jolley died at the age of 48 on February 8, 1997. His music appears in the below playlist, while his performance of “The Farm and the Cowman,” thrives on Spotify.
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Photos and Music Section:
A playlist of the music of Eddie Dempley curated for your enjoyment by R.D Francis, also including two Nick Jolley tunes.
Eddie “Eddie D” Dempley through the rock ’n’ roll years, with photos courtesy of the Dempley family archives. There are more photos to enjoy amid the You Tube playlist of music videos.
Yes, unbeknown to both bands . . . before an injunction from the company of the same name . . . and signing with a record label to become Huey Lewis and the News . . . and taking MTV by storm: there was Huey Lewis and the American Express.
Credits:
For Eddie Dempley: Thanks to Paul Povesis, Richard Bolin, and Jim Wilson for the biographical materials from their social media posts, comments on others, and for the photos and music, as well as Legacy.com and Dignity Memorial, Louisville Musicians Gone But Not Forgotten Facebook, and The Buckeye Beat.com.
All singles and albums images courtesy of Discogs.com. Theatrical one-sheets by the IMDb.com. Images from both sites are used by multiple music and film sites and publications with permissions.
For Nick Jolley: Biographical information courtesy of Woody Anders/IMDb, History for Sale, Ovrtur, and The New York Times. Thank you for allowing its use to honor Nick’s life and career.
