When Phil returned from the Army he met a nice lady named Christine Bennett, she heard him play the piano at his home
one night and told him he should be singing for a living. Well he asked her how could he do that? She said" I want to take
you to a club at Jacksonville Beach, I know the band leader and I will ask him to let you sing with his band." I was a little
nervous but I went. The name of the band was Jimmy Tanner and the Flames.
The name of the club was Greig's Chicken Haven. The band only played country music and Phil sang 50's music. This was
in 1957 and Rock & Roll was just getting started good, so Phil sang a song that Jerry Lee Lewis had recorded and brought
the house down. People were ready for a change from the old country style to the new sounds of Rock & Roll.
The band leader hired him that night and he sang with that band for about a year.
This is where he started singing for a living! Like Christine said.
From this beginning he started his own band naming it Phil Cay and the Blue Notes.
His first gig after starting his band was at the Lake Shore American Legion.
Drawing hundreds of people nightly mostly because his talents brought people the kind of music they wanted to BEACH BOP
to. Beach Bop was really starting to get popular. In South Carolina they called it the Shag.
Musicians from all over came to sit in with his band and all of them loving that type of music.
One night a man by the name of Henry Hartzog came up to Phil and asked him if he would be interested in making a record.
Phil said yes so from there Henry set up studio time and his first record was made, "Meet Me In The Barnyard" by Phil Cay
and the Blue Notes, on the HART Label. Now a highly collectible record.
Once the record started being played on the radio and juke boxes, it didn't take long for the calls from everywhere wanting
to book he and his band for dances and shows all over the country.
TO BE CONTINUED!
