Rocker Turned Deputy Mayor

NEW PORT RICHEY - The short, gray ponytail Bob Langford sports is the only hint the deputy mayor had a hand in rock 'n' roll history.
Langford, 63, was lead singer for the local group The Intruders, one of the opening acts for the Rolling Stones' 1965 concert at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater. He was cleanshaven and clean-cut in those days, performing in suits and tuxedos.
Eight years later, as part of the Atlanta recording scene, he mixed the rock anthem ``Free Bird'' by Lynyrd Skynyrd and also added the y's to the name of the Southern rock group mockingly named for a high school gym coach.
The band ran a photo of its bearded, long-haired sound engineer, Bob ``Tub'' Langford, on the 1973 debut album, ``(Pronounced leh-nerd skin- nerd).''
As a sound man, background vocalist or both, Langford worked with Jerry Lee Lewis, Deep Purple (``Highway Star''), Billy Joe Royal (``Down in the Boondocks''), Classics Four (``Traces''), Joe South (``Games People Play''), Blood Sweat and Tears, and the Atlanta Rhythm Section.
Allman Brothers Band bassist Barry Oakley, who died in a 1972 motorcycle accident, lived with Langford's family for a brief time in New Port Richey.
Langford also participated in civil rights marches and did live broadcasts of speeches by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery and Huntsville, Ala. Langford made friends with then-Sen. Julian Bond of Georgia and then-Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, getting his first taste of politics.
But most people in town have no idea that Langford, owner and operator of Tub's Music studio in New Port Richey, rubbed elbows with the famous.
``There are a lot of people who don't know I did any of this,'' Langford said.
His face turned red and he chuckled.
While thumbing through a folder filled with memories, Langford pulled out a yellowed newspaper photograph of his old group The Capris, circa 1964.
He remembered astronauts including Gus Grissom, watching them play at a popular Cocoa Beach nightclub.
``Mike Olson, the tax collector [for Pasco County], was our saxophone player, and we're still good friends,'' Langford said. ``Bertie Higgins was our drummer. We wouldn't let him sing.''
Higgins, from Tarpon Springs, later hit the Top 10 with the 1982 single ``Key Largo.''
``I was glad for him when I saw he made it,'' Langford said. ``We were real close for a long time. Bertie's dad was one of the first at the wreck when my brother died.''
His brother, Lanny Langford, was a Tarpon Springs police officer.
``I can't even really talk about that,'' he said. ``It's too hard.''
Making It In Music
Langford was born and raised in Louisville, Ky., and sang classical music at Durrett High School. He moved here upon graduation when his parents, Joe and Lillian Peak, moved to the then-new Gulf Harbors development in 1960.
Langford stayed about six years, playing in cover bands and ``trying to make it in music.''
``We met the Stones very briefly before we played at Jack Russell Stadium,'' Langford said. ``We exchanged pleasantries and hung out backstage while they played. It was so noisy that you could not hear us or the Stones.''
The crowd became so rowdy that police ended the concert four songs into the Rolling Stones' set.
The Intruders eventually signed with a manager who booked the band at a University of Florida homecoming concert and on college campuses in Wisconsin.
``I told them, `Send me to Wisconsin one more time and I quit,' '' Langford said. ``It was too cold. They sent us to Wisconsin again and after the end of the tour I quit.''
But he had made connections at an Atlanta recording studio and moved there to break into the managing and recording side of the industry.
Langford lists The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Platters, Sam Cook, The Righteous Brothers and Jerry Lee Lewis as his top musical influences.
``I got to work with Jerry Lee,'' Langford said. ``There's not much I can say about him for print. He was a gambling man who liked to drink. He was different.''
Nothing Sacred In The Studio
It was Langford's time with Lynyrd Skynyrd, paced by frontman Ronnie Van Zant, that most strongly linked him to a musical legend.
The band members, some of whom perished in a 1977 plane crash near Gillsburg, Miss., jokingly took on the name of Leonard Skinner, a high school gym coach who enforced the dress code prohibiting long hair and sideburns.
``One day I started writing it with all the y's in the name on the edge of the tape box we slid tape into,'' Langford said. ``I did it to be cute. We always did stuff like that; nothing is sacred in the studio.
``Al Kooper, their producer, saw it and liked it. It just stuck, and they adopted that spelling.''
When their first album - containing ``Free Bird,'' ``Tuesday's Gone,'' ``Simple Man'' and ``Gimme Three Steps'' - came out in September 1973, they quickly became something more than a group with a quirky name.
``But it wasn't `Free Bird' that got them signed by MCA,'' Langford recalled. ``It was `Gimme Three Steps.' ''
He recalled the band being less than thrilled with his mix of more than eight guitar tracks into two tracks that became ``Free Bird's'' signature four-minute guitar solo.
``They were livid about what I'd done to it,'' Langford said, ``but Al Kooper agreed with it. They said they could never play it live that way, and that's why they didn't like it. But we were there to make a hit record.
``They did not get over it until it went gold and then platinum.''
It was nine minutes of rock 'n' roll bliss, becoming one of the most identifiable songs of the 1970s. And ``Tub'' Langford (``The nickname had something to do with my weight'') literally had a hand in it.
``The album was mixed in a studio in Doraville, Ga., and done on an old 16-track tape machine,'' Langford said. ``I told them I was testing some things and to just go ahead and play `Free Bird.' They were more relaxed and I just recorded it. That's an engineer's trick.
``I ping-ponged it together, an old technique we used to use, from between eight and 11 guitar tracks into just the two that you hear.''
Still Behind The Board
Langford now has a 96- channel soundboard in his studio. He is producing a CD for local country artist Mikki Taylor and Southern rockers the Trunk Band.
Langford wore a Trunk Band T-shirt with mushrooms on it, reminiscent of the ones popularized on Allman Brothers Band albums and merchandise.
What goes around comes around.
Langford has been in the music business 45 years, mixing and playing with Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and some just trying to make it. The look on his face varies little when he talks about Mikki Taylor or Mick Jagger.
He simply gets a twinkle in his eye, turns up a slow smile and nods his head. Music is music, and it's been his life.

Motorcyclist offers safety tips

When he hits the countryside on his motorcycle, McDonough resident Phil Piotrowski, 61, said he loves the sense of freedom that overcomes him.
"The freedom - it's just a getaway from everything, it just relaxes me," Piotrowski said. "It feels great!"
However, when he does go riding, Piotrowski said safety is a precaution he always tries to exercise.
That is why, as an experienced motorcyclist, he has taken a rider course over the years to help him brush up on his skills.
"It's a very valuable course," said Piotrowski, who is chapter educator for the Gold Wing Road Riders Association Georgia Chapter A in McDonough. The GWRRA Georgia Chapter A holds motorcycle safety events at least once a year.
Georgia State Patrol Trooper First Class Larry Schnall said riding a motorcycle in metro Atlanta can be dangerous, and that more motorcyclists should exercise safety measures.
"There is a significant number of motorcycle accidents on Georgia roads," Schnall said. "And something novice riders and experience riders need to keep in mind is that one accident, regardless of how low the speed may be, could paralyze, cripple or kill them."
Schnall pointed out that many accidents involving motorcyclists are speed-related.
"There are clearly too many inexperienced drivers on motorcycles attempting to operate them as though they are on a racetrack," Schnall said.
Piotrowski agreed with Schnall, saying there are a lot of irresponsible motorcyclists on the roads. That is why he has offered safety tips for people to follow to ensure they have a safe and enjoyable ride.
Piotrowski advises people to take lessons either through the Georgia State Patrol's Motorcycle Safety Program or with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Next, he recommends dressing properly.
"The leather isn't for decoration, it's got some use to it," said Piotrowski, adding leather has been the old staple for riding gear. "If you're gong to hit the ground, the leather's going to wear out instead of your skin."
Thirdly, Piotrowski suggests using common sense.
"You may be on two wheels and able to fit in a lot smaller places, but you have to obey the same rules and regulations as people with four wheels and 18 wheels," Piotrowski said.
For more information on the GWRRA Georgia Chapter A, call (770) 473-1316 or (770) 954-1924. To contact the Georgia State Patrol Post 47 Motorcycle Safety Program, call (404) 669-2950 or (800) 245-4410.

'There's always hope'

Wed, Jul 6, 2005
Family trying to cope with paralysis of 14-year-old
By MELISSA DONLEY
and AMY HORTON CARTER
The Brunswick News
Fourteen-year-old Joey Smith can't go home again until his house undergoes some major renovations.
Paralyzed from the chest down following a diving accident last month, Joey is undergoing 10 weeks of therapy at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, which specializes in treating spinal cord injuries.
If his house has not been fitted with ramps, wider hallways and doorways and a new bathroom by the time his therapy ends, Joey cannot come home.
That realization moved Susan Lee to act on his behalf.
"He can't come home until he can get through (the doorways), so we've got to build on to this single-wide mobile home," said Lee, who taught Georgia history to Joey at Jane Macon Middle School last year.
Faced with mounting medical bills and the expense of traveling back and forth from Brunswick to Atlanta to be with Joey, his family is unable to pay for the renovations.
Joey's injury has put his family in dire straits.
"It's just overwhelming," said Joey's grandfather, Joseph Smith Sr., a former Glynn County commissioner. "You just don't know where to turn."
Friends and caring acquaintances are turning to the community to help the family.
Teacher Lee set up an account in Joey's name at United Community Bank, and is working on an application to the ABC television show "Extreme Home Makeover" in hope of persuading its host, celebrity carpenter Ty Pennington, to tackle the project.
The Glynn County Daytrippers, a recreational motorcycle group Joey's father, Joe Smith Jr., rides with, is collecting building materials for the home modifications and money for the family.
"We wanted to do something to help out," Daytripper Nancy Wilkes said.
Joe Smith Jr. had spent time with his son in Atlanta, but had to return to Brunswick to begin a new job with a trucking company. Joey's stepmother, Susan Smith, is also starting a new job at Morningstar Treatment Services.
"It's been very emotional," Susan Smith said. "I think we're all worn out from going back and forth."
The family's nightmare began June 14 when Joey was swimming with friends at Altamaha Park and was injured after he dove from a floating dock. Joseph Smith Sr. said Joey most likely hit his head on the river bottom, resulting in the seventh and eighth vertebrae in his spine being crushed.
The injury has paralyzed Joey from the chest down, leaving him with limited arm movement. Doctors told the family there is little chance he would have finger movement.
"There's always hope," Joseph Smith Sr. said. "There's always the power of prayer."
Joey, who was put into a wheelchair for the first time a week ago, will receive therapy for six hours a day. "Right now he's depressed and down," Joseph Smith Sr. said.
Shirley Anderson, an aunt, said she believes Joey, who is regularly described as an active, good kid, will pull through.
"He is going through a hard time himself right now," Anderson said. "It's just going to be a while. I think once he gets through the first trauma of it, I think he will get through this. He's a strong little boy."
Joey, an advanced math student at Jane Macon Middle School, was looking forward to becoming a freshman this year at Brunswick High School. Joseph Smith Sr. said the family is unsure when, or if, he will be able to attend.
"He wants to go back to school. We still have hopes," Smith said.
Teacher Lee said she sensed Joey's depression during a recent telephone conversation.
"I told him we were going to do everything we can to get him home." Even if it takes a community effort and a network television show to do it.