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Hi, Al was my cousin. His mother and my mother were sisters and Al was close in age to my mother. The actual spelling of Richard and Al's last name is "Turpen". I am not quite sure why it was spelled Turpin on their records. Al has 1 son Renny, who is the father of Cody Turpen, the grandson of Al, who you have seen in videos on YouTube. He has a channel on YouTube called the MoneyCrunchTree that has his original recordings off his CD. He can be found performing in the Valdosta, GA area. Hope this helps!
Many thanks to Ort Carlton of Athens Georgia for adding this important new information:
Allen H. Turpen shows up in the Social Security Death Index! He is shown as having been born on January 24, 1943 and died on May 15, 1999. His last residence is cited as Riverdale, Georgia. He had two other records: one on Limelight in 1964 or 1965 and one on Capitol in 1966. Another single attributed to Al Hartley may be his as well: it's on the Scarlet label, and is from 1959. Hope this helps.
I played saxophone for Al for about a year and a half. As best I remember he was playing at Moina Michael AUditorium in Athens around 1964 and was backing up Ronnie Milsap when I sat in with him. As best I can remember it was a Big Hugh Baby Hop that night. AL offered me a job and I took it. My parents would allow me to drive to Winder where we played at least twice a month at local roller rink.But for jobs around Atlanta my uncle or friends of the family who were fans of Al would drive me. Sometimes Al and I rode together. He was such a nice man and I will always remember him. I saw him a couple of years before he passed away in Athens where he was playing. It was so good to see him. In May of 1999 I attended the graveside service here in Athens.That was a chapter of my life that I will always treasure. Al was a great musician, singer, and friend.RIchard and AL were quite a team and had a really great band. I was and am honored to have been a part of The Heartbeats. Donny Whitehead
Hold On / Mr Brown on Lowery 008 Debbie / Our First Date on Scarlet 4000 from 1959 I Never Knew What Love Was Like / Ev'ry Little Teardrop on Hermitage 773 from 1962 Ain't You Glad It's Summertime / Counterfeit Love on Limelight 3027 from 1964 Sugarcane / I'm Only A Man on Capitol 5744 from 1966
There's also a record by Al Hart on Mercury, but that's a totally different guy - a disc jockey in Shreveport, Louisiana at KTBS Radio who became the voice of KCBS News in San Francisco for over 50 years.
I played on Counterfeit Love, Ain't You Glad It's Summertime, and a minor track on Mr. Brown. Best I remember, Mr. Brown was never released, although Cotton Carrier, Bill Lowery's partner, had some pressings in his files. Bob Richardson was the engineer on all the cuts we made at Mastersound Studios in Doraville, GA. The opening bass bow-bow-bow sounds on the opening of Ain't You Glad It's Summertime are made by Hugh Jarrett, who put up half the money with Bill Lowery footing the other half, to produce the record.
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Hi, Al was my cousin. His mother and my mother were sisters and Al was close in age to my mother. The actual spelling of Richard and Al's last name is "Turpen". I am not quite sure why it was spelled Turpin on their records. Al has 1 son Renny, who is the father of Cody Turpen, the grandson of Al, who you have seen in videos on YouTube. He has a channel on YouTube called the MoneyCrunchTree that has his original recordings off his CD. He can be found performing in the Valdosta, GA area. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteLisa
love this song, reminder of how much there is to learn about all the music out there, particularly from the 60s.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to Ort Carlton of Athens Georgia for adding this important new information:
ReplyDeleteAllen H. Turpen shows up in the Social Security Death Index! He is shown as having been born on January 24, 1943 and died on May 15, 1999. His last residence is cited as Riverdale, Georgia.
He had two other records: one on Limelight in 1964 or 1965 and one on Capitol in 1966. Another single attributed to Al Hartley may be his as well: it's on the Scarlet label, and is from 1959.
Hope this helps.
I played saxophone for Al for about a year and a half. As best I remember he was playing at Moina Michael AUditorium in Athens around 1964 and was backing up Ronnie Milsap when I sat in with him. As best I can remember it was a Big Hugh Baby Hop that night. AL offered me a job and I took it. My parents would allow me to drive to Winder where we played at least twice a month at local roller rink.But for jobs around Atlanta my uncle or friends of the family who were fans of Al would drive me. Sometimes Al and I rode together. He was such a nice man and I will always remember him. I saw him a couple of years before he passed away in Athens where he was playing. It was so good to see him. In May of 1999 I attended the graveside service here in Athens.That was a chapter of my life that I will always treasure. Al was a great musician, singer, and friend.RIchard and AL were quite a team and had a really great band. I was and am honored to have been a part of The Heartbeats.
DeleteDonny Whitehead
The Al Hartley records I know about are:
ReplyDeleteHold On / Mr Brown on Lowery 008
Debbie / Our First Date on Scarlet 4000 from 1959
I Never Knew What Love Was Like / Ev'ry Little Teardrop on Hermitage 773 from 1962
Ain't You Glad It's Summertime / Counterfeit Love on Limelight 3027 from 1964
Sugarcane / I'm Only A Man on Capitol 5744 from 1966
There's also a record by Al Hart on Mercury, but that's a totally different guy - a disc jockey in Shreveport, Louisiana at KTBS Radio who became the voice of KCBS News in San Francisco for over 50 years.
I played on Counterfeit Love, Ain't You Glad It's Summertime, and a minor track on Mr. Brown. Best I remember, Mr. Brown was never released, although Cotton Carrier, Bill Lowery's partner, had some pressings in his files. Bob Richardson was the engineer on all the cuts we made at Mastersound Studios in Doraville, GA. The opening bass bow-bow-bow sounds on the opening of Ain't You Glad It's Summertime are made by Hugh Jarrett, who put up half the money with Bill Lowery footing the other half, to produce the record.
ReplyDelete