Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts debuted 70 years ago

Continuing down the musical peanut shells trail, one path leads to Chapel Hill, N.C., to celebrate the 70-year anniversary of the rock ‘n’ roll band known as Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts.

The group formed in 1955 at Lincoln High School, which served the segregated African-American student population in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Original members of the group were Doug Clark (drums) and his brother, “Big John” Clark (saxophone), along with William “Chicken” Little (guitar), Prince Taylor (vocals) and a trumpeter who went by the name of “June Bug.”

Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts evolved into a big-time, party-time band, touring the southeastern United States and performing at social functions, which were largely sponsored by collegiate fraternal organizations. The group was raunchy, and the student bodies lapped up the lewd lyrics.

Ben Windham, a retired editor at The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News, commented: “Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts were in the vanguard of the sexual revolution, maybe even more than Hugh Hefner (of ‘Playboy’ magazine.)”

“Back in the 1960s, things were different. You had to hide a Doug Clark record where your parents couldn’t find it – if there ever was such a place.”

“Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts could never play a high school dance. They never got radio play. Nice stores didn’t sell their records,” Windham wrote.

“Yet, they were incredibly popular. They recorded nine albums in the 1960s. Everybody knew their songs. The crowd I ran around with knew all their lyrics. In moments when adults were scarce, we’d sing the songs and laugh and laugh.”

Hot nuts hot nuts, get ‘em from the peanut man,

Yeh yeh yeh yeh yeh, nuts, hot nuts

Get ‘em any way you can.

“Their music was average, at best, but those sexually charged lyrics! For the early 1960s, they were something else,” Windham said. “That’s what made Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts famous (at least among us teenagers).”

Sam Hicks, a music historian and performer, said the group “cornered the college market” with “raucous live shows.”

Major record labels couldn’t afford to be associated with the group because the Hot Nuts’ lyrics went far beyond what was normally called “party records” at the time. Jubilee Records of New York City created the “Gross” label, designed especially as a vehicle for music of Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts.

Gross went out of business as a record label in 1970, and all of the group’s original recordings are now out of print, as is a short-lived CD compilation.

Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts inspired the creation of Otis Day and the Knights as the fictional R&B band shown in the 1978 movie “National Lampoon’s Animal House.” (Both main songs – “Shout” and “Shama Lama Ding Dong” – were recorded for the film by uncredited studio vocalist Lloyd G. Williams, and lip synched by actor DeWayne Jessie.)

Musicologists suggest that the Doug Clark and The Hot Nuts’ sound was influenced by Lil Johnson, who recorded “dirty blues and hokum songs” in the 1920s and 1930s, and is most famous for “Get ‘Em From the Peanut Man (Hot Nuts),” a risqué song that she composed and recorded in 1936.

“Dirty blues” was Johnson’s specialty. She often performed with a pianist known as Black Bob Hudson, guitarist Big Bill Broonzy and trumpeters Lee Collins and Alfred Bell. All were early pioneers in the development of “good time” music.

Doug Clark died of leukemia in 2002. He was 66. But the Hot Nuts band plays on, continuing to perform at corporate events, class reunions, wedding receptions and other functions. 

Sing along to the doo-wop tune of ‘Peanuts’

Updating an earlier collection of Wagnabbit columns on peanuts, here is some recent input from a loyal reader:

“Reading about Aunt Ruby’s Peanuts and Hampton Farms (I have a bag of their roasted, unsalted in my house right now – a favorite) and all this talk of peanuts reminded me of the song from back in 1957, which was another favorite of a lot of us – ‘Peanuts’ – originally by Little Joe Cook & The Thrillers in true R&B style!”

“It’s great shag or bop music and fun to sing. Brought some great memories of my senior year at Central High.”

Blogger John Holton, who describes himself as an “internet DJ and inveterate wise guy,” is a big fan of Little Joe Cook, too.

 

Cook, who was born in 1922 in South Philadelphia, Pa., wrote “Peanuts” in 1957 and sang the lead in a falsetto voice. “The song reached No. 22 on the national pop chart and earned the group an appearance on ‘American Bandstand,’” Holton said.

Cook’s falsetto is said to have influenced Frankie Valli of The Four Seasons. The group covered “Peanuts” in 1963.

 

The Four Seasons in 1963 in New York City. They are, clockwise from the top, Nick Massi, Tommy DeVito, Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio. 

Rick & The Keens, a male-female doo-wop group from Wichita Falls, Texas, covered “Peanuts” in 1961, and the record stayed in the top 100 for 16 weeks.

Little Joe Cook started singing in church. His grandmother was a Baptist preacher. By the time he was 12, Little Joe and three cousins had formed a gospel vocal quartet, the Evening Stars, who had a one-hour weekly radio show in Philadelphia. In 1951 the group recorded “Say A Prayer for the Boys in Korea.”

Little Joe transitioned to secular rhythm and blues music, and he formed a doo-wop vocal group, known as The Thrillers. 

Their first single in 1956, “Let’s Do the Slop,” was a regional hit, introducing a new dance craze. (It was popularized in the 1957 lyrics to “At the Hop,” released by Danny and the Juniors.)

Little Joe Cook came ever so close to eternal rock ‘n’ roll fame.

Joseph “Jo Jo” Henry Wallace, a native of Williamston, N.C., in Martin County, also grew up in the music business in Philadelphia about the same time as Little Joe Cook. Wallace was one of the Sensational Nightingales in 1957 when he wrote a song called “The Twist.”

 

Unwilling, as a gospel singer, to perform a secular dance number, Wallace handed off the song to Little Joe to take to his record company, according to Bob Marovich, a gospel music historian.

Cook was under contract with Okeh Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records, Marovich said. Executives rejected the song as being “too suggestive.”

Cook later remarked: “I wish I’d had the money to produce it myself. Instead, the Nightingales gave it to Hank Ballard. He was with King Records, where you could put on anything.”

 

Hank Ballard tweaked the music a tad and copyrighted “The Twist” in 1958. His recording of the song enjoyed modest chart success.

“The Twist” became a smash hit, however, when Chubby Checker recorded it in 1960. His version of “The Twist” spawned an enormously popular dance craze…and a pile of “twist” songs by numerous artists.

 

Undaunted, Little Joe Cook eventually found his way to Cambridge, Mass., where he performed regularly to entertain patrons at the Cantab Lounge from 1980 until he retired in 2007. (Cook died in 2014, at age 91.)

 

He was known for his banana-yellow Cadillac Seville with custom rims, fins and a vanity plate that read, “Nut Man,” for his signature song.

 

But he is remembered as “the ultimate entertainer,” said Joe Bellomo, a long-time drummer with The Thrillers.

Cook knew how to work a crowd and read the room, said guitarist Candido “Candy” Delgado. “Every time it was different, and he knew what to do.”

Oystering came to a crossroads at Ocracoke in late 1880s

“O” is for Oysters and Ocracoke. This island community was directly in the crosshairs of the “Oyster War” that began in the late 1880s and was caused by oyster poachers from the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland and Virginia who invaded North Carolina waters.

Several coastal writers have reported on this incident, which became an important chapter in North Carolina’s maritime history.

Kip Tabb, a correspondent with the North Carolina Coastal Federation, reported that “the harvesting of oysters in North Carolina had begun as a family affair with oystermen tending small oyster gardens near the shore, harvesting their oysters with tongs, a rake-like device.”

“The technique was labor-intensive, and the depth of the water the oystermen could work was limited by the length of the (implement’s) handle,” Tabb said.

 

However, Robert F. Moss, a food and beverage writer from Charleston, S.C., noted that “in the Chesapeake Bay, hand tongs were replaced by dredges dragged over the beds by steam-powered boats, harvesting oysters in massive quantities…but destroying centuries-old beds in the process.”

The late George Stevenson Jr., who served nearly four decades as the official North Carolina state archivist, confirmed that “overfishing had dangerously depleted the seemingly inexhaustible oyster beds of Maryland and Virginia.”

Consequently, oyster dredging operators targeted North Carolina as fertile ground.

“In 1888, seven armed vessels from Virginia were reported plying the waters of Hyde County, gathering and transporting 7,000 bushels of oysters weekly to Virginia,” Stevenson wrote.

“During the 1890 season, Carteret, Hyde and Pamlico counties in North Carolina dispatched patrol boats to drive off the oyster pirates, but individual confrontations locally proved ineffectual,” he said.

The editor of the weekly Elizabeth City Economist, lamented the continuing “infernal Virginia oyster thievery.”

“In 1891, North Carolina Gov. Daniel G. Fowle of Washington, N.C., pushed through the General Assembly legislation strong enough to put the dredgers out of business and to prevent the shipping of North Carolina oysters to out-of-state markets,” Stevenson said.

The oystermen of Ocracoke were quick to mobilize and were ready to fight, if necessary, said local historian Philip Howard.

“There never was any doubt among Ocracoke islanders that Pamlico Sound oyster beds belonged to them and should remain protected from large scale commercial dredging companies who would have…quickly depleted the oyster populations,” Howard said.

The Wilmington Weekly Star reported that a North Carolina oyster patrol was formed, stating: “If any dredgers are found continuing to ravish the oyster beds they will be arrested, even if their boats have to be blown out of the water and their crews killed.”

Only one vessel was impounded, Stevenson said. “Its captain and crew were charged and tried in the Pamlico County Superior Court, thus ending the ‘Oyster War’” in North Carolina.

Fortunately, it was short-lived and bloodless, he said.

Stevenson’s summary leaves out some of the juicy tidbits.

The late Philip Gerard, a contributor to Our State magazine, said the “war heroes” were about 40 Ocracoke oystermen. “The stakes were as high as they get: control of precious watery territory, defense of a community’s livelihood and the preservation of an endangered fishery.”

The Ocracokers prevailed over the business interests of U.S. Navy Lt. Francis E. Winslow Jr., who had been commissioned by the North Carolina Board of Agriculture to survey the oyster grounds of Pamlico Sound to determine their “oyster potential.”

 

Lt. Winslow mapped more than 500,000 acres of Pamlico Sound and other waters. His findings were published in 1889 and revealed that an “oyster bonanza” lied beneath the water’s surface.

Winslow immediately exited the Navy and joined the Pamlico Oyster Company as its general manager, in an attempt to cash in and make a personal fortune.

Soon thereafter, in early 1890, Winslow arrived in Pamlico Sound on a small schooner with a workforce he had recruited from various Core Sound communities, intending to dredge for oysters, according to Philip Howard.

Ocracokers were afraid that Winslow and “his trespassers would attempt to cheaply harvest oysters that native Ocracokers considered their rightful property,” Howard said.

The islanders took up arms. It was reported that Winslow said that “he never saw the muzzle of a shotgun look so large.”

Hyde County Sheriff J. R. Roper was expected to keep the peace. He sought assistance from attorney S. T. Beckwith, who wrote to Gov. Fowle on Feb. 4, 1890, stating that the “Ocracoke oystermen have concluded that they believe from the depth of their hearts that they are proprietors of the public oyster grounds.”

Gov. Fowle replied that “the men of Ocracoke know that the courts of our State is the tribunal in which your rights will receive careful investigation, and full justice will be done you.’”

He also telegraphed Sheriff Roper with an urgent message: “BLOODSHED MUST BE AVOIDED IF THE LAW CAN BE EXECUTED WITHOUT IT.”

At a judicial hearing, the jurors sided with the islanders, and in the end, more than 300 out-of-state oyster sloops (“oyster pirates”) finally left North Carolina waters, Howard said.

Francis Winslow retreated as well.

He would surface once again in 1899 when he was appointed secretary of the U.S. Nicaraguan Canal Commission, which proposed building a 173-mile canal to connect the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

Freight boat to Ocracoke brought ice, fruit and memories

Once a week, the old freight boat would leave out of Ocracoke Island, N.C., and run across the Pamlico Sound and go up the Pamlico River to the docks at Washington, N.C. 

Crews would offload lots of seafood products packed in salt to be delivered to markets in eastern North Carolina and beyond.

The last vessel to make the run was the Bessie Virginia, retiring in the early 1960s. Built in 1910, she was a diesel-powered, 65-foot vessel capable of carrying 90 tons of freight. This is how the Ocracoke Islanders got their supplies and materials.

Ocracoke’s old-timers said: “Now and then, dead bodies were carried off the island on the freight boat. At those times, the vessel’s flag was flown upside down at half mast,” as a signal for folks to be prayerful toward the families of the “dearly departeds.”

Before electrification of Ocracoke in the mid-1930s, the freight boat brought an important commodity – huge, 300-pound blocks of ice. (When the Ocracoke Power and Light Company was formed, one of the first village projects was to build an ice plant next to the community store.)

Three generations of Ocracoke O’Neals served as freight boat pilots over the years, and they would also carry passengers packed amidst the cargo, which could include livestock, soft drinks, groceries, medicines, clothing, building supplies…and anything else that would fit aboard.

Capt. Van Henry O’Neal could often be seen visiting Washington shops with a list of items needed by the O’cokers.

Fannie Pearl Fulcher said: “We used to leave Ocracoke early in the morning, and it would take us all day long to cross the Pamlico Sound and chug up the river to get into Washington.”

Capt. Van Henry O’Neal said the average trip time was 7 hours, 15 minutes. The top speed was 10 knots (about 11.5 miles per hour).

Fannie said that Ocracoke had little access to fruit except for what was transported on the freight boat from Washington, such as oranges, apples, coconuts, pineapples, lemons and limes. Island churches had fruit festivals each year, selling lemon pies, pineapple cake and ice cream flavored with a variety of fruits.

Ocracoke’s Elsie Ballance Garrish said the freight boat would bring vacationers from Washington to Ocracoke so they would enjoy fishing and sunbathing. Of course, the highlight was always the Saturday night square dancing.

 

“The Ocracoke Island square dance is actually a big circle dance,” wrote Philip Howard, who often “calls” the community dances these days. He will talk you through the dance:

 

“Swing your partner...and promenade…wring your dishrag…shoo fly in the middle…open up and wind the clock.”

“Dive for the oyster…dig for the clam…carry your partner to the promised land!”

Author Bland Simpson (shown below) shared a tale about the Bessie Virginia told by Blount Rumley, a historian based in “Little Washington.”

 

“One trip, Capt. Van had a whole hull full of crabs on the Bessie Virginia…the market was flooded with crabs; he couldn’t get rid of ‘em, and they were starting to go bad, fast…and it was making a big smell,” Rumley said.

 

Blount Rumley

“The captain went all through the town of Washington begging people to come take these crabs. My father got three pickup truck loads,” Rumley said. “Spread ‘em all over the backyard for fertilizer. Mama was so mad! She was furious. It did smell right much. Neighbors didn’t like it too much either.”

“The next day, the crabs mysteriously disappeared.”

Meet Ocracokers Irvin and Elsie Garrish: 

Capt. Irvin Scott Garrish of Ocracoke (1916-97) used to run the ferry route between Ocracoke Island and the mainland in Carteret County. 

The ferry service, which began in 1960, was owned and operated by the Taylor brothers of Sea Level. They had multiple business interests in the Down East section of Carteret County.

The State of North Carolina purchased the Taylors’ ferry operation in 1964, and the southern docks were moved from the village of Atlantic to Cedar Island, cutting the crossing time by 75 minutes. 

(Today, the Cedar Island-Ocracoke ferry crossing takes approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes. The distance is roughly 22 miles.)

Martha Garrish O’Neal said Capt. Garrish (her father) loved his job, “indulging his penchant for sharing the story of Ocracoke. He’d tell stories and point out different things about the sounds (Core and Pamlico) over the loudspeaker for the passengers.”

When time came for Irvin Garrish to retire from ferry boat piloting, he found work as the driver and narrator of the Ocracoke village trolley. When the trolley service was discontinued, “Irvin got a van and drove it around as a tour shuttle for visitors,” Martha said.

 

“He also made a cassette recording for people to do their own tours,” she said. “His mind was always going.”

Irvin Garrish was a one-man tourism bureau. As a tribute, the North Carolina Department of Transportation named the historic 17-mile stretch of N.C. Route 12 on Ocracoke Island in his memory – “Irvin Garrish Highway.”

 

Another chapter in the “life and times of Irvin Garrish,” details his distinction as being the first representative from Ocracoke Township to be elected to the Hyde County Board of Commissioners. 

This was an important breakthrough that helped allay feelings of “taxation without representation” on the island. Ocracoke provides more than half of the tax base for Hyde County.

Irvin Garrish was married to an Ocracoke girl named Elsie Dean Ballance (1915-2003), who probably deserved her own highway.

She became a Registered Nurse in 1938, having received her training at Rex Hospital in Raleigh. “In Ocracoke (with no doctor), Elsie devoted herself to providing health care for her friends and neighbors,” according to village historian Philip Howard.

The Garrish clan is well-represented on Ocracoke Island, Philip Howard said. Garrish is one of about a dozen surnames that date back to the first census in 1790.

Martha Garrish, wife of Wilson Jule Garrish, has assumed a bit of a “gatekeeper” role in her career as an Ocracoke real estate sales executive.

Writing for Our State magazine, journalist Michael Graff stated: “Martha Garrish sells pieces of Ocracoke to people who love it. ‘This is not a financial decision,’ Martha tells prospective buyers. ‘This is an emotional decision. You’re buying a love of Ocracoke.’”

“The worst thing you can do is come here because you love it and then try to change it,” Martha said. 

“If you do, it’s like ‘Survivor.’ We’re going to vote you off the island.”

She’s not serious, of course…but there’s nothing wrong with a friendly idle threat to get the point across.

Doug and Judy Eifer moved to Ocracoke from Kentucky to rejuvenate a local restaurant, Graff reported.

 

“The Eifers get almost all of their seafood from fishermen on the island. Ferris brings the bluefish, flounder and drum. Julian provides most of the shellfish. And Rodney brings the clams,” Graff said. “Rodney also helped Doug learn how to drive a boat.”

“The reason we moved here was because of the people,” Doug says. “The natural beauty only takes you so far.”