I'd inquired to Dave Montgomery a short while back about his involvement with KAAY. This is the kind of anecdotal information we're looking for on the blog:
"Hi Bud, Yes, I worked several years at KAAY, and therein lies the story about how I met AJ. I started there in 1969 and worked as an engineer while attending UALR (now Univ Ark at Little Rock). When I started, AJ had moved on, but he was a frequent visitor to the W 7th street studios. I was out for a couple of years for Army service in Vietnam, and then returned early 1973 and worked there up to Jan 1980, when I joined International Tapetronics Corp (ITC), the makers of the audio tape cartridge machines. [Therein lies another couple more stories, including a patent]
I worked for Felix McDonald, the KAAY chief engineer that AJ mentions a number of times, and I was responsible for the studio plant. I supervised the construction of the Cottondale Lane studio/office building, and a variety of other projects.
One of my favorite stories about AJ was when Felix McDonald and I built the ground system for AJ’s new transmitter site in Pine Bluff. From the first moments of digging in the wire, we were permeated with a truly foul stink. Turns out the ground we were plowing was a former hog lot, and every turn of dirt unleashed long buried piggy-poo. Pine Bluff is hot and humid in mid-summer, and the stink lingered around us like a stray cat. It took days to shower the stink off – Ha!
Dave Montgomery"
What a HOOT! As you can see, from an engineer's standpoint, not ALL the fun stuff goes on behind the mic! Thank you Dave for this great tidbit!
BTW, Dave, thank you for your service to our country....
Bud S, (staceys4@hotmail.com)
I've done some nasty antenna jobs in my younger years, but I can't even come close to this.
ReplyDeleteLEEROY!!! Fancy running up on you and The King and Fadick and Dick and who-all else all at once like this. And ain't it too bad that A.J. Lindsey is gone! Did you notice that Pat Walsh and Wilson Pickett died within a week of each other?
ReplyDeleteTreadway