LIFE WITH KRISTYEMAC: 2021

Music, friends and dancin'. My love for all three began at the innocent age of 12. My brother was 9 years older than me and I had heard stories of him sneakin' off to a place out in the middle of nowhere called Williams Lake when I was much younger but the curiosity of it's magical draw didn't hit me until the hormones did.

And, hit me, they did. My daddy had a friend and golfing partner named Gene Driver. Mr. Driver had a younger brother, Harry Driver. Daddy often spoke of the dancin' Harry and his wife, Dottie, did at the Chicora County Club clubhouse during the member parties held there. Eventually Chicora tried it's hand at "teen" parties. The first one I attended Harry had arranged for a band to play. I'm terribly disappointed that I don't remember who that band was....but I do remember I was smitten with their music and the dancing that went on. The feeling of that night has never left me and has been firmly planted in my soul ever since. Harry Driver was and is still my fas' dancin' hero.

Harry at a Chicora golf tournament receiving trophy from "Uncle" Benny Spears

Harry and Dottie Driver - The best of the best dancers, in my opinion

Harry was a snappy dresser and a dream on the dance floor.

My brother had a little record player and the music he played would seep through the doors of his bedroom. I'd sit out in the hall and listen to that wonderful music and memorize the lyrics. My favorite, and probably the first one I had memorized was "May I" by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs.

I still sing this in the shower!

At 14 we had family friends with kids I grew up with...Gene and Mary Baker. Their daughter, Rebecca, was a couple years older than me and was already aware and in love with Williams Lake. My first trip to this magical place was with Rebecca...and we were both underage...me by a lot!

I remember driving what seemed like FOREVER and after passing outside of Dunn it seemed there were nothing but woods with an occasional farmhouse. Then, I heard the hard beat of a base drum drifting through the car windows. The closer we got the more we could hear music. I was so excited...we were breaking the rules...and I was finally gonna see what Williams Lake was all about.

The parking lot was packed! We could hear the music inside but there were kids everywhere in the parking lot. High school kids, Campbell College kids...and now there was ME! There were coolers outside of the cars with beer flowing rampantly. A few mason jars with moonshine...and some of the coolers were filled with this purple lookin' stuff having slices of fruit floating around in it that I later learned was PJ...Purple Jesus.

Just to let you know...we did NOT drink any of these enticing beverages on my first visit. I'm sure my eyes were bulging taking in the sites. But the BEST sight was looking inside the old wooden doors going into the building. Smoke filled the air and there were folks dancin' their hearts out. There was even a guy gettin' pulled down out of the rafters! I was hooked.

Williams Lake is where I fell in love...not with a boy...but with the music and the dance. I'm still in love with both to this day.

I think I can honestly say I was at The Lake almost every weekend afterwards...until the sad day of it's closing. The music there led me to Ocean Drive and here I still am. Much to my surprise I found out Harry Driver was a legend here at the beach. My, my, my. So I wasn't the only one enamored by him. Harry is an icon here and will always be remembered by anyone who loves our music. Famous for his "on the beach" days...famous for his dancin'...famous for contributions to what is now known as "beach music".

Williams Lake died in 1970. I give to you the best history I've found on this wonderful place....thanks to Mary Lemuel Blalock, may she rest in peace:

Williams Lake CD Liner Notes

By Mary Lemuel Blalock on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 5:54 PM

Imagine a rough timber dance floor, built over water, and located out in the middle of rural Sampson County, North Carolina. The entrance road is dirt and dust, and the closest small towns are Dunn and Clinton, 15 miles west and east, respectively. You can hear the crickets chirping and the frogs croaking; and the mosquitoes are biting? Welcome to the 38-year phenomenon known as—Williams Lake.

Clayton and Lillian Williams owned Williams Lake. They lived across the road from The Lake and spent the majority of their lives giving young and old, alike, a place to go and have fun. All you could ask for, and more, happened at The Lake from 1932 to 1970 … jitterbugging to music on the jukebox in the 30s, 40s, and 50s and bopping to the sounds of live music in the 60s.

It was the Swing Era—early 1930s—a time when uncertainty was building around the world. Little did people realize that in a few years there would be ultimate chaos that would affect their innocent and uncomplicated lives forever. For the present, leisurely summer days of swimming and picnicking, with families, is all that seemed important.

The Depression had a big effect on music in the 1930s. People needed security and wanted to hear lively and spirited sounds; it was a reflection of the way they were feeling. They wanted to feel happy. In 1934, a bandleader known as Cab Calloway introduced a cut-time, four-beat energetic tune, and it would evolve into a dance that would take the nation by storm. The song was titled—The Jitterbug.

Mr. and Mrs. Williams would eventually provide a haven for protection during the Depression by introducing a new addition to their lake pavilion—Music; and it would be provided by a generator-powered jukebox. Teenagers from surrounding towns heard about the arrival of the jukebox and set off on those sandy and dusty roads to Williams Lake in order to dance the Lindy Hop and the Jitterbug. The music of recording artists Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington was gaining fame in a small wooden shelter in the middle of a place that no one outside of two or three counties knew existed—Williams Lake!

Eventually, those 1930s fun and carefree days ended. The world was at war in the early 1940s, and it was a sad and lonely time for most families who had at least one child defending our nation in World War II. However, one local sanctuary remained positive—Williams Lake! Mr. and Mrs. Williams continued to provide a place for families to come together and forget about the oppression of war.

Times had changed and so had the music genre. The combined styles of the 20s, 30s, and 40s would eventually come to be known as Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll. Nonetheless, the music from Miller, Goodman, Shaw, and others, bounced around the nation; but sounds from other artists as The Mills Brothers, Louis Jordan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra were taking shape. Two O'clock Jump, Shoo-Shoo Baby, and White Cliffs of Dover were reverberating over the radio and on the jukebox at—Williams Lake!

By the late 1940s and early 1950s, we were in the middle of the Korean Conflict. Rhythm and Blues was in full influence and recording artists as Dinah Washington and Buddy and Ella Johnson were paving the way for another generation of teenagers. It was not uncommon to hear Evil Gal Blues, Caldonia, and Old Maid Boogie on the jukebox at—Williams Lake!

In 1953 and 1954, Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters and The Dominoes were recording influential songs as Money Honey and Sixty-Minute Man. The dance known as the Jitterbug had now evolved into the Bop and was ultimately popular on the East Coast and in clubs from Virginia to Florida. One such dance club in NC was—Williams Lake!

A further music style was additionally coming into existence—Doo-Wop—a Rhythm and Blues character of music with vocals. This method originated in the northern black communities, became popular in the 1950s, and blossomed throughout the 1960s—resonating of tranquil harmonies from The Platters, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and more. These groups made it possible for people to slow dance with each other. Sometimes couples could be seen standing in a close position and just swaying back and forth to songs as Only You and Tears on My Pillow … yet one more reason for sweethearts to flock to—Williams Lake!

About 30 miles from Williams Lake, another small town was also about to enter the music arena. Dynamic musicology was catering to another teenage era in Faison, NC; and it would feed the high school and college enthusiasm by introducing live R&B music to surrounding NC counties.

In 1960, Mr. C. P. Ellis opened up his produce warehouse in Faison showcasing a little-known black band called Ulysses Hardy and The Mighty Blue Notes. Ulysses excited the crowds with his rendition of James Brown's Please, Please, Please by hanging from the rafters during the song. One of the Blue Notes musicians was a 15 year old saxophonist who would later go on to play with James Brown and become one of the most eminent national and international Jazz and R&B artists of all time. His name—Maceo Parker!

Additionally, appearing on the scene and playing with The Blue Notes for several years, was Henry Slocumb, a white teenage bassist from Dunn, NC. Henry would maintain the distinction of being the only white musician to perform with The Blue Notes at Faison. The Blue Notes played in Faison from September to Easter, and Williams Lake opened the Wednesday before Easter and remained operative through Labor Day … Faison in the fall and winter and Williams Lake in the spring and summer. It was a dream come true for teenagers.

The British groups were invading the music industry by 1964. Faison's entertainment future was uncertain; so the doors to the C. P. Ellis Produce Warehouse Shed 403 closed for good that year.

Mr. and Mrs. Williams were now physically unable to continue operating Williams Lake; in 1965, they turned the management over to 22-year-old Robert Honeycutt, who had begun working at The Lake when he was 14. Robert would introduce a regenerated remembrance and forever put Williams Lake on the map.

The Lake would, undeniably, become unprecedented for the appearances of NC bands, as well as, premier national recording artists as Martha and the Vandellas, Maurice Williams, Billy Stewart, Jackie Wilson, The Coasters, and many more.

The inaugural band to perform at Williams Lake on April 21, 1965 was Bob Collins and The Fabulous Five out of Greensboro, NC. The Five was considered to be one of the top three favorite bands to play at The Lake, and they are still entertaining audiences today in 2008.

Another local band that gained popularity at The Lake was Gene Barbour and The Cavaliers from Dunn, NC. The Cavaliers often backed up celebrity groups as Joe Pope and The Atlanta Tams, Clifford Curry, Major Lance, and other prominent recording artists. In 1969, The Cavaliers merged with another Dunn band, The Tymes, and adopted the name Men of Distinction. The Men continued to perform throughout the Southeast through the 70s and will always be remembered as emissaries of music from the small town of Dunn, NC. Later to become Harry's Band, named in honor of their long-time manager and mentor, the late Harry Driver, the power show band continued to excite audiences until 2005.

Rounding out the top three best-liked bands was Ken Helser and The Tassels, later called Pieces of Eight. Reminiscent of Ulysses Hardy, as he did at Faison by hanging from the rafters, the crowd was energized by Ken when he did the same at The Lake. Ken Helser continues to electrify audiences today through the power of his ministry, A Place for the Heart.

Charles Dickens wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times [...], we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way." Vietnam, Woodstock, Anti-War Protestors, Drugs … Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Joan Baez … And so it was that in the early dark hours of January 1, 1970, an era ended with the closing of—Williams Lake!

Thirty-eight years have since passed. Nonetheless, anytime you happen down NC Side Road 1002 in Sampson County, the crickets are still chirping; the frogs are still croaking and the mosquitoes are still biting. And if the summer breeze is blowing just right, you can also hear the faint sounds of Joe Pope and The Atlanta Tams singing those familiar words, "There's a ram shackle shack down in old Caroline; And it's calling me back to that heart of mine"—Williams Lake!

Mary Lemuel Blalock

Dunn, North Carolina

2008

The Lake is long gone, but the memories and love for it's good times lives on.