Mini Skirt

 

Papa Cat - Mini Skirt
W. Colston, E&M Publ.

 Erwin Records
2674 Steele Memphis 38127

 DL link

Papa Cat was certainly William Wirth Colston, a retired employee of General Motors Corp. in Memphis, who died in 1975, 68-year old, Like so many M.E. Ellis' Erwin custom records, date is unknown, probably late sixties or early seventies.

I have only a snippet of the flip  (Wonder Pill) that I hesitate to post.

Astronote Blues

 

Big John

Astronote Blues

Astrol Records PB-764 (Capitol Records custom pressing)
1963

Tiny Memphis label. They are only two other records on Astrol Records, all from 1963 : Calvin Newborn and Johnny Scott (later owner of the Portra label). Who was Big John, I don't know. 

But the guitarist on his record is certainly Calvin Newborn, a member of the Newborn jazz dynasty. He played on BB King's vinyl debut "BB's Boogie" on the Bullet label. That's Calvin on guitar with father Finas (or Phineas) Newborn Sr. on drums and brother Phineas Jr. on piano. The family band held down the floor at Memphis' Flamingo Room every weekend (where young Calvin often beat Pee Wee Crayton in legendary after-hours "Battles of the Blues") and even hit the road as Ike Turner's band with "Rocket 88"  

Ike Turner taught Calvin how to drive - in return, Calvin taught Ike his first guitar licks. Calvin also taught Elvis Presley how to gyrate, using his own "Calvin's Boogie" as inspiration for hip-shaking.

The Singing Jones Family (Sunnyland Records album)

The Singing Jones Family
Sunnyland LP-1418

1972

Gospel on side one, country on side two. The family consisted of four members : D.A. Jones (bass), Dot Jones (rhythm guitar), Linda, 18 (piano) and Rose, 16 years old (drums). 

They also issued four singles on the same label from 1970 to 1975. The family would travel the region for store openings and to perform in parking lots or shopping centers.

D. L. Hardin, vice-president of Sunnyland Records, Inc., produced the album in Nashville. Only artists on the label was The Jones Family who didn't, it seems, recorded again after 1975.

What better song to listen to to end the year than Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On sung by Linda (or is it Rose) ? You can also listen to their "Country Rock" posted at my blog 12 years ago here

★

This Jones Family shouldn't be confused with the numerous other Jones Family such as:

The Singing Jones Family from Albany, Georgia (lead: Doyle Jones)
The Jones Family and Friends Ensemble (South Carolina) on Strawberry Jamm Records
The Jones Family (lead: John D. Jones) from Missouri (Dungeon Studios)
The Jones Family (Charles, Shirley, Tonda, Jeff & Brian, Suroinsville, Tennessee)
The Jones Family Gospel Singers (LeRoy & Jeanet, their son Rocky, plus Becky Hubin) from Kansas
The Jones Family on New Frontier (Bob & his 4 sisters) recorded in Jackson, Tennessee
The Jones Family Band, a Detroit band produced by Vallen Zukowski. A psych band, no possible confusion, I guess. No member named Jones by the way.

Nine Pound Hammer

 

Carroll Arnold

Nine Pound Hammer (re-up)
(Merle Travis)

Munited Records
A Music-United Production
1965

Most probably a Nashville recording, perhaps related to Canary Records in the same town.  Carroll Arnold recorded several singles in the early seventies for the American Radio Artist label.

No further info, alas.....

Some Sad Day

 

Ronnie Patton

Some Sad Day
(Louise Shields & Wayne Vitatoe, Tiki Music BMI)

Moon Lover
(Ronnie Patton, Nubia Music BMI)

Coaster Records #248
1964

Ronnie Patton ((Ronald Wayne Patton, b. 10 Dec 1943 Kerrville , Texas), was a Stephen F. Austin High senior when he was signed to Kool Records on his 18th birthday (You Made Me Cry/You're An Angel, Kool 1017) before trying his luck in Nashville.

Traveling between Nashville, Hollywood, and Austin, gathering wives, divorces, fans and addictions, he left the music business, managed a pizza restaurant in San Antonio. 

He came back to Nashville in the seventies, married Deborah Irene Brown, who as Debbie Luv recorded with Ronnie Patton several singles and one album on their own Jade Records.
He was now Jade Stone.

Subliminal Sounds (of Sweden) re-issued their album "Mosaics Pieces Of Stone" in 2008, adding eleven bonus tracks (live and rehearsals.)

 

Ride Little Renee Ride
(a bonus track from their Subliminal Sounds CD)

Alligator Wine

 

The Dynamic Kapers

Alligator Wine
(Leiber & Stoller, Quintet Music, BMI)

JED International Records
[Jim E. Denny]

1964

 The Kapers on Bragg are probably the same band as the Bragg label was owned by Neil Wilburn who co-produced these JED sides.
 
Very little info about that band on internet. But I found this at nashvillescene.com  : 

Although many local bands at the time were based in, or at least played gigs around, West Nashville, groups popped up all over town. And, according to [Pat] Patrick, the sound changed depending on the area. For instance, south of town, in Franklin and Columbia, bands like the Fairlaines played straight rhythm and blues. Near Charlotte Avenue, Howard Hudgins formed a band with a bluesier, more harmonica-driven sound. Meanwhile, in East Nashville, combos like the Kapers blended the rawness of rock ’n’ roll with the horn-driven verve of R&B. The Fairlaines might play a James Brown song, Patrick explains, but the Kapers “would play a white version of an obscure James Brown song. So you wouldn’t know if it was their original, or if they pulled it off an R&B album and just whitened it up a little.”

Sturdivant, who eventually joined the Kapers after his stint in the Escorts, isn’t so sure that a combo’s sound was strictly defined by its home turf. Since all the bands were basically playing the same material, he explains, each one had to find its own sound. Nevertheless, there’s always been an undeniable split between East and West Nashville—and it isn’t just the Cumberland River.

John Edward Sturdivant. Age 66, of Madison, died Saturday, March 7, 2009 at his home. He was preceded in death by parents, Lathan and Elizabeth Sturdivant. Survived by wife, Sue Wright Sturdivant; sons, John, Jr., and David (Dianne); daughter, Stephanie; brothers, L.A. and Tom; grandchildren, Angeleah Rose, Daniel, Kristen, John Edward, III, Elijah Moon; devoted son-in-law to Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells. Mr. Sturdivant was a retired music industry executive. He began his music career in high school playing baritone saxophone in Top 40 rock bands- The Monarchs, Charlie McCoy and the Escorts, The Kapers, and The Nocturnes. Served as Vice President/ Southeastern Manager of Record World magazine. Also held positions with; Gibson Guitar; Music City News; ASCAP; RUBOCA Records; Tree International. Involvements and board memberships included the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, Nashville Chapter of NARAS and Past National Vice Chairman of NARAS,  [John Sturdivant obituary]

Complications

  Bubba Jordan


Complications

Showboat 1503
1959

Bubba Jordan had previously recorded with The Red Counts at the Delta Records studios in Jackson, Mississippi. These tracks remained unissued until the publication by Bear Family of the CD "Diddy Wah Diddy ... Ain't A Town, Ain't A City (Rock 'N' Roll And Hot Country From Jackson, Mississippi).

At the time of the Showboat release, the label was still located in Nashville and still owned by Murray Nash and Ray Scrivener, before the latter took it over with him to Santa Claus, Indiana, where he bought the Santa Claus Castle, new headquarter of the label.

In 1962, Bubba Jordan was the vocalist on "Snake Eyed Woman" issued by The Sundowners and in 1963, there was a single on Buccaneer as by Bub Jordan (with The Del Solds on one side).

Fulton Anderson Jordan (1941-2024)

From his obit :
Fulton Anderson Jordan, known to many as "Bubba," passed away peacefully on April 4, 2024, in Jackson, Mississippi, at the age of 83. Born on March 25, 1941, in Jackson, Ms, he was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, and friend.

Fulton, a proud Air Force veteran, served his country with honor. Following his military service, he embarked on a successful career path. Starting at IBM, he later transitioned to Gainey and Associates, where he excelled in insurance sales. Eventually, he established his own agency, Jordan and Associates, serving as a general agent until his retirement in 2009.

His passion for music was evident throughout his life. Fulton was a talented musician and singer, having produced two records. He shared his musical gifts at First Baptist of Jackson, where he worshipped, sang in the choir, and devoted his time to teaching Sunday school to high school boys.

George Wallace The Man

 

J. R. Williams

George Wallace The Man
Funky
 
Boll Weevil Records BW-101

1975

A veteran of many Nashville bands, Jimmy R. Williams played the percussion for Mel Tillis and the Statesiders, tenure with Tex Ritter and The Boll Weevils, not only J.R. writes his own material and arrangements, but surprises audiences everywhere with this versatility on many instruments . . .

Usually backed by The Boll Weevils, The band included Cary Cabe on lead guitar, Bill Farrar (bass), Roy Peterman (steel guitar), Timmy Snyder (drums), and J. R. Williams on banjo, fiddle, saxophone and guitar(!)

Boll Weevil was J.R. Williams' own label based in Tennessee (Nashville and Hendersonville)

https://www.45cat.com/label/bollweevil
https://www.discogs.com/fr/label/836626-Boll-Weevil-Records

Beti Webb

Beti Webb in 1955

Beti Webb (born in 1935) was a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a B.A. in english and drama with an emphasis on media production, advertising , marketing and journalism. She has acted in or directed over 180 plays. In 1959, she was the featured vocalist with Warren Covington and the Tommy Dorsey orchestra. Her first record, produced by Stan Kesler, was on the XL label out of Memphis and was also issued nationally by MGM with a different flipside.

Beti Webb discohraphy

A: My Marine
B: I Know (You Can Be Happy)
    XL 359    1966

A: I Have, I Have
B: I Know (You Could Be Happy)
    MGM K 13715    Apr 1967

A: Tic Toc
B: It's Not Me
    MGM K 13847    Nov 1967

Forty Pound Chicken

 

This is possibly the same Bill Harris who played bass in the Conway Twitty earliest band when he was called Harold Jenkins.

Conway Twitty and Bill Harris

Forty Pound Chicken

Great Records 1170 (1968)

Love Is Strange

Sonny & Fran

Love Is Strange

(E. Smith & M. Baker)
Jonware Music Corp. - BMI
Producer Sonny Throckmorton
Chalet Records Record No. 1060
Chalet Record Co., Inc. 812 16th Ave. S. Nashville, Tenn 37203
1969

Jerry Shook, Sonny Throckmorton, Pete Drake

Sonny is certainly Sonny Trockmorton, but it's not known who is Fran.

James Fron "Sonny" Throckmorton was born April 2, 1941) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. He moved to San Francisco, California after graduating from college, and first played rock & roll before switching his focus to country music at record producer Pete Drake's suggestion. By 1964, he played bass guitar for Carl Butler and Pearl Known primarily for his songwriting, 

Throckmorton has had more than 1,000 of his songs recorded by various country singers. He has also had minor success as a recording artist, having released two major-label albums: The Last Cheater's Waltz in 1978 on Mercury Records and Southern Train in 1986 on Warner Bros. Records. Throckmorton is a member of the Nashville Songwriters' Hall of Fame, and has been awarded Songwriter of the Year by both Broadcast Music Incorporated and the Nashville Songwriters Association International.   [Wikipedia]

This is probably his very first recording as a singer, prior to the pair of singles issued by Pickwick's subsidiary Hilltop Records in 1970 and 1971.

Chalet Records was headed by Bobby Bobo assisted by Chuck Howard.

Zoom Zoom Zoom

 

The Mask

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

(Writers proceeds donated to The Hall Of Fame)
Pub. Gatto Music
It'll Do Records 1500

After an in-depth research, I think I can named the man that hides behind the mask. Several clues were helpful, but the most convincing is the comparison between the picture found on the record front sleeve [see 45cat] and the picture of Harold Streibich, a music attorney from Memphis,Tennessee, who also happens to be the founder (or co-founder) of Il Gatto Music the publisher of Zoom, Zoom, Zoom.  Same facial morphology, prominent cheekbones, thick chin and neck.

According to an article published by Billboard (March 29, 1969) :

A graduate of the University of Virginia law school, where he was a classmate of the late Robert Kennedy, Streibich has his fingers in many musical pies. He also dabble in politics, and just recently was named one of the five members of the State Athletic Commission.   More than an attorney, Streibich is a salesman. He believes in Memphis - every square inch of it. He extols the virtues to every visitor, takes individuals, or groups on sight-seeing (at his own time and expense), and spares nothing

which corresponds fairly well to his participation in a record intended to promote a (planned) Hall Of Fame, which was perhaps a project launched by the Memphis Music Association referred in the following article published by Billboard (April 27, 1968).

Harold Streibich co-founded in 1979 the High Water Recording Company :

The High Water Recording Company was founded by Dean Richard Ranta, Dr. David Evans and the late Harold Streibich in 1979, as part of The University of Memphis’ College of Communication and Fine Arts. High Water was modeled after Sun Records, producing records by a younger generation that was previously unknown. High Water recorded artists such as R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, and Jessie Mae Hemphill.

Baby Love

Baby Love

This is a track from the budget album Modern Sound "Straight From Detroit Via Nashville" comprising ten Motown covers by uncredited artists. 

Alpha Zoe Hall

Six are unmistakably by Alpha Zoe (two of these six songs were also issued on the parent Hit label. 
☞ ☞ ☞ ☞  ☞ Six by Alpha Zoe

For more info about Alpha Zoe see  Alpha Zoe Hall and Hit Records, Nashville by E. Mark Windle.

Extract :

“When we recorded at the Columbia studios, you wouldn’t believe the talent that played in there. Floyd Cramer, Boots Randolph and others. All union players. It was like music heaven. The musicians were very particular about getting the right sound. On one occasion the drummer went around the studio hitting the trash can and other objects so that he could get the sound needed for the record. We had some fun at those sessions. I never got to meet any of the white singers as we always recorded on different days. We didn’t even use the same doors; I came through the back along with the ladies that did back-up for me.”

Alpha Zoe discography (probably incomplete)

    Hit #31 Alpha Zoe - You beat me to the punch
    Hit #36 Alpha Zoe as "Gleams" - He's a rebel
    Hit #38 Alpha Zoe as "Dacrons" - Don't hang up
    Hit #41 Alpha Zoe - Keep your hands off my baby
    Hit #44 Alpha Zoe - Everybody loves a lover
    Hit #54 Alpha Zoe - Let's turkey trot
    Hit #55 Alpha Zoe as "Clara & Cleftones" - Our day will come
    Hit #57 Alpha Zoe as "Dacrons" - He's so fine
    Hit #61 Alpha Zoe as "Connie & Clara" - I will follow him
    Hit #65 Alpha Zoe - Da doo ron ron
    Hit #65 Alpha Zoe as "Clara Wilson" - Foolish little girl
    Hit #70 Alpha Zoe - Hello stranger
    Hit #80 Alpha Zoe as "Dot Hester" - My boyfriend's back
    Hit #81 Alpha Zoe as "Dacrons" - Then he kissed me
    Hit #121 Alpha Zoe as "Mary Jones" - Walk on by
    Hit #124 Alpha Zoe as "Peggy Gaines" - Every little bit hurts
    Hit #229 Alpha Zoe - Lover's concerto

Elvira

Doyle Nelson Trio

Elvira
(Dallas Frazier)

Jay Records
4908 East Shore (Road) Memphis
70's

Produced by J.W. Brown, who was Jerry Lee Lewis’ bass player and father of his child bride.

A Stonewall, Arkansas native, Doyle Nelson learned his craft playing alongside of many of the stars of Memphis, Ace Cannon, Bill Black, Gene Simmons, Bobby Woods and Sam the Sham.  As a session musician, Nelson played keyboards at Hi, American and Sonic studios in Memphis, and worked with musicians like Reggie Young, Bobby Woods and Wayne Jackson. In the late 70s, he moved to Los Angeles for a year, headlining at venues throughout the Southern California area, including the world famous Palomino Club.
 

Doyle Nelson (1920-2015)

Doyle Clitus Nelson, 94, of Morehouse, died March 9, 2015, at the VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Born November 30, 1920, in Hartman, Ark., to the late Elzie and Georgia Thomas Nelson, he served in the US Navy and was employed by Music City Manufacturing. He was a musician, and played guitar for Roy Acuff at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn. He was a member of the Nashville Musician Association AFM Local 257. He also was a member of the Canalou Assembly of God Church. On December 17, 1947, in Piggott, Ark., he married Janet Tharp, who survives of the home.

Sonya and the Avons sing for Riceland Rice

Sonya and the Avons
sing for
Riceland Rice

Pressed by Southern ¨Plastics in Nashville in 1964. A promotional record for Riceland, a company founded in 1921 with headquarters in Stuttgart, Arkansas.

Produced by Noble-Dury, a nationally known advertising and public relations firm. Noble-Dury reigned supreme for a 30-year period that spanned from the 1940s to the mid-1970s. The agency is widely regarded as the most successful ad firm in Nashville’s business history, and for a time, it even ranked as the largest agency in the Southeast. Noble-Dury represented leading national and regional consumer brands, as well as banks and insurance companies, but the firm’s reputation and fortunes largely hinged on relationships with Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut.

Les Beasley (of The Florida Boys gospel group) and Jan Doughten (or Jane Dowden?), vice president of Noble Dury, developed and co-produced the television show Gospel Singing Jubilee, an hour-long television program hosted by the Florida Boys that featured a number of other Southern gospel groups as guests.  The Gospel Singing Jubilee, which became the most watched gospel program on television, began in 1964 on a Sunday morning . The show ran for twenty-five years.

Backing Sonya, the lead singer, are certainly The Avons, whose first taste of the studio was an initial one-off hire for budget label Hit, providing uncredited backing vocals to Peggy Gaines’ cover of The Marvelettes’ “Playboy” (Hit 17).  Much more info on The Avons by E. Mark Windle here

I'm fairly confident that this is the same Sonya of Sonya & the Capris on Scarlet (1959) and Sonya (alone) on Dot (two singles in 1961 and 1962 and also (why not?) Sonya And The Sensations (Dont Feel Like The Lone Ranger) On Gend (1963)

 

May the new year bring me some info about the mysterious Sonya and (am I asking too much?) a picture of her...

Riceland Rice ad from 1965

Call Me Skinny

Jim Climer

Call Me Skinny

Rolando 45-202
Produced by Roland Janes
Late sixties?

Memphis (or West Memphis, Arkansas?) artist and radio personality (on KWAM), Jim Climer had two records issued in 1962 : on the Kris label, Little Twister/On Top Of Old Smokey and on Fernwood : Tall Mack The Lumberjack/he Clown With A Broken Heart.  According to Wayne Jackson, trumpetist with The Mar-Keys, Jim billed himself in these days as "Jim Climer, Ninety Pounds of Rock and Roll".

A friend of Eddie Bond, he co-wrote with him a song entitled "Ballad of Buford Pusser." 

Another Cup of Your Sugar

Another Cup of Your Sugar

Barry Tiffin is probably best known for "Candy Bars for Elvis", a recitation number; here he is on hiw own Sugar Records, out of Nashville, produced by Troy Shondell in 1970.

Thanks to Doug Firebaugh, who had an album produced by Barry Tiffin, I can bring to light some details about the man : 

The underbelly of Music City harbors countless hustlers and hucksters parlaying real or imagined music industry connections into “services” offered for a price to dreamers with a few bucks to squander. Often a grey area between sincere and scam, Barry Tiffin had just such a racket, but his father’s illness brought him home to Roanoke. A classified ad placed in a 1975 High Point, North Carolina newspaper reveals the angle: “For an appointment and additional information concerning the Professional Music Services of Tiffin Music Enterprises International, of Nashville, Tenn., please contact our office suite at the Ramada Inn in Roanoke, VA.”

Twenty-year-old Doug Firebaugh was referred through a mutual friend to Tiffin, but he entered the arrangement with eyes open. “We had an attorney involved in this,” recalled Firebaugh. Money was paid to have Tiffin to produce an album and contact record labels on the artist’s behalf. Three solid days in Roanoke’s K.A. studio resulted in an unadorned document of Firebaugh’s autodidactic style of songwriting. Firebaugh plays both piano and guitar throughout, with the only addition being an unnamed Nashville pedal steel player who drove six hours for the session before turning around going home. The clip-art cover of the resultant LP positions Tiffin’s Sugar Records imprint far more prominently than the artist’s name.

Also, an article from The Bee from Danville, Virginia (July 3, 1975) related:

Supervisors in Botetourt County may have succeeded in silencing a bigger-than-Woodstock rock concert planned for this historic Western Virginia community in September. the promoter had claimed the Sept. 19-21 weekend concert would draw 800,000 spectators and gross $20 million. Promoter Barry Tiffin said Wednesday he has all but given up on going through with promoting the three-day rock performance which he believes would have outdrawn the now famous Woodstock concert. Tiffin made the statement in the wake of an emergency ordinance quietly adopted by the board of supervisors May 21. He said the ordinance makes Refugees Get Senior the concert an impossibility. Tiffin, who promoted a concert at the Roanoke Civic Center last week, said he worked on plans for the Botetourt County rock festival for 18 months.

But Board Chairman Harold Wilhelm said Tiffin never approached him about the concert, and that he has never seen the promoter. He said the emergency ordinance was not directed at Tiffin's proposed concert; that the supervisors had been working on an ordinance regulatning outdoor musicals for some time

Not surprisingly, Barry Tiffin is one the Candidates For Immortality listed by Irwin Chusid in his book "Songs In The Key Of Z"

I Cried

Baker Knight
& The Knightmares


I Cried

Kit Records, Inc. SO 901

Al Bubis Productions
1956

Thomas Baker Knight, Jr.
(1933-2005)

Baker Knight's songwriting has overshadowed his long career as a singer of rock 'n' roll, pop and country. Born of Scots ancestry in 1933, Knight grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where he attended high school, spent one year at the University of Alabama (after serving in the US Air Force for three years) and became a technical illustrator after a course at a local art school. He had learned to play guitar in the school orchestra, B.B. King being his first idol. In 1955 Knight formed a rock 'n' roll band, Baker Knight and the Knightmares. Soon they recorded their first single, "Bop Boogie To the Blues"/"Little Heart", for the Nashville-based Kit label, owned by Alan Bubis. A second Kit single, "Bring My Cadillac Back" (1956), sold well enough to be picked up by a major label, Decca, and might even have become a national hit, had it not been banned by many radio stations that saw the disc as a free commercial for Cadillac.
...more reading...

Ape Man

Ape Man

Rather obscure Memphis artist despite the release of at least five singles issued between 1962 and 1966. James V. Yancey (his name) switched to record production after his singing career was over. At Sun Studios, he recorded Li'l Smokey Miller in early 1966 (Black Gold#500) and later Len Barrow for his own Yanden label (3494 Obion Road, Memphis).  One Judd Wood seems to have been one of his regular partners in songwriting.

Discography

Zone 1500   (1962) (as James Yancey)
I Need Some One / Uncle Bum

Penthouse  (1963)
Painting The Town Blue / Hat's Off To You Mister

Wildfire   (1965)
Best Friend You Ever Had / Stop The Music

Black Gold  (1966)
Ape Man / Lions Den
   
Express 712 (196x)
Cotton Patch / Loneliness Finds Me

I cannot find a date for the 45 on Express, a tiny but long-lasting label owned by Bob Taylor, the singing truckdriver.

Black Gold Records and Black Gold Productions were operated by Tom Phillips, brother of the Sun Records owner.

Titanic

Dean Hudson and His Scholars

Titanic

Lyrics by Dean Hudson

A special release on the Valley's Meadowlark label which has exactly the same design than Valley, except it has the bird added on the left.  The Valley Meadowlark label wasn't used again until a release by The Hoopers in 1958. 

Valley Publishers, owned by Jack Comer, a man whose imagination and knack for promotion, was pushed  to one of the top publishers in the country and western field. Comer’s firm startled the trade in mid-1953 by coming up with the hit “Crying In The Chapel” [Darrell Glenn, Valley#105] less than a month after the Valley firm was founded.


When he was a barefoot newsboy on Knoxville’s Gay Street, Jack Comer used to pick up a few nickels and dimes by dancing the Charleston in front of a certain theatre. The theatre owner ran him away repeatedly, but Jack always came back, with a bigger audience. The movie man gave up the idea of running the boy off, so put him to work inside—on the stage, dancing the Charleston. 

Few years later, the theater man, Jack’s childhood benefactor, worked for Comer at Deane Hill Country Club. The Country Club was another of Jack’s brainstorms which grew like Topsy until it became one of the largest in the South.