Jewel 1960-2011

The Rev. Julia Lynn "Jewel" Quinton, 51, of Lawton, Oklahoma, died suddenly Wednesday, September 21, 2011, while visiting friends in Knoxville TN. (see below for full obituary)

I first met Jewel during a Maryville College Interim class in the winter of 1981/82 (I think). I don't remember what the class was, but we met in that first room off the patio entrance to the left in the classic Frank Lloyd-Wright - inspired Fine Arts Center (shame on MC for tearing down those two beautiful and unique buildings, though I admit that the flat roof was a big problem). I had been recording little song ideas/demos using a couple of cassette decks, but I didn't really write lyrics. During the course of the interim class Jewels mentioned that she had written some lyrics about a friend's crazed bunny. I showed up at class the next day with a cassette player and a little demo of a song idea to play for her. After a quick listen she decided that she liked the concept but that she needed more space in the song for her lyrics (you'll understand what that means when you hear it). I went back home and spend a few days tweaking the structure and arrangement to accommodate her requests, and presented her with a new demo that next week.

I think by this point the band was already together working on material for an upcoming coffee house (generally popular covers of the era - Super Freak, Jessie's Girl, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, etc.). With the exception of one member, all of us were MC students: Julie Humpert (guitar), Dave Denshaw (drums), Kevin Crothers (bass, vocal), Lisa Yacks* (sax, flute), Mark Beyer** (cowbell, vocal), Danny Cartilidge (guitar, vocal) [Danny wasn't an MC student, but he was the son of a faculty member - shout out to Dr Cartlidge!]. Mark drifted out of the band after this performance.

The MC coffee houses moved around campus a bit. The first one I played (with a band doing Fleetwood Mac covers) was in the dining hall, while a later one was in the old Alumni Gym/barn. The two represented here today took place in the spacious (and reflectively glass and brick-enclosed) confines of the Lloyd dorm first floor lobby.

We led off with our original, Suicide Bunny, with guest vocalist Julie Quinton:

Johnny Radical and the Stereo Anarchist Regime - Suicide Bunny

Other (bad cover) songs were played, but we'll gloss over that and skip to the next coffee house, where we again invited a guest to perform with us, in this case raconteur and the evening's compere Tom Hudson, who treated us to a stylish re-imagining of Stairway To Heaven:

Johnny Radical and the Stereo Anarchist Regime - Stairway To Heaven

Unfortunately the cassette recordings didn't age very well, and what is heard here is about the best that I could coax out of them when I found them in a box about a decade ago.

I'm not sure if this is how Julie would want to be remembered at this late date (we all surely have our "interesting" college stories) but it is what it is, and I'm proud to have been a part of it.

If this was her first performance (and her nervousness makes me think that it might have been) then I'm doubly proud to have helped kick-start her performing career.

*does not appear on Suicide Bunny

**does not appear on Stairway To Heaven

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Funeral services will be conducted 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, September 28, 2011, in the chapel of Edmaiston-Mosley Funeral Home in Union City TN. Burial will follow in Terrace Hill Cemetery in Troy TN.
The family will receive friends at Edmaiston-Mosley Funeral Home from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Tuesday.
Jewel was born March 31, 1960, in Takoma Park, Maryland, daughter of Dolores (Walsh) Quinton of South Fulton and the late Eugene Brown "Jack" Quinton. Rev. Quinton was a graduate of Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee. She was a recording artist who published her own CD "One True God" and was often called upon to share her gift of music for worship at countless gatherings, churches, and conferences.
Jewel served under and was prayerfully supported by The Missionary Church International. Although her ministry and life was well traveled and far reaching for the past several years, she has lived and served in Oklahoma. In her early years among the Native American families, she was taken as a daughter by the late John and Marlene Haumpy. This is considered an honor among Native Americans. In the same manor, Jewel developed many friendships which led her to take Jason Stick as a brother. Sue Oyebi took her as a daughter. She was well known throughout the area for service and music. She was a blessing to all she met and will be remembered for her servant's heart.
In addition to her mother, she is survived by two sisters, Laura Quinton of Orlando, Florida and Lisa Morgan and her husband Joseph of Dresden three brothers, the Rev. John Quinton and his wife Gail of Dresden, Kenneth Quinton and his wife Lana of Sturgis, Kentucky and Bill Quinton and his wife Heather of Union City; and several nieces and nephews Nicholas Quinton, Brock Quinton, Katie Quinton, Sarah Quinton, Luke Quinton, Noah Quinton, Magan Wills, Alayna Owens, Joe Werner, Dillon Quinton, Levi Owens and Myra Morgan.
Her many children like Jewel herself belong to others. She loved them nurtured them and influenced them in a Godly way that will be known for generations. Matthew 19:14
In lieu of flowers or in memory a donation may be made to The Mission Church International in Jewel’s name for her neediest children.

Well, isn't that special?

This is a very special episode of Charles T. - a little sexism, a little racism, and a lot of unintelligibility.


Highlights: "That's what the womens in the world are for, to bear the children," "there were homersexuals and lez-bins in those days," "women having sex with horses," "I thank God I've got a white wife, I thank God I ain't got no colored, or Mexican, or Chinese or any kind of women....he wants us to stick with our own kind," "we've still got lez-bins."

Sounds of the Holiness 04 with the Reverend Charles T Wilson

The Holy-heck-what-is-that? Trinity

The third in our series with Holiness radio preacher Charles T. Wilson as heard on Alcoa's WMDR in the early '90's.

Highlights: "I'm prophesying' that we're gonna have a bad weather this year," a song from Mrs. Wilson, Rev. "basso" Wilson, and Mama Wilson (the classic of these tapes), some testifying from Mama (who feels good this week), another trio song (with complaining baby accompaniment), Charlie God-God-Goddard of Louisville, a solo song from Charles, and a fairly subdued (by his standards) sermon from the Rev.

Sounds of the Holiness 03 with the Reverend Charles T Wilson

A long time ago in a bar far, far away....Rock Wars

This 1980 album is the result of an extensive battle of the bands conducted by Knoxville AOR station WIMZ-FM 104.5 (formerly country station WBIR). The winner (The News) got a full side (five songs), while the runner up (Balboa) got three songs and the third-place finishers (Spellbound) got two songs, all recorded, presumably at the radio station's expense (or trade-out) at Thunderhead Sound Studio in Knoxville.


Based on their sound and photo, The News appear to be a run-of-the mill bar band picking up a few affectations of the nascent new wave (primarily in the band-naming department) while basically churning out generic blues/boogie.


Spellbound doesn't get a lot off room to show off their variety with only two songs, but there's enough of an experimental element in their songs that I'd be interested in hearing more from them.



Balboa, on the other hand - well, what could I possibly write about Balboa that hasn't already been said? They are in many ways the foundation upon which 30+ years of a lively music scene has been built. Two of their songs on this album appear to be the same recordings that appear on their self-titled EP. [Edit: Hector informs me that I am incorrect, and a quick examination of the Balboa EP shows that there are no songs repeated. I'm not sure what I was thinking, particularly since I had the EP on the turntable within the last few months.]
(I like that they included the booking agent in the band picture).

Side One
The News
1) Now and Then
2) Just Treat Me Right
3) It's Gonna Come Back On You
4) Babe, It Ain't No Use
5) By The Tracks

Side Two
Balboa
1) Single Sound (T. Hill)
2) I Can't Stand It (H. Qirko)
3) Is This It? (T. Hill)

Spellbound
4)Annie
5) Shady Lady

Recording Engineer: Ron Passmore
Mix Engineer: Ron Passmore except Balboa mixed by Terry Hill


Rock Wars (TH 1075)

John Sewell gave a nice remembrance in Metro Pulse back in the day.

"For those of you who have had your head under a rock for the past 20 years or so, Balboa is the Big Kahuna of local indie rock, the founding fathers who blazed the trail for all Knoxville rock bands of any importance to follow. The group is universally revered by all longtime Knoxville scenesters, and rightly so.  The brainchild of local mad scientist guitar guru Terry Hill, Balboa also featured the guitar artistry of Hector Qirko, bassist Richard Battaglia and drummer Steve Housewright. The combination of Qirko's blues and country swing techniques with Hill's more avant garde guitar mangling created a unique mix, and the rhythm section hammered it all down into a precise and even logical sound. It made perfect sense, and still does. Back in the day, Balboa was considered to fall somewhere under the nebulous umbrella of punk rock, a genre that wasn't nearly as stilted and regimented in the late '70s as it is now. The band's independence, idealism and freeform artistry definitely fit into the punk aesthetic, which was—at the time—about creative and political freedom. The first wave of punk was inextricably linked with the art world (see the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Television, et. al.) and Balboa was an art-rock band that purposely steered clear of pretension. What makes the tunes on Live Like This (plus) sound so classic is that they are not bound within a time-specific context. To this day, the songs sound urgent and modern. I could go on and on about how great this (music) is and all the accompanying memories it conjures—about how the band sounds like King Crimson meets Richard Hell & the Voidoids, about how cool it was to sneak into the legendary Cumberland Avenue cesspool Bundulee's Lounge and hang out with all the other underage skinny tie new-wavers, about the legion of Knoxville rockers who took their inspiration from the band... Hearing these great old songs brings back the innocence of a time when it seemed like things really were gonna change. That sense of optimism and "we can do whatever we want" is what transforms garage rock into high art. Balboa had all the right ingredients at the right time and it was sheer magic. 

preach on

Today we get a second visit to "radio land" with the Reverend Charles T. Wilson. This show features an extended segment with his "muver", who sings and preaches a little bit, as well as a fairly-rare extended solo vocal performance from the Reverend himself. His listenership must be going up, as he spends almost a minute and a half "sending the program out" to the named list.
Phrase of the week: "Men jumpin' in bed with different womens"

Sounds of the Holiness 02 with the Reverend Charles T Wilson