In the Beginning…

CSA
    I can't tell the story of Midnight Sun, without going back to the beginning of another band, CSA (Confederate States of America).  CSA was a local band from Southside Richmond, made up of five boys: Marion Spain (lead guitar), Steve Saunders (rhythm guitar), Robbie Davis (bass guitar), Chip Pulley (drummer), and Kenny Smith (lead singer and trumpet ). These five musicians were the core group who later became Midnight Sun.
CSA's first gig at Forest View Civic Center November 27, 1970: (L-R) Kenny, Robbie, Chip, Steve, and Marion.
Childhood Friends
    The friendships of the boys of CSA and Midnight Sun started long before they were old enough to know they wanted to be in a band. The boys all grew up in South Richmond in the Bellemeade, Summer Hill or Westover areas. Chip and Kenny Smith started kindergarten at Bellemeade. Later on Chip, who suffered from asthma, missed so much school during 3rd grade, he decided to repeat it. So as it turns out, future CSA/Midnight Sun charter members, Kenny Smith, Robbie Davis and Steve Saunders were in the same grade at Bellemeade with Chip Pulley a year behind them and Marion Spain a year behind Chip. By the time Chip arrived in 6th grade he had another future Sun member in his class, William Boisseau (Wahoo). Another thing the boys in the band had in common was that many of them attended Webber Memorial Baptist Church and played sports together. It was at Webber that many of them came to know Gordon who later became manager of the band. Gordon coached many of them on the church's boys' basketball team.
    Steve Saunders moved to Richmond in June, 1965 when his dad who worked for the railroad was transferred from Knoxville, Tennessee. They moved into a house on Wright Ave. Steve was 11 years old. Ironically, Steve's family moved into the same house that Brooks Taylor had lived in on Wright Avenue before moving just off Semmes Avenue. Stevesays the first person he met in Richmond was Marion Spain. Steve was out riding his bike in the neighborhood and met Marion. A friendship began and that fall they attended Bellemeade School. Steve also met Kenny Smith and Robbie Davis who were 6th graders.
    In the spring of 1966 Bellemeade Baseball League had tryouts. Steve was a catcher. He met Chip who played short stop. This was the beginning of a friendship for these five boys whose friendship and love of music led to the formation of CSA and eventually Midnight Sun.

First Instruments
    The boys' desire to play music started at an early age. Marion recalls his neighbor across the street would sit outside and play an acoustic guitar. Marion thought that was so neat and eventually his dad bought the neighbor's guitar (a flat top) for Marion. Marion says he was about 9 or 10 years old. He later traded the flat top in a pawn shop for a gold, electric guitar. Marion later got a used Gibson Melody Maker, a used Hagstrom guitar and a Fender Bandmaster amp. He blew up the amp playing "Monster" by Steppenwolf in Chip's front yard.  He bought a new Fender Stratocaster from Walter D. Moses, which he later traded for a red Gibson SG. He also bought a Gibson amp with 8 ten inch speakers. B.T. had been using the Hagstrom while Marion was using the red Gibson SG.  When the SG and the Hagstrom were stolen from Chip's "Sun Van",  Marion replaced it with a brown Gibson SG. It was only natural for Marion to want to play guitar because his father, Harold T. Spain played pedal steel, lap steel, dobro, and harmonica. Mr. Spain designed, patented, and built his own push-pull pedal steel guitar, Bosan, which became world renown. Harold and a friend Bill Mitchell played steel guitars in Marion's garage.
 
Chip must have known at a very early age he wanted to be a drummer. He recalls watching the Beatles' first performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 and he knew he wanted to play music. Even before his mother bought him his first "toy drum set" Chip made his own set of drums. He made the drums out of cardboard boxes covered with red material. His cymbals were the tin tops from fruit cake tins. His drumsticks were made from the cardboard covers on coat hangers. 
By fifth grade, when he was allowed to join the school band at Bellemeade, Chip had his first real snare drum. During elementary school Chip played in the school band and All City band. He played in the school band at Bainbridge Junior High School with future Sun member Ricky Teachey. Chip, Ricky Teachey and William Boisseau all joined the cadet corps at George Wythe High School. Ricky remembers that Chip won "Best Recruit" their freshman year at Wythe for his "musicianship." 

    Steve's mother, father and two brothers played guitar and so it was inevitable that Steve would eventually start playing. The first guitar Steve played belonged to his brother. His brother was in service at the time so Steve used his Gibson Les Paul Jr. and Silvertone Amp in CSA.
    Steve and Marion started playing guitar in Marion's garage. The first time that Steve, Chip, Marion and Kenny played music together was at Kenny's house. The boys moved beds in Kenny's bedroom to one side and they played some songs they had been practicing for a few of their friends.
       Meanwhile, Robbie Davis had expressed an interest in learning to play guitar to his parents and in 1969 he got his first guitar and amp for Christmas. When the boys heard that their friend had gotten a guitar, they asked Robbie to join them during their make-shift jam sessions in early 1970 and so...

...CSA was born.


"Mom"
    In the early days, Zola, Kenny Smith's mother, was "Mom" to the boys. Zola was a nurse who worked 3-11 p.m. Kenny's dad worked for Richmond Engineers and traveled quite a bit. So Kenny's house became the perfect spot to practice. In the early days the boys took turns playing at different locations. They played in Marion's garage, Steve's garage and in Chip's living room and bedroom. They played in Kathy Messer's family garage. But as the neighbors complained, they always ended-up back at Zola's house.

Technique (Learning the Songs)
    In the old days, there were no CD burners or web sites. If you wanted to learn a song, you listened over and over again to the song on albums to get the words. I am told this was Marion's key role in CSA and later in Midnight Sun. Marion would listen for hours, writing not only song lyrics but lead, rhythm and bass parts to each song. He would take the music to practice and teach each part to the other boys in the band. Steve says, "Marion was the heartbeat and pulse of Midnight Sun. He learned every part and taught them to each of us who played guitar. Chip was a natural and had learned drums in school, but Marion taught us everything we knew." 

First Public Appearance as CSA
    Though they didn't get paid, Steve recalls that CSA played at the fire station on Dundas Road for a girl's birthday party.

The Manager
The boys in CSA knew Gordon Teachey through the sports programs at Webber Memorial Baptist Church. The band had not really had a lot of paying jobs. According to Gordon, Chip and Marion approached him and asked for help on booking jobs for the band. Gordon agreed and became "the manager."
     The first job Gordon booked for the band was at Forest View Civic Center for a dance on November 27, 1970. At the time of this first "gig" the band member's ages were: Chip (3 weeks from turning 17), Kenny (16), Robbie (16), Steve (16) and Marion (15). 
     Realizing that the band was getting bookings into night clubs and other venues other than school dances, the band decided they needed a new name. So not long after Gordon started booking jobs for the band, the band changed their name to Midnight Sun and Gordon had business cards made with the new name. 

Peggy and Gordon Teachey
Gordon had business cards printed, with the colors that became the trademark of Midnight Sun, orange and black.

First Paycheck
    CSA got its first paying "gig" playing at a dance at Forest View Civic Center on November 27, 1970. The band wore white jeans, a dark blue shirt and wore red, white and blue neckerchiefs. Chip, Steve, Marion and Robbie's neckerchief had peace signs on them. Kenny had a different style than the other four boys. Chip tells the story, that the truth of the matter is, when they bought them, the store only had 4 with the peace signs on them, and the guys loved them so much, they bought them anyway, and then picked out a different one for Kenny and told him his was different because he was the Lead Singer. All the boys sported a "Beatles" haircut which was in fashion at the time. A confederate flag was draped in front of the band. The band stuck CSA decals on Chip's bass drum cover to create a sign and posted it on the wall behind them. The boys remember earning about $10 each that night.

The Boys Of CSA


Demro Alley
    The girls who hung out with the band congregated at Phyllis and Howard Demro's house, affectionately known as Demro Alley. So where the girls were, the boys would be too. The Demro's house became the local hangout for the band. Phyllis and Howard's family grew from 4 children to about 20!
 
Jim Teachey, Brooks Taylor, Danny Roberts, Danny Armstrong and Merle Davis at Demro Alley.

Danny Armstrong at Demro Alley.
 THE STORY OF MIDNIGHT SUN
The Name
    As the boys got older and Gordon was able to start booking more jobs for them in clubs rather than school dances, it became apparent that the band's name might need to change because the band would be playing to a more diverse audience. The band often met at Gordon and Peg's house on Bartee Road to discuss things and one night they decided to try to think of a new name for the band. Several names were kicked around including "Midnight Sun", "Dry Ice", and "Thick Brick." Ironically, another Richmond band took the name "Dry Ice" and would be a regular nemesis in area Battle of the Bands contests. Steve remembers that two girls, Debbie and Vicki Mitchell, had suggested the name Midnight Sun. They were the daughters of Mr. Mitchell who played steel guitar with Marion's father. The boys voted for "Midnight Sun" and the image they started using was that of an orange sun on a black background. Gordon had business cards printed that were orange with black lettering.

 The Flag/Patches/Capes
 
 Kathy Messer made a flag of black satin with an orange sun in the middle and the name Midnight Sun embroidered on it. Wherever the band played, it was displayed. A girlfriend of one of Chip's and Marion's friends made a patch for all the boys. Peg Teachey made the "Pooh Bear" cape and it became Chip's trademark. Peg also made a cape and drumsticks for the Pooh Bear that rode in Chip's van.

Practice, Practice, Practice
    During the years Midnight Sun was together, as with CSA, the band practiced on a regular basis to learn new music. The problem was where to practice. Over the course of the years Sun was together, the boys remember practicing at Danny Armstrong's parents' house, Demro Alley, Kenny Bartlett's house, at the house of Bev, Marion's girlfriend at the time, Kathy Messer's parent's house, Kenny Smith's house and a warehouse on 17th Street in Richmond in the market district. Marion recalls: "The warehouse was found by Ronnie Mayberry, Chip's and my boss at VCU. The area where the warehouse was located had been hit hard by a flood in the early 70's and the building had been remodeled and needed a tenant. The warehouse was on the market main drag across  from the stands. We use to get our beer "age" from the bar on the corner, named JJ's I think. The people down there watched out for our equipment and building when we were gone."

 Sun Van (written by Chip Pulley)
    Well back in the day I owned a brand new orange Volkswagen. We were really getting tired of spending all the money we made from gigs on renting a U-Haul trailer or truck to get the band gear to and from jobs. So I took it upon myself to get a van. B.T. told me that his step father (Ted Pond) had a van he used for his concession stands he set up for ball games. We went over and wound up trading him even for the Volkswagen. I guess that was the worst deal I ever made in my life because that van was the worst lemon there was. But I had my blinders
on and we needed a way to get the equipment around.
 It was a '69 Chevy Van with a six banger in it. It burnt oil so bad that we bought the cheapest oil we could find and would fill it with oil while going down the road. We would drive until it started ticking loudly. Then we would open the engine cowl and fill it with oil until the ticking stopped. I guess the only way we kept it going was all the work Gordy did on it.
    Well after buying it the first thing to do was put "Midnight Sun" on it. So Marion, Steve, Freight Train and I got together to take on this task. We got some white and black paint and some brushes. We were standing around trying to figure out what to do when Train grabbed a pencil and started writing "Midnight Sun" in large 12 inch letters across the side of the van. We stood back and took a look and decided it was good. So the rest of us started painting. When we finished it was definitely an attention getter, especially from the local law enforcement.
    Well for all the bad things I've said about that van you could not put a price on all the good times we had in her. I'm just glad those walls couldn't talk because I think she could have told a good tale on all of us!!!
THE BAND GROWS
    Brooks Taylor (B.T.), was the 6th person to be added to the band and actually came in while the band was still named CSA. Brooks had been playing bass with a band named "Sly Fox." One night Midnight Sun went to Westover Hills Elementary to hear the "competition" play. They heard Brooks play and invited him to join the Sun family. Brooks had originally been hired into the Midnight Sun Band to play bass and replace Robbie Davis who had planned to leave. But Robbie decided to stay. Steve recalls that since Sun did not have a keyboard player at the time, they thought having two rhythm guitars would fill in the gaps and make the band sound fuller. So for awhile the band had two rhythm guitars, Steve and Brooks. Brooks played rhythm guitar, sometimes lead and sang backup. When Steve left the band in March of 1972, Brooks continued playing rhythm and Robbie played bass. Brooks remembers his first guitar was a Univox and it was stolen or left when the band played at the 409 Club.  He also had a Less Paul Jr. Gibson guitar. Brooks had played in Sly Fox band for about a year before coming to Midnight Sun.
    Ricky Teachey (Troll), Gordon's youngest brother was the 7th person to be added to Midnight Sun. Ricky recalls first picking up a trumpet when he was in 4th grade. He was asthmatic and his family doctor, Dr. Hooker, told Ricky's parents they should get him interested in playing a wind instrument because it would help his breathing. James, Rick's other brother had tried trumpet but didn't stick with it. So Ricky played with it a bit and then put it down. When he entered 5th grade, where kids usually started band, Ricky remembers coming home and telling his parents he wanted to be in the school band. So he picked up the trumpet again. He was at Summer Hill Elementary at the time. During elementary school, he played in an All City Band with Chip Pulley. At Bainbridge Junior High School, he was in the school band and later as a cadet in the cadet corps band, and was a freshman recruit with Chip Pulley and William Boisseau. When Ricky joined Midnight Sun, he played trumpet and sang backup. When more percussion instruments were added later, Ricky played those as well.
    Kenny Bartlett (Bozo), was the 8th person to join the band. He was an addition to the brass section and played trumpet. Kenny lived in the Woodland Heights neighborhood on Semmes Avenue. He first heard about Midnight Sun through Brooks Taylor who was Kenny's neighbor. So Kenny auditioned for Sun and became a regular member of the brass section. Kenny could also play bass guitar and sometimes he played bass, when Danny Armstrong played lead guitar. Kenny started playing trumpet in school bands. He played trumpet in the regular marching band in school and symphony orchestra. He also played in the Florets, a precision drum and bugle corps that competed in band competitions and marched in the annual Richmond Christmas parade.
    William Boisseau (Wahoo), was the 9th person to join the band and added a saxophone to the brass section. He came into the band in late 1970 or early 1971 and left the band in 1972. He played tenor sax. Wahoo was a Southside boy too. Wahoo started playing saxophone in elementary school. He was in Chip's 6th grade class at Bellemeade Elementary.  He started playing the alto sax and switched to tenor sax sometime during junior high. He continued playing through his freshman year in high school, which was the cadet band. Wahoo was in cadet band with Chip Pulley and Ricky Teachey.
    Danny Armstrong (J.D, Army, Little Eric), was the next boy to arrive on the scene. And a "boy" he was, at the tender age of 15, Danny was the 10th person to join the band. Gordon says he had just gotten most of the boys "old enough" to play at some clubs when Danny was hired and the problem started all over again. But somehow the band managed to keep Danny at a low profile and got him in to play most of the gigs. Danny came in after the first two members of the original CSA and Midnight Sun left, Steve Saunders, first and then Robbie Davis. Brooks replaced Steve on rhythm guitar and Danny was hired to replace Robbie Davis on bass guitar. Danny says he learned the basics of guitar from his Dad, Uncle Bud, Uncle Woodrow (played just like Chet Atkins) and Uncle Bill . Danny could play some chords when he was 5 years old and by age 8 he knew every chord. He jammed with guys in his neighborhood when he lived in Oak Grove (age 6 to 10) and then with Tim Brammer in the Demro Alley neighborhood. Danny first learned on his Dad's guitar and his folks bought Danny his first guitar when he was about 7. They also bought him the guitar he played in Midnight Sun, a Strat copy like that of Jimi Hendrix with four pickups. Guitar was the only instrument he ever played. However, now Danny is trying out Banjo and plays a little on keyboard.
    Garry Morris (Garrrrry), was the 11th person to join the band. Gary learned to play key boards on his own. He sat in with Tim Brammer, a musician who lived in the Demro Alley neighborhood. His first keyboard was an Acetone and then he later got a Hammond organ. Gary did not play in any other bands after he left Midnight Sun. He says that in later years, he has now picked up the harmonica.
    Danny Roberts (Shagg) was the 12th person to join Midnight Sun. Danny was originally from Louisiana and was in the Air Force with James Teachey. Ricky took Chip to Newport News to meet Shagg. When James and Shagg got out of the Air Force, they lived briefly with James' and Ricky's dad. When Chip found out Shagg could play drums he invited Shagg to come and play at a dance at Summer Hill. Chip took one of his drums (a snare drum) and gave to Shagg to use as Timbale. From that time on Shagg started playing with the band and played many percussion instruments. He occasionally set in on Chip's drums when Chip sang lead o n songs.  Shagg's first instrument was a snare drum with a cymbal in 1963. Shagg played in several bands before joining Midnight Sun. He played in a band around 1966, which mainly played at parks and CYC dances. He played in a band in 1971 that played "just for fun" in the USAF for a year. Shagg says Roy Buchanan was the music style that was played. Shagg also sat in on a few bands, with a couple of band members in Shreveport, Louisiana in the 1970s. After Midnight Sun, Shagg has played with various bands in different locations where he was involved with work (1987-1994).
    Jimmy Teachey also joined the band about the same time as Shagg and became the 13th addition to Midnight Sun. He and Shagg had come home from the Air Force. Jimmy began singing some lead songs and gave the band some depth as far as having more variety in songs. There were songs Jimmy could sing that Freight Train couldn't and vice versa. Kenny had a higher voice than Jimmy, so they did not usually trade off songs.
    Merle Davis (Muriel), was the last member added to the band and was the 14th member to join the band. Merle played tenor sax and rounded out the brass section of the band. He had been in the Navy for six years and when he came home he was invited to join the band. Merle started playing an alto saxophone in 5th grade, then changed to a clarinet and then tenor sax. He played a baritone sax in the George Wythe Cadet Band. Merle also played flute and recalls playing the flute solo in "Color My World." Merle played in several bands before he joined the Navy. He played with Little Harvey and the Kings of Soul, the Montclairs, and Shirley and the Carousels. Merle was with Midnight Sun until they disbanded, but he came into the band only about six months before they broke up. He has not played in any bands since Midnight Sun.
 

    During the four years the band was together it had a total of 14 members. When the band broke up in 1974, two of the original members of CSA, Chip Pulley and Marion Spain were still with the band. At the time of this reunion (June 2004), two members are deceased (Kenny Smith and Robbie Davis). No former member of Midnight Sun is currently playing in a band, although many of the members are still actively involved in music.

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