presents
Don Tinsley
Introduction
Today we are launching the Birmingham Music Archive's (BMA) very first online exhibit. The subject of this initial exhibit is Don Tinsley, a musician and songwriter from Birmingham/Montevallo, Alabama whose influence spread far beyond his local roots.
It was our efforts over the last couple of years to collect and chronicle Don’s impressive catalog of work that inspired the creation of the BMA.
Don is a highly attractive subject, not only because of his 50+ year long music career playing in dozens of bands, but also because of his musical chops and unique personality. He was a prolific songwriter who wrote hundreds of songs. He wasn’t braggadocious, but was quite confident in his abilities and he earned the respect of his peers. Through my interviews with other musicians and music lovers of all ages, Don’s eccentric personality and his humanity came pouring out. He brought a professionalism to music and had a major impact on others. People spoke of his mentorship. He taught other musicians how to perform for a living. He took music seriously, but he could also be a major cut-up. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he didn’t partake in alcohol or drugs. Between sets, you’d more likely find him reading a science fiction novel in his car. As a young man, Don was teased for his love of salt. He loved films, exotic peppers, and above all, his family.
In my experience with him, he was very private, humble and kind. He would avoid talking about himself and would divert attention to other topics. He was more likely to celebrate other people and their talents than to dwell on his own - which now with Don’s passing is this beautiful gift he has inadvertently given by way of the BMA.
- Travis Morgan, Bham Music Archive
Don Tinsley, 1975
Photo by Keith Harrelson, Edit by Kelly Schiff
Musical Beginnings
Don’s family was quite musical. Before Don was born, his Grandfather, Great Aunt, and Great Uncle were in a jazz orchestra called The Bama Skippers. They were based out of Montevallo, Alabama and were active in the 1930s and 1940s. Don told me once that having creative artists and musicians in the family gave him the license to be one himself.
The Bama Skippers performing
"Little Dutch Mill"
The Bama Skippers jazz orchestra of Montevallo, Alabama circa 1930s
Don got his start on bass guitar. His aunt Martha Jane was a country bass player who taught him to play. She would loan her instrument and amplifier to him so he could jam and play gigs with his bands. He’d play sock hops, dances and teen functions.
Don Tinsley, age 11 pictured in his relative’s driveway in Georgia
First Bands and Early Studio Work
Don grew up in the vicinity of Montevallo, moving several times, and was raised with the help of his grandparents. He went through the Montevallo school system. It was there he joined and played in bands Herrenvolk and The Mechanical Advantage.
Don joined at the tail-end of local group, The Carousel in the late 1960s, but never posed for any of their photographs.
In his last year of high school, schools became integrated in Alabama, but Don once said that as a child, most of his friends were black.
Before attending college, Don did some recording session work as a bass player at The Sound of Birmingham in Midfield, Alabama, playing on several soul cuts arranged by then studio owner Neal Hemphill. It was also said that he demoed with Frederick Knight and others, but those recordings were never released.
Don Tinsley on bass with The Mechanical Advantage Valentine's Day 1967
2007 Release Featuring Don Tinsley on bass guitar
Broadneck - "Psychedelic Excursion"
Broadneck - "California Cool Ride"
Business card for The Mechanical Advantage 1967
Audio courtesy of Rabbit Factory Records
Sad Child
Earlier in 2024, through a wonderful accident, several 1/4 inch reel to reel tapes with the name Sad Child were discovered. Sad Child was a familiar name that Don had mentioned, but I didn’t really understand what it was. It turned out to be a writing/recording project of songwriters Don Tinsley, Gary Putman, Bob Montgomery and drummer Dale Perkins. They recorded at the Sound of Birmingham around 1969/1970 with studio session players Glen Wood, Ed Massey, and Randy Carmichael. The very first song Don recorded of his own pen was represented on these tapes in various versions. Mark Harrelson of Boutwell Studios was able to bring these recordings back to pristine life, as none of the material had ever been released.
The Mutual Agreement and Border Line
Don became involved in the short-lived The Mutual Agreement project which morphed into The Border Line who in 1970 joined Governor Albert Brewer as performers during his reelection campaign against George Wallace. They traveled from town to town across Alabama in a truck bed that converted into a makeshift stage. Because Don was still in high school, he was unable to go on the road.
Border Line performing on the Albert Brewer campaign, 1970
Photographer Unknown
Promotional pamphlet for Border Line, 1970
Dogwood
After high school, Don attended The University of Montevallo, a university right where he had been living most of his life. It wasn’t until attending college in 1971, that he was asked to join a new original band which became known as Dogwood. Several of the members had recently left the Buddy Causey led-band, Daze of the Weak (previously Days of the Week before everything got hippy-fied) and were looking to be in an original band.
While attending university, Don lived off campus with his grandparents, but he spent a lot of time jamming with the band at the “Dogwood house”, an old shack located in the tiny town of Dogwood, Alabama near Montevallo.
Early Dogwood
(L to R: Above: Doug Lee, Tom Fox, Mark Smith, Below: J.D. Harris, Don Tinsley)
Photo by John Spicer
Don had already been writing original tunes, as was John David (J.D.) Harris, who had been in the Border Line project. But J.D. left the band after about 2 years, making Don the principal songwriter. Don actually got his first electric guitar, an early 1960’s Gibson SG, when he joined Dogwood, as he had been a bass player up to that point. Dogwood toured all over the Southeast. They were represented by Atlanta booking agency, Discovery and were playing frequently in clubs like the historic Richard’s in Atlanta.
Dogwood rehearsing at the Dogwood House property
(Pictured L to R: Don Tinsley, Tom Fox, Mark Smith (facing away), Doug Lee, J.D. Harris)
Photographer unknown
Dogwood circa 1974 for Discovery booking agency
(Pictured L to R: Jim Liner, Doug Lee, Tom Fox, Don Tinsley, Dave Miller)
Photo by Ted Tucker
Don Tinsley performing with his Gibson SG guitar at Richard's early 70s
Photo by Ted Tucker
Dogwood opened for Lou Reed at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium in 1974, and also shared the stage with Dion (DiMucci), Flo & Eddie, Robin Trower and The Commodores, among others.
Dogwood recorded and gained some interest from Capricorn Records out of Macon, Georgia. Their music was shopped around to labels, but nothing ever materialized with an actual recording contract. Don left Dogwood in 1975 and graduated from the University of Montevallo. Afterwards, he attended the University of Virginia Richmond, where he got his Masters in Fine Art with a focus on sculpture and visual art.
After graduating, he left Richmond for Denver and played with the country band Front Range Band for a little while, but decided to move back to Alabama in the late 1970s where he diligently worked on new material, aiming to start his next project.
Dogwood opening for The Commodores at Jacksonville State University 1973
Photographer Unknown
Dogwood, 1974
(Pictured L to R: Don Tinsley, Mark Smith, Tom Fox, Dave Miller, Doug Lee)
Photo by Ted Tucker
The Mortals
At that point, with the confluence of local players and the Morris Avenue club Old Town Music Hall, Don formed and led the band The Mortals. He brought on Lolly Lee, a popular solo performer, along with Rick Kurtz and Bird Crain (both from High Roller), and Marcel “Mickey” Nichols. After Marcel left to join Ho Ho Men, the band was joined by Mike Matos on drums until he was replaced by final drummer Bryan Owings. (Matos’ family owned local recording studio New London where The Mortals regularly recorded)
The Mortals are often referred to as one of the best bands to ever come out of Birmingham. While Don and Lolly traded on lead vocals, the songs were mostly penned by Don. The band had a huge local following and played places like Old Town Music Hall and The Wooden Nickel, and toured some around the Southeast. They shared the stage with artists such as R.E.M., Warren Zevon and Mitch Ryder. They regularly recorded at New London with the assistance of Mike Matos, Gaston Nichols and Tom Nist. The band had a sound unlike any other local band at that time. It has been described that when the band played, people shut up and were truly attentive. They had songs people knew and loved. In classic form, while the band had the ingredients, they never got a record deal. Eventually Lolly Lee left the band. The band continued on without her for a period, but disbanded shortly after due to frustrations of not getting a record deal. The band self-released a cassette of their album ZOUNDS nearly ten years after disbanding. It was only sold at a couple of local shops, but never widely distributed.
The Mortals, early 80s
(Pictured L to R: Don Tinsley, Lolly Lee, Bryan Owings, Bird Crain, Rick Kurtz)
Photo by Billy Brown, Edit by Kelly Schiff
The Mortals - Now Now (Live)
The Mortals concert flyer designed by Wade Gilbreath
The Mortals, 1982
(Pictured clockwise from far left: Don Tinsley, Mike Matos, Bird Crain, (covered) Bryan Owings, Rick Kurtz, Lolly Lee)
Photo by Robert Adams
Courtesy Alabama Department of Archives and History. Donated by Alabama Media Group. Birmingham News
The Mortals - Zounds cassette released in 1992 - Art by Wade Gilbreath
The Mortals outside Old Town Music Hall circa 1981
(Pictured L to R: Don Tinsley, Rick Kurtz, Lolly Lee, Bird Crain, Marcel Nichols)
Photo by Marshal Hagler
The Mortals, 1982
(Pictured L to R: Top: Don Tinsley, Mike Matos, Lolly Lee, Rick Kurtz, Bottom: Bryan Owings, Bird Crain)
Photo by Steve Barnette, Birmingham News
The Primitons
Don later joined The Primitons as a bass player and songwriter. The band had the support of small labels and were getting promotion on radio and in the press, which is something Tinsley had not yet experienced. He did several tours with the band up the East coast and around the Southeast. While he wrote a lot during this period, the only track officially released as The Primitons that he co-wrote was called “Don’t Go Away,” which was also the title of a compilation released by Arena Rock Recording Company in 2012.
The Primitons mid 1980's
(Pictured L to R: Leif Bondarenko, David Minchew, Mats Roden, Don Tinsley)
Photo by Marc Bondarenko
Audio courtesy of Arena Rock Recording Company
The Primitons late 1980s
(Pictured L to R: Don Tinsley, Mats Roden, Leif Bondarenko)
Photo by Kevin Mitchell
Tinsley's sole writing credit with The Primitons, despite it being a prolific period of writing.
The Primitons performing "Ridin' The Wind"
Written by Don Tinsley
Topper Price, Big Dixie, and beyond
In the mid 1980s, Don had a short-lived duo with local songwriter Pete Nice and opened for Suzanne Vega.
In 1988, Don joined legendary blues harmonica player Topper Price forming the backbone of what would be called The Upsetters. For more than a decade, Don was the de facto music director for Topper Price & The Upsetters. They are still considered one of the more popular local groups from the area.
Don joined Suzan and Jeff Sauls in a couple of projects including Music By Numbers in the 1990s. He co-wrote a dozen tracks which were featured on two records released by folk-rock outfit Suzan and Jeff Sauls.
He later hooked back up with Mortals’, Lolly Lee as a longstanding duo performing simply as Don Tinsley and Lolly Lee. They played together on and off for several decades.
Topper Price & The Upsetters, 1989
(Pictured L to R: Leif Bondarenko, Don Tinsley, Topper Price, Rick Kurtz)
Photo by Spider Martin, Edit by Kelly Schiff
Throughout the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, Tinsley played in twenty or more bands including Spacecamp, Big Dixie, Party Pterodactyls, Sharbaby and The Lolas. He would sneak in his originals wherever he could.
Big Dixie 1993
(Pictured L to R: Don Tinsley, Rick Lovelady, Matt Kimbrell, Tim Boykin)
Photo by Laura Gilmore
Don Tinsley
Photo by Mike McCracken
Don Tinsley with Sharbaby, 2007
Photo by Rhonda Tinsley
Painting of Don Tinsley & Lolly Lee by Craig Legg
Lolas in Japan 2002
(Pictured L to R: Jesse Suttle, Tim Boykin, Don Tinsley)
Don Tinsley and Pete Nice - "Bring Back Tomorrow" (Live at UAB)
During COVID-19, Don went into hibernation and did not perform live again. After suffering several strokes, he was unable to play guitar, but he continued to write songs. It brought a smile to my face to receive emails from him with new song ideas. For him the music never stopped and he left this earth with a stockpile of amazing music.
He died on July 28, 2024. On October 20, 2024, hundreds of folks showed up to pay tribute to him and his music, including performances by many long standing local musicians.
Solo Recordings & The Future
While already a prolific period of writing for Tinsley during his tenure with The Primitons, he continued to write and record his own material. He made home “demos”, some of which are classic nuggets of lo-fi, and draw similarities to early indie-rock. While a lot of the lo-fi recordings might be considered demos by many people’s standards, some of those are his most compelling music.
The majority of Don Tinsley's recordings have never been released in any form and almost no one has heard the bulk of his output. While active in all of his bands throughout the decades, he continued to write and record, despite the public never hearing his creations, but there are efforts underway to release his music over the next decade.
Don Tinsley circa early 1980's
Photo by Billy Brown, Edit by Kelly Schiff
Audio courtesy of Earth Libraries
His first single “Forces Beyond Control” was released on Oct 23, 2024 via the label, Earth Libraries
For the rest of us who don't know, the Don Tinsley story can start, one song at a time…
Don Tinsley early 1970s
Photo by Tom Cooper