
In Cameron Crowe’s 2000 film Almost Famous, we follow the lives, trials, and rise to fame of a fictional band, Stillwater. Many may not know that there was a real band named Stillwater that Cameron Crowe crossed paths with in the 1970s at the famed Capricorn picnic. Like the band in the film, these guys were Almost Famous, with a few breaks causing them to miss stardom narrowly.
As to whether that encounter led to the selection of the name Stillwater for the film, only Crowe can answer, but in a widely syndicated article from 1977, when Stillwater was a band on the rise, Crowe is quoted as referring to the band as the Wet Tucker Brothers, a comparison to three of the hottest bands at the time, Wet Willie, Marshall Tucker, and the Allman Brothers.

Growing up in the 70s, Southern rock played a role in our lives, possibly more so than any other generation. The music of Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, ARS, and so many more tie into our favorite memories. The void left after the deaths of Duane Allman, Berry Oakley, and the Skynyrd crash felt like the loss of family. The venues where we saw these bands making their way up the ladder were iconic. The anticipation for a new album’s release was agonizing. Camping out for concert tickets was a norm. Simply put, Southern rock was in our DNA. For so many of us, Stillwater was a part of that, but they were so good that they could have, and should have, reached the highest levels.
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I first heard the band when their “Mind Bender” single dropped. Then a friend bought their album on cassette, so I listened to a couple of the tracks and decided to see them live. On St. Patrick’s Day, 1979, they played Atlanta’s Agora Ballroom. As someone who saw almost every band that came to town, I had a good frame of reference. They rocked the crowd, and I knew then and there how special these guys were. I was hooked. Later that year, I saw them at the Agora again. This time, the opening act was the Austin Nichols band, featuring a lead singer that would go on to do huge things in Southern rock, Johnny Van Zant. It was an incredible show.
Beginnings
The seed for what would become Stillwater was planted by a teacher named Ronny Barnes, who produced a variety show for the school and recruited future members Mike Causey, Sebie Lacey, and Rob Walker into the band for the revue. Also in that group was Eddie Stone, a future member of the band Doc Holliday. Barnes also booked bands locally, and future bassist Al Scarborough was a client. Al gigged to pay for a private school because, like the founders of Lynyrd Skynyrd, a refusal to cut his hair ended his public school stay.
Stillwater has its roots in a band called Coldwater Army, which included Bobby Golden and his brother Kenny, Bob Spearman, and Jimmy Hall. That band released an album, “Peace,” in 1971 on an independent label and was preparing to release a second when some of the members decided to make a change, and Sebie and Mike stepped in. Soon the name was changed to Stillwater, and soon after, Al took over bass duties. Third guitarist Rob Walker would join in 1975 when band members came to his college and invited him to join. This completed the lineup that appeared on the first two albums. David Heck would take over drum duties on the recordings intended for a third album.
Over the next few years, future members played in Timepiece, Roundhouse, Blackbird, Prisoners of Time, Prince of Wales, and other bands.
It’s a Long Way to the Top
Stillwater paid its dues as a young band. The nearby military base meant there was a thriving club scene, and the band even played a gig at a women’s prison in Milledgeville and the prison that houses Georgia’s death row in Jackson.
Bobby Golden recalls one of the crew being smitten with an inmate he met at the ladies’ prison. A former playmate, she had asked if she could write him and connect when she got released. His excitement waned when he found she was serving time for murdering her boyfriend. The band received a great deal of fan mail after the appearance.
The band even once lived together, all in a house near Bobby Golden’s parent’s home. Bobby’s dad, Duke, served as the band’s manager. The configuration made practices easily arranged and helped the band get tighter.
Some of the band’s members had met Rodney Mills, one of the top engineers in the music world and the man who designed Studio One. Years before, Rodney played for the Bushmen band, and the Stillwater members-to-be would sneak in to see them.
Later, trying to get a record deal, the band would save money from their club dates and pay for studio time. One of those demo sessions was at Studio One, where they ran into their old friend Rodney behind the board.

Stillwater’s first big break was when they got regular bookings at the pavilion at Lakeside Park in Macon. One memorable experience was in 1975 when Allman Brothers members Dickey Betts and Gregg Allman, along with Bobby Whitlock (Derek and the Dominoes), joined them on stage for a jam session. Charlie Daniels also joined Stillwater on stage there.
Stillwater became a fixture at the famed Macon club Uncle Sam’s. There they crossed paths with legendary producer Tom Dowd (Derek and the Dominos, Eric Clapton, the Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cream, Allman Brothers), who was in town producing the Dixie Rock album for Wet Willie at Capricorn’s studios. He liked what he heard, and arrangements were made for Stillwater to come into the studio early mornings before Wet Willie’s sessions.
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The band recorded five songs, and those demo tapes were shopped around but initially had no takers. They did, however, introduce the band to Capricorn, who would soon sign the band, not to a record contract just yet, but to a booking arrangement with Paragon, and later to a management contract, also with a Capricorn company.
The band released a self-produced single in 1975. “I Just Can’t Show It” picked up some regional radio play and added to the band’s fan base.

The annual Capricorn picnic in Macon was an epic event attended by celebrities and VIPs from all over, including Andy Warhol, Cher, Jimmy Carter (when Georgia’s Governor), Bette Midler, Martin Mull, boxing promoter Don King and many more. The event would prove to be especially beneficial for Stillwater.
The BBC television show, the Old Grey Whistle Test, was like the European version of a cross between American Bandstand and Don Kirschner’s Rock concert. In 1976, the show traveled to Macon to film some of the acts at the picnic to share the burgeoning Southern rock movement with their viewers at home.

Bonnie Bramlett and the Marshall Tucker Band were filmed, along with Stillwater, tabbed as an up-and-coming band. Their segment was filmed doing a live set at Uncle Sam’s. The episode, entitled “Macon Whoopee,” aired in December 1976. The broadcast was well received and added to Capricorn President Phil Walden’s interest in the band. Tom Dowd and Atlantic Records were also interested in the band, and Capricorn decided to sign them to a record deal before they lost them to a competitor. Jimmy Hall said of choosing Capricorn, “To me, it made the most sense, especially with us being local.”
The First Album
For their first album, the band went into Doraville, GA’s Studio One, where Skynyrd, .38 Special, and many others created epic Southern classics. Tom Dowd was not available, so Buddy Buie was tapped as the producer. He had produced dozens of hits for the Classics IV, the Candymen, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Billy Joe Royal, Joe South, and B.J. Thomas. Buie co-wrote six of the album’s eight tracks.
Jimmy Hall recalls being a bit overwhelmed with recording in Studio One, based on it being the place where many hit songs and albums were recorded. He says, “We were in that setting, with a man {Buddy Buie} that had produced so many hit records and written some of them. That was big to me.”
The album’s single, Mind Bender, had an interesting path to life. Producer Buddy Buie had heard guitarist Rob Walker playing with a talk box and said, “We oughta do something with that talk box, write a song. Rob had a riff he had been toying around with, inspired by blues great Howlin’ Wolf. Buddy put words to it, they worked out the changes, and a top 50 record was born.
The release of Stillwater’s first album seemed to be perfect timing. With the South’s role in rock set in motion in 1969 with the formation of the Allman Brothers and Capricorn Records, along with Alex Cooley’s Atlanta Pop Festival, Southern rock was now being embraced by Americans on a large scale.
The argument could be made that 1977 was the high-water mark for Southern rock. Skynyrd’s live album, recorded in Atlanta’s Fox Theater, had been released the previous fall and was a massive hit. The band was riding high, and anticipation of the next album, Street Survivors, featuring new guitarist Steve Gaines, was strong.
The Atlanta Rhythm Section, which had struggled with five albums that did not sell particularly well, suddenly broke out with “A Rock and Roll Alternative,” driven by the single “So Into You” in 1976. The band that had shared the bill with Stillwater in small arenas was now headlining and selling out large venues.
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In September 1977, ARS would play their largest show to date, the Dog Days Rockfest, in front of 50,000 plus people in Atlanta. The following year, they would play for 60,000 people at the Knebworth Jam in England, 80,000 at the Texas Jam, and 110,000 at the Canada Jam. In September that year, they would headline the hometown Champagne Jam, with an estimated 60,000 in attendance. Southern rock was hot.
Stillwater was set to be the perfect band to meet the demand for new Southern rock. Molly Hatchet wouldn’t burst onto the scene until 1978, and Blackfoot’s mega-selling “Strikes” album was two years away. Paragon sent them on a club circuit tour of the Southeast.
