Welcome to Dizzy Rambler Online
The name “Dizzy Rambler” was derived from The Dizzy Ramblers, a North Alabama string band, made up of my daddy, mother, oldest sister and two uncles back in 1936. After moving to Florida in the late 30’s, my dad and two of mother’s brothers continued to occasionally play together using that name until the 1980’s when, one by one, they started passing away. I have since continued to use that name out of a strong sense of family pride.
Dizzy Rambler dot com first went on-line in or about 1998, originally built as a personal site to house the tons of scrapbook materials that I had accumulated over my years in the entertainment business (I seldom throw anything away). As it became more popular and others started making contributions to the content, it became a sort of museum of North Polk County, Florida entertainment history and tribute to the mass of talent and entertainment personalities that had called this parcel of grey sand and orange groves home during some part of the late nineteen-fifties, sixties and early seventies, BD (that is: Before Disney). I am ever so thankful for those other pack-rats, like myself, who loved what they were doing so much that they saved every scrap of memorabilia that they could get their hands on over the years. Some have made priceless contributions to this site.
It should be understood that the materials included here (for the most part) are related to the people, places and things that I was personally involved with or that were somehow influential in the shaping of what we shall loosely refer to as “my career”. It is by no means an exhaustive list of all of the noteworthy talent that this area has spawned.
The content of Dizzy Rambler Online reflects the musical styles that I like. After all — it is my site. My two great loves are traditional country (and western) music (steel guitars, fiddles and tons of harmony) and traditional rock & roll and R&B (boogie, hard drivin’ back-beat, and 60’s R&B). I have been known to listen to blues, bluegrass, big bands, and the works of some of the classics masters. I also have a great love for acapella psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. All of these styles sift through my life experiences and ooze out as the musical me.
It has been my desire to preserve and pass on some of the magic that was ours while we were learning to play our guitars, learning about life and love, and learning to get along with some of natures most eccentric creatures — other musicians. If you were there, this site should provoke some overwhelming nostalgia, after all, “It’s All About The Memories”. If not – well – check out (for better or worse) what you missed. In any case “Enjoy!”.