Monday, June 25, 2012

Misty Waters

The early 60's in Decatur, Georgia, in the fast growing area south DeKalb,  was a place called Misty Waters operated by a man everyone knew as Pop Childes. Now this was during the segregated times and the sign out on Candler Road read, Misty Waters "For White Only!" There was  a roller skating rink, swimming pool, golf course and mini putt putt golf and a lake with a sand beach(see the picture of the pool area above). On the weekend nights the roller rink hosted many local and national recording stars and the roller rink became a dance floor. The local Atlanta radio stations like WQXI AM promoted shows there and many local bands and artists opened for the likes of Billy Joe Royal and the Royal Blues, Joe South and the Believers, Tommy Roe and the Satins(later The Roemans). I will cover these artists and others eventually in this blog. Please feel free to mention anybody you saw perform at Misty Waters, the purpose of this blog is to record and discuss the history of these great times.Quite a few artists went on to fame, one particular is Mac Davis, who moved to the area in 1960 from Lubbock, TX, to live with his mother right near Misty Waters. Mac soon met up with some local musicians who were part of a Southwest DeKalb High School band called The Zots. He took up Bongos and soon became the singer and they played all over including Misty Waters many times. Here is a YouTube Video of the Zots :http://youtu.be/1Nb-C_ocvlw
The Zots opened for many top bands and when Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs played at Misty Waters, Mac Davis ended up selling him a song. Mac went on to sign a deal with Lowery Music in Atlanta and released 45's on VJ and other labels and took an AR job and moved to the west coast and then Elvis and others recorded his songs and the rest is history as they say.
 
The Zots here in 1960 from left, Phillip Prescott, Mac Davis, David Savage, Bobby Dawkins and Paul McClarty. There were other members thru the years like Leon Fulbright, Billy Beldon and Bill Holden. and others, be sure to blog me on any details not mentioned.


9 comments:

  1. Whereabouts on Candler Road was Misty Waters?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Misty Waters was directly across Candler Road from the intersection of Kelley Lake Road. This was just north of the I-20 Interchange with Candler Road. The apartment complex they built there is still there, but I don't know if it's still called Misty Waters.

      Delete
  2. Misty Waters was just inside I-20 towards Decatur, GA. They ended up building apartments on the site and were calling them Misty Waters at one time. This was a very nice area at one time before "White Flight" in the 70's.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The apartments are still there on Misty Waters Drive.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Saw a lot of really good shows there. Travis Womack (Scratchy), Ronnie Milsap (Total Disater), Sam the Sham and The Pharohs

    ReplyDelete
  5. I remember swimming there as kids. My neighbor was a skate referee and we would all pile into his Pontiac tempest for a free ride and admission. The boyscouts pinewood Derby at the picnic area on the hill. Later on I found myself delivering papers at the apartments.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Funny!! I was in that area today and saw Misty Waters Park on Google Maps. So not having been there in many, many, many years... and longer. lol
    So I got on Misty Waters Drive, went past the apartments and when got To a dead end with chain link fence all around, kinda deserted (trashy) looking. My phone announced "you've arrived."
    Got back home and googled Misty Waters Park, and found this blog. Of course I was disappointed but what did I expect?
    Oh well... :-(

    ReplyDelete
  7. I doing this on my husbands comments section. It would not take mine. I was a regular at Misty Waters. Seeing all of this brought back a lot of memories. I have used both pools, the mini golf course, the skating rink and the dances they had. I have since moved away. I really miss those days.

    ReplyDelete