Andy Anderson born 15 May 1935

Andy Anderson (born 15 May 1935) is one of the mainstays of Mississippi rockabilly and the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the original Rolling Stones that predate the British rock band by years. 

Andy was born Edgar L. Anderson III near Clarksdale, Mississippi to a Plantation owning family. From the age of 10, Andy was listening to Saturday afternoon Live shows on the Plantation, given by artists like Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker. During a Christmas holiday in 1951 Andy's mother Elizabeth suggested that Andy could do well playing & singing as a sideline and they promptly went to Memphis to buy a guitar. Andy listened to the Grand Ole Opry every Saturday night, learning some of the songs, with his mother's encouragement, who, in turn played piano, sang and composed. 

The untimely death of Andy's mother in 1953 signalled the end of any family support. Andy's first band 'The Rolling Stones' was formed in 1954 at Mississippi State University and included Joe Tubb, 'Cuz' Covington, Bobby Lyon, James Aldridge and Roy Estes. The band played all around the Campus and neighbouring towns, but by 1956 their popularity was so great that management was needed. At this point, Jimmy Ammons of Delta Records and Mabel McQueen of Pine-Sol fame contracted the Rolling Stones. This arrangement worked well for a year at which point the Stones decided to made the trip North to Memphis to record at the Sun Recording Studios with Jack Clement engineering. 

The band paid for the session themselves, but offered the original recordings of "Johnny Valentine" and "Tough, Tough, Tough" to Sam Phillips for release on Sun, an offer that was refused. 1957 found the band signing with Murray Nash Associates in Nashville who signed the band to Felsted records, a subsidiary of London Records. "Johnny Valentine" was re-recorded with studio musicians and became a local hit. The next release turned up on Apollo Records from New York. Shopped by Murray Nash, "You Shake Me Up" was extremely popular in the New York State area. 

                    

The band played on Dick Clark's Bandstand and had an appearance on the Alan Freed show in Philadelphia. In 1959, after a spell in the military, Andy and the Rolling Stones broke up and Anderson formed a new band called the Dawnbreakers. This outfit's first release was "Tough, Tough, Tough"/"Gimme A Lock 'O Your Hair" on Andy's own Century label, followed by "Tall Oak Tree"/"All By Myself" on Hermitage. 

In 1965, Andy left the music scene and headed out for California to pursue an acting career, but a failed marriage and an unsuccessful business ended up with tax problems with the IRS. Anderson was forced to seek psychiatric help. He became secluded from the world, and according to Rockabilly Hall of Fame, no one could contact him. Finally, by the fall of 1975, Andy had negotiated final settlements with his wife and the IRS.  By that time he was living in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. 

There he met J.J. Hettinger from Louisville, Kentucky, who was teaching in the Catholic High School in Biloxi. Andy once again turned to music as Hettinger was a talented and creative songwriter.  Together they wrote songs they classified as progressive, folk-rock, blues.  They wrote several commercial songs and cutting tracks at Malaco Studios in Jackson, Mississipp,i under the name of “The Eagle and the Hawk”. On December 23, 1975, while visiting his cousin in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Andy met his future wife, Kay Norcom. 

In April of 1976, Andy, Kay, and J.J. moved to Taos, New Mexico. Aerie Records, his new record label, was a new outlet for Andy and the Eagle and the Hawk. Andy got a real estate license and started developing and selling real estate to earn a living, while continuing to promote his music.  However, on May 13th, 1976, Andy got his middle finger of his left hand cut off by a hydraulic lift just two days before his forty-first birthday.  He became depressed and put up his guitar.  Hettinger moved back to Louisville. In 1983, Andy once again began to play around a little bit on his guitar, and he started rehearsing with some other musicians in Taos.  In August of 1987, Andy and his wife Kay moved back to Mississippi. 

Joe Tubb & Andy Anderson

My latest news regarding Andy was that the original band members were invited to regroup for a Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame event in the late 90’s which also opened up a spate of playing 50th high school reunions. As recent as 2015 "Go Cap' Go: An Evening with Andy Anderson and the Original Rolling Stones" was performed at the Old Capitol Museum, Jackson. 

(Edited from tims.blackcat.nl., mswritersandmusicians.com., & Clarion Ledger)