The Class of 71's senior year in Gamecock City was like no other. I don't just say that....

In our senior year, the public schools were totally desegregated. It was the first time in South Carolina history that white folks and black folks actually interacted socially as equals. A few months before it began, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered the news to the school boards: totally desegregate - now. In Sumter, where there had been two schools - Lincoln High (black) and Edmunds High (mainly white) - now there would be one school called Sumter High School. (At least we got some time to do it in an orderly way. Some South Carolina schools got the desegregation order on a Thursday in February, 1970 and had to totally desegregate all schools over the weekend.) To say the least, the idea was not well-received by the teachers, students, and administrators at either school. After all, for decades each school had enjoyed its own autonomous systems of student officers, sports teams and coaches, yearbook staffs, bands, and school principals. All that tradition was ripped out by its roots the first day of school. I learned nothing in class my senior year. It was pure chaos, and I wouldn't have changed it for the world.

Viet Nam was raging. Music was changing, as were perceptions of the world in which we were supposed to going to live. Until that time, girls were to be homemakers and boys the bread winners. For some, that tradition didn't last past the end of our graduation ceremony in the stadium. But as we sat on those folding chairs awaiting our blue, simulated-leather diplomas, I think all we thought of were those cars in the parking lot. Just sitting there. We wanted to get in them and drive away from our youth, first to that evening's parties and then out of town forever.

All in all, the Class of 71 was and is a pretty cool group. When I think back to how I believed things would turn out and how things actually did develop, it makes me smile.

Warren

Click play button on the player above and listen to "Class of 71" as you follow the lyrics below.

Remember when we ruled the world?
That graduation in May?
Long hair, love beads, tiny waistlines, and our faces untouched by age.

To change the rules was our promise.
Part innocence, part cliché.
Everywhere there was a sign - Viet Nam, poverty, or race.
 
	(Chorus)
	Got diplomas in our pockets.
	Lo behold the anointed ones.
	Put it in drive.
	Ride.
	Class of 71.
 
We'd marry for all the wrong reasons, then divorce and do it once again.
Yes, we'd all make a difference (but) not exactly as we'd planned.
 
	(Chorus)
	Got diplomas in our pockets.
	Lo behold the anointed ones.
	Put it in drive.
	Ride.
	Class of 71.
 
Who would believe that children were our future dreams come true?
Changing the world has to wait when your daughter cries for you.
Now we're older - change the rules - 71.
 
	(Chorus)
	Got diplomas in our pockets. 
	Lo, behold the anointed ones.
	Put it in drive, drive
	Class of 71.
	Class of 71.
	Class of 71.

About This CD

I remember that day in August, 1985, the morning of law school orientation. I showed up sleepy-eyed in crisp kalki pants, a yellow power tie, a white shirt, and a blue blazer from Max's Men's Shop on King Street in Charleston. Good lawyer clothes, all of which were bought for me by my brother Ben. But I was a fraud. I'd played into the wee hours at a local nightclub that very morning with my rock 'n roll band. Everyone in the auditorium around me looked smarter than I was. They probably were. For the past 13 years, I'd made a living playing live music, writing songs, and doing music studio session work in the Carolinas, Atlanta, and in Miami. I have fond memories of recording with the Chairmen of the Board beginning with the On the Beach album and Carolina Girls, its anthem to southern girls and continuing writing for the Drifters, Maurice Williams, Billy Scott, Second Nature, Clifford Curry, Shagtime, and the Band of Oz to mention a few.

Life was sweet. I had minimum limits auto liability insurance. Rent was real cheap. With low overhead, I had more money than I deserved. But I wanted to be lawyer. Songwriting royalties helped pay my way through law school. For almost two decades after graduation in 1988, I kept away from music. I wanted folks to take me seriously as a trial lawyer. Eventually I bought a 32 track digital music recorder, and returned to music. This record is the latest result. I hope you like it.

Before I end, let me thank God, of course; Arlene "Jersey Girl" Brown who did the layout and design; her husband, Dr. Jimmy Brown, P.E. - our greatest soul guitarist extraordinaire; and H. David "Platinum Record" Henson who taught me a great deal about recording and how to have fun doing it too.

How This Album Was Recorded

The Album "Class of 71" was completed in a studio built into my closet at home. I played all of the instruments and sang all of the vocals. Between a water heater and old clothes on hangars was my Korg 32 track digital recorder. The microphone stand was pushed into the clothes, and when I played the keyboard, the stand bounced up and down causing shirts to fall. Whatever its failings, that is one dead room. Although I paid my way through undergraduate and law schools as a session musician, engineering is not my forte. Any ability to engineer came from David Henson, who taught me much. David engineered many of the Chairmen of the Board and Band of Oz records we did, as well as Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life and Poco's Heart of the Night records.

For those few who are interested, I used a Korg Triton keyboard, a Korg CX organ, and a Roland Axe handheld keyboard (sometimes called a keytar) through a Yamaha ES Motif rack mounted module.

An Epiphone Les Paul Studio Special guitar was used for rhythm tracks and chinks on the 2 and 4. However, 99% of the guitars are played on the Yamaha Motif or the Korg Triton.

Having dealt with drummers for so long in the past (who are, by the way, not infrequently the craziest guys on any recording session), I'm not apologetic about favoring drum computers. Unlike a real drummer, a drum computer is always at the session on time, it don't show up drunk, it never argues, it doesn't overplay or fail to keep perfect time, and it never asks for a ride home. The drums on this CD were recorded using either a Roland Boss drum computer, the Korg digital recorder's Session Drums, the Korg Triton's drums, or more typically, a multiple of one or more of the above.

Songs On This Album

1. Would You Believe/Goodbye, My Old Friend
2. All I Needed Was a Prayer
3. Atlantic Beach After Midnight
4. It's Never Too Late to Try (Pretty Red Shoes)
5. Southern Belles
6. She's Got Her Mother's Eyes/Hello Daddy, I Love You
7. The Guilty Plea
8. Lonely Too Long/Quarter to Nine
9. (Goin' Out With a) Jersey Girl
10. In the Blink of an Eye
11. I've Been So Emotional Lately
12. Soulsville/Sumter 1967
13. Give Me a Sign
14. Statia
15. Class of 71

Class of 71 - Album website

Class of 71 - Preview and Download individual songs or buy CD

Hey folks Warren here, Jango is a free on-line radio station similar to Pandora. If you're interested, you can listen to some of the songs on my last CD Class of 71 at no cost. Enjoy! Click Here to listen to me on Jango.

Alco check out my book "Class of '71" CLICK HERE

Get reacquainted with me, Warren Moise, by clicking on my picture on the Class of 1971 Then & Now page.

Read the story about Our Class Rings, the only thing we had left that didn't change.