North Florida Music Hall of Fame

Born in 1930, in Albany, Ga.; moved to Greenville, Fla. (near Tallahassee) with his family while still an infant. Attended the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine; lived and performed in Jacksonville in 1945, where he lived at 732 Church Street. After leaving Florida for Seattle, he was signed to Los [...]

Jacksonville guitarist and songwriter who co-wrote most of the hits for The Classics IV, including their 1967 top-10 smash, “Spooky.” Cobb left the touring band to concentrate on writing and producing, and was replaced by former Thunderbeats guitarist Mac Doss, from Bradenton. He later co-founded the Atlanta Rhythm Section with fellow Jacksonville native Robert Nix, [...]

Daughter of a Jacksonville minister; attended Jackson High. Moved to Memphis, where she recorded for the Stax-affliliated Pepper label. Gained prominence as a back-up singer with Delaney & Bonnie, Leon Russell and Joe Cocker. Later had a top-10 single, “Higher and Higher,” on A&M, which was produced and arranged by her sister Priscilla’s husband, Booker [...]

Capricorn Records act featuring Jacksonville guitarist Scott Boyer, bassist David Brown (later with Boz Scaggs) and drummer/percussionist Chip Miller. Boyer also performed in Gregg Allman’s solo band. Also see Bitter Ind; Brown, David.

A church-trained prodigy on piano, Crawford worked with Albertina Walker, Shirley Caesar and The Gospel Caravans while still a teenager. Crawford gained regional recognition as a WOBS radio personality called “The Demon”; he later did the same at WTMP in Tampa. He co-wrote (often with fellow WOBS DJ Willie “Doctor Groove” Martin) several R&B tunes, [...]

This Jacksonville native (b. 1915) ran away from home at age 17, supposedly stowing away on a freighter to Manhattan, where he landed a job as a singing waiter. In 1933, bandleader Erskine Hawkins spotted Daniels, and added him as the featured vocalist for his orchestra. Daniels soon became a popular cabaret singer, and began [...]

Bo Diddley was born Ellas McDaniel in McComb, Miss., Diddley joined the exodus to Chicago in the 1950s, where he recorded several novelty-type R&B hits for Chess Records. Although by the late 1960s, he had been relegated to the nostalgia circuit in the U.S., he retained monumental status in England, where he had become a [...]

Vocalist and drummer with Jacksonville psychedelic rockers Black Bear Angel, Dougherty later became singer for Mercury act Alias, which included four surviving Lynyrd Skynyrd members on its debut album, released in 1979. Dougherty later became front man for Allen Collins’ band on MCA. He also played drums for Mike Angelo & the Idols (on the [...]

Seattle-born trumpeter/keyboardist/vocalist; had own nightclub and recording studio in Jacksonville in late 1970s; busted in 1978 for smuggling cocaine. Later moved to Cleveland, Tenn.; became a prominent Christian recording artist; won a Grammy in 1984 for a duo recording with Debby Boone.

Member of eclectic Gainesville ensemble The Maundy Quintet in the early 1970s, along with Bernie Leadon. After forming Flow with two former members of Ocala’s Incidentals, the group recorded one album for CTI. Felder later worked with David Blue and Crosby, Stills & Nash. In 1974, he was invited, at Leadon’s behest, to join the [...]

Originally known as Ginger Bread, this instrumental ensemble featured two former members of Gainesville’s Incidentals, augmented by hotshot guitarist Don Felder. It recorded one album for legendary jazz producer Creed Taylor’s CTI label in 1970. Also see Felder, Don.

Disc jockey and country singer from Northwest Texas; met Mae Axton while she was in Texas doing a promo tour. Axton helped land Reeves a slot at Jacksonville country station WPDQ. Reeves also sang on Axton’s demo of “Heartbreak Hotel”; interestingly, Elvis Presley imitated Reeves’ demo rendition note-for-note. It was Elvis imitating Reeves imitating Presley, [...]