“We didn’t even knowhow sick General wasthen, that he wouldn’t begetting better,” Knox says.“He looked at me andsaid, ‘Go out and give thebest show you can giveand continue our legacy.’General passed me thebaton and I will keep onplaying our songs.”

Meeting General John-son in the mid-1970s wasa life-changing moment inyoung Ken’s life. He grewup in Detroit, Michiganwith music all around—Boots Randolph, Motown,Fats Waller were early in-fluences. “You couldn’thelp but pick up themusic,” he says. “Myfriends would be singingdown at the end of theblock. My brother had asax so when I was 11 or12 I taught myself to play.”His fledgling musical ca-reer led to the night when

Danny Woods, long-timevocalist with General John-son, walked into the clubwhere Ken’s band wasplaying. Ken and theband’s horn section endedup dancing on the barwith Danny that night.Woods happened to beauditioning musicians foran upcoming tour.

“We clicked!” Ken says.“He told me, be ready nextWednesday.” Ken was 21years old.

That week, Knox foundhimself on stage with Gen-eral Johnson playing a De-troit concert with theSupremes. The same nighthe boarded a private Learjet for a concert in Madi-son Square Garden withthe Stylistics. Next it wasNew Orleans for a concertwith Earth, Wind and Fire.“It was a life of limos andLear jets,” Knox remem-bers. “I was hooked.”

For the next 38 years,Knox lived the dream,touring as a member ofthe Chairmen of the Boardand producing recordings.The group relocated toNorth Carolina when theInvictus label folded in1978. “General said to methat they had this thingcalled Beach Music downsouth, so we moved downhere and founded SurfsideRecords,” Knox says.

Studio East on MonroeRoad in Charlotte becamethe band’s home base. Itwas there, in 1980, thatthe group recorded one ofBeach Music’s mostbeloved songs, “CarolinaGirls.”

“You were always hear-ing about California girlsback then,” Knox recalls.“We wanted to give Car-olina girls some respect.”The song became a re-gional hit and is still played

frequently at shag clubsacross the south. GeneralJohnson and the Chairmenof the Board were in-ducted into both the NorthCarolina and South Car-olina Music Halls of Fame,and were members of the1995 inaugural class of theCarolina Beach Music Hallof Fame. CNN dubbedthem the “Kings of BeachMusic.”

General Johnson diedunexpectedly in 2010, aftera pain in his knee turnedout to be lung cancer thathad spread. Ken Knox andthe band toured as theChairmen of the Board fora few years, then decidedto retire the name to anhonored position “on themantle” as the Chairmenwent their separate waysand Ken’s own careerevolved. He now tours asKen Knox and Company(KCO) with Thomas

KINGS SUMMEROF

OUR

Carolina Beach Music Lives On with Ken Knox & Company

C H A R L O T T E P R O W L E R M A G A Z I N E presents

Here is a true tale of the Carolinas and our beach culture for all who love our coast: Ken Knox, formerlong-time saxophone player with the Chairmen of the Board headed by the legendary GeneralJohnson, remembers well the moment he got his marching orders for the rest of his life...

Interview by R E N E E W R I G H T

Hunter and the Executives,the same group thatbacked General Johnsonfor decades. The groupplayed the DNC NationalConvention, the CarolinaPanthers halftime showand Governor Pat Mc-Crory’s inaugural ball.

General Johnson wasthe group’s major song-writer and composer, butin the years since hisdeath, Ken Knox hasbegun to feel his own cre-ativity rise. “Sometimes Ifeel like the General is sit-

ting right there next tome,” Knox says. “And thenI’ll feel a song coming. Inever wrote songs before,but it’s like the General isright there with me.”

Knox’s first songwritingeffort, “You,” was a hit, ris-ing to No. 1 in many re-gional markets andmaking a UK splash. “Car-olina Shuffle” followed andKen’s latest, “I’m ReadyWillin’ and Able” is climb-ing the charts. A newalbum “Out of the Shad-ows” is due out later this

year. But that doesn’tmean he’s forgetting hisroots. Fans will still get toparty to those great goodtime songs the Chairmenmade famous, including“Give Me Just a Little MoreTime,” “On the Beach,”“Gone Fishin,” and ofcourse “Carolina Girls,”whenever Ken Knox andCompany take the stage.Ken’s latest project is de-veloping the Elite ArtistNetwork with his friends atStudio East. Designed torevive the careers of artists

who paid their dues, butnever got paid fairly, theNetwork brings these all-but-forgotten performersback to the stage andrecording studio. Stayedtuned to the Prowler forElite Artist Network con-certs coming up.

For more on Ken Knoxand Company, please visitkenknoxcompany.com.

For more about the EliteArtist Network, please visiteliteartistnetwork.com.