Owen County’s The M.D.’s – Big Sounds From Small Towns

Like so many other musical projects I’ve tackled, tracking the M.D.’s was much harder than it should have been. Mad Daddies? Musical Delinquents? Heck, until I heard the record and realized they were teens I considered the notion that they might be University of Kentucky pre-med students! Tough nut to crack, tough band…enjoy! [2025 Shawn Chambers / Lexingtunes]

It seems in Owen County for each small town, there are at least two unincorporated communities. It is from places such as Pleasant Home and Squiresville that students made the pilgrimage each school year into Owenton to mix with the ‘townies’ in the halls of Owen County High School. The student body may have been small, but the musical talent was certainly oversized.

The band formation started most likely with the talent of Marshall Collins Gibson (b. 1955). A prodigy of sorts, he was heavily involved with the local 4-H chapter and was a club junior speech winner in 1967. He also sang in the church choir. Clearly, he would have been comfortable in front of an audience. His years of piano lessons and his own guitar musings had turned him into a very capable player of both by the time he entered high school. It was just a matter of joining forces with some other teen rockers.

The rhythm section would develop quickly with the recruitment of classmates Roy Dale Farmer (bass) and Marc Clifton on drums. The intent was to have Marshall swap between guitar and a small keyboard, so in order to maintain a full sound they were still on the hunt for a second guitarist.

The addition of Dean Tatum-Johns (b. 1956) would be the final piece. Tatum-Johns had experience playing pickup guitar with some of his father’s friends and had a keen ear for music.  He was approached by the trio and joined up as rhythm guitarist per his best recollection “sometime in 1968 or 1969.”

With members hovering around the pre-teen / teenage border, certainly the M.D.’s had to be one of the youngest rock bands in the state at the time. With the lineup cemented they needed a name, and the process was surprisingly simple – Marshall, Marc, Dale and Dean – the M.D.’s!

 

The M.D.’s practiced at Dale or Dean’s house. Without a member of driving age, they were fortunate to have some very supportive mothers who were employed as roadies and trucked their equipment to shows.

1970 would be their year. The band had developed quite a local following and decided it was time to take the next step with a record. At this late date, not much is remembered about the trip to Lexington’s Lemco studios. Dean Tatum-Johns recalls only the two songs being recorded during the session without any overdubs. Pressed by Southern Plastics the distribution was mostly limited to family and friends back home.

Typically, area bands of this age would have resorted to popular covers (think Dimensions “Louie Louie”), but the M.D.’s Lemco 45 amazingly boasts two original cuts from Dale Farmer and Marshall Gibson. The jangly guitar and overall sound of both sides could easily have come from a few years prior during the height of the garage band movement.

The A-side “Lover’s in Love” boasts well-crafted lines of romance that sound far more adult than the hand behind them:

Life and death are one thing, but being in love is another
You can show the world just how you feel
Cause when we meet my heart throbs with a burning fire
You can make the glow seem more real

 

The flip “Little Girl” shows the willingness of these kids to ignore convention and play what feels good. The start is an almost funereal bit of organ play that quickly morphs into pure danceable fun. Clifton gets his chance with a healthy drum break, and the song builds and builds – only to end with a callback to some somber sounds from the keyboard.

 

The record was just a small part of their coming year as they continued to take Owenton and the surrounding area by storm. In November, they placed first in the senior division at the Jaycees annual talent show. Sharp in their shirts and ties and with towering speakers, the boys certainly looked every inch the rockers. Set lists were rock staples and on any given night may include Steppenwolf or Iron Butterfly. The multi-talents of both Marshall and Dean were on full display as they rotated from guitars to keys and back again. Given Marshall’s vocal range they could also tackle Elvis and ballads if the need arose.

The M.D.’s had no real management but were booking their own gigs whenever they could. They ran ads in the Frankfort paper and thanks to the family support, the region opened up with some opportunities beyond the county line. The boys were well-received for a post-game sock hop in Gallatin County in 1971. They would also travel to Carrollton for shows at the Moose Club where Tatum-Johns remembers “that we got to play country music.”  A real change of pace for these guys.

Like so many other teen bands, graduation is a good place to mark the band’s end, but not the end of music for at least a couple members.

Dean Tatum-Johns attended the Stephen Collins Foster Music Camp at Eastern Kentucky University in 1973 and would later enroll there where he would major in music. During his long career working for Winn Dixie, he still found time to nurture his love of singing and performing.  In his high school days, he had performed with the Barbershop Three and She and always retained a love for a cappella music. This is something he would rekindle in the early 2000s with Pay It Fourward.

Marshall Gibson would take first place in a regional 4-H talent show in 1973 accompanying himself on piano. He was very active in the late 1970s and early 80s first with the Mustangs and then with his Marshall Gibson Band who appeared often in Frankfort as part of the Bud Chowning Country Show. He would rekindle his love of gospel in the 1980s and beyond with the Squiresville Trio alongside Gerald and Paul Minch.

 

Despite repeated attempts, Clifton, Farmer, and Gibson were unable to be contacted for this piece. Perhaps someday this brief history can be improved upon.

Discography;

Lemco    621           Lovers In Love / Little Girl                   1970