Taken at Bangor Cave south of Cullman Alabama during photo session for the never released Larry Smith and Kinfolk album entitled Bangor Cave Revisited. (band members on the stage, left to right: Larry Smith, Rod Wallace, Joe Crisler. Sitting in front wearing bow tie, Tommy Pettus - Kinfolk manager)
Around the time that Larry Smith and Kinfolk recorded the tracks for the album at Woodrich Studio in Lexington Alabama, the band was already experiencing a period of transition. The band had received an offer from Larry's childhood friend, Charles Kennedy, to move to Dallas Texas and seek bookings in the booming Texas Music scene. Drummer, Lynn Smith, was planning to get married and unable to commit to traveling with the group. Lead Guitarist, Ed Canada, did not want to leave the Southeast. So the group continued as a threesome. Plans to release an album continued.
Manager, Tommy Pettus, inspired by the theme of Larry's song, The Bootleggers of Alabama, came up with the idea of recreating an authentic scene from the prohibition era when bootlegging was at its pinnacle and doing a photo session for the album cover. Tommy chose Bangor Cave, near Cullman Alabama as the site of the photo shoot.
Bangor Cave was used during the early 1900s as a nightclub and place where people could buy illegal alcohol. The bootleggers and whiskey makers of the area utilized the big stones in the cave as a bar and tables where patrons could sit and drink. Because selling and possessing alcohol was against the law in those days, there was even a narrow passageway at the rear of the cave to allow an easy escape in case of a police raid.
Roger Darnell, area photographer and long time friend of Larry Smith, was commissioned to take the pictures. A group of extras was recruited from among the friends of the band. Authentic looking costumes were obtained, with some being homemade and others being rented from a theatrical rental house in Nashville. The biggest challenges during the shoot were lighting and the dampness of the cave. It was so dark in the cave that powerful, bright, lights had to be brought in. I think they must have been battery powered because there was no electricity. The hot lights in the cold, damp cave environment, created a "foggy" atmosphere.
But the photo shoot was great fun, and Roger Darnell took a number of excellent pictures that day that remain as unique masterpieces in the category of Alabama folk art.
Photograph by Roger Darnell