The Speidels

Pearson, Georgia

Band Members:  CF Sirmans - Guitar.
                            Berrien Sutton   - Guitar.
                            Eddie Carter - Drums. Now deceased.
                            Vance Peterson - Bass. Now deceased.
                            Stacy Sirmans - Keyboards. Joined in 1965.

The Speidels were formed in Pearson, Georgia in 1964. Original members were CF Sirmans (guitar), Berrien Sutton (guitar), Vance Peterson (bass guitar) (now deceased), and Eddie Carter (drums) (now deceased). Stacy Sirmans joined on keyboards in 1965.

The band played around the south Georgia/north Florida area. A favorite gig was playing at the Golden Sands Pavilion in Fernandina Beach. The band was a mainstay playing for teen dances after football games at the Pearson American Legion.

Favorite memories are playing at the WALB Channel 10 telethons (when they had live bands) and the WALB noontime show "Town and Country". In one appearance our drummer accidentally left his snare drum at home and while he rushed off to find one, the host of the show, Jerry Nesmith, found one and sat in with us on drums. Our drummer returned to the studio just as we were finishing.

In 1967 the band added Freddie Landrum on lead guitar and Mike Henderson on trumpet. Freddie and Mike were formerly with the Wanderers from Homerville. Berrien switched from guitar to trumpet.  The band became a horn band, bought a customized bus, and changed its name to The System.

The System played Hullaballoo clubs and the teen club circuit all around the state from Atlanta to Augusta to Savannah to Columbus.
Almost every town (big or small) had a teen club and a lot of smaller towns ran bands in movie theaters after the movie ended. The band played until 1970 when members started getting drafted or were pursuing careers.

Stacy would later play with the Predictions and Stacy, CF, Berrien, and Freddie would form the band Midway Centennial in the mid-70's.  Stacy and Freddie were part of the band Heavy Traffic in the 1980's.
Stacy joined The Bushmen in 1989 and the band is still playing in 2021.





Submitted by Stacy Sirmans

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