Monthly Archives: January 2014

Anthony “Amp” Daniels (photo by Alice Vines)

Once upon a time, if you wanted to share your music with the world, you performed at all the churches and other places that wanted you, or you produced demos. Not anymore.

Now, along with performing live and creating demos, you can reach thousands more by using social media and your own web pages.

That’s exactly what Anthony Amp Daniels has done using the resources of the Internet.

Amp is the son of Johnny Ray Daniels and Dorothy Vines Daniels and the grandson of the late Freeman Vines, Sr. and Arie Gay Vines Artis.

Check out these Internet sites that feature the music of Anthony “Amp“ Daniels.

Amp sings a duet of A Thousand Tongues with his mother Dorothy Vines Daniels, accompanied by the Vines Sisters and Family

This is one of Amp’s websites for singing and producing his solo recordings. The site provides a biography, too.

Amp sings You Make It Feel so Right.

Amp sings a duet with Atlantic Starr’s Rachel Oliver-Cobbin

Amp sings I Belong to Him, accompanied by The Vines Sisters and Family

Amp still performs with The Vines Sisters and Family, singing solos and playing keyboards. He also manages some of the next generation of singers in the family.

Rudy Gay Sr. 1968-69 at H.B. Sugg High School

In 2014, when most people think of Rudy Gay, it’s all about an NBA basketball star. Back in the 1970s, though,Rudy Gay, Sr.(the father) made hearts leap and bodies move to the beat and crooning of his voice.

Rudy Gay, Sr. is Uncle Albert Gay’s youngest child. Uncle Albert was Pa Bob Gay’s baby brother whom he helped raise after their mother Great-Grandmother Arie Gay died in 1909, two years after Uncle Albert was born.

Rudy Sr. participated in football and took part in other activities at H. B.Sugg High School, Farmville, NC, but he was especially known for his singing, and not just in the school choir but in the talent shows and anywhere on the campus that there might be some singing being done.

By the middle of the 1970s, Rudy’s singing had catapulted him into the group Ace Spectrum, which signed with Atlantic Records.

Along with being one of Ace Spectrum’s original members, Rudy sang lead on the group big hit, Don’t Send Nobody Else.

Currently, Rudy Gay Sr. has returned to singing and performing and has released new music and pictures on his website Rudy Gay Music.

Melvin Vines, #14, at H.B. Sugg in 1964
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Melvin is the son of Margie Dean Vines Joyner and the grandson of Aunt Maud Gay Vines, Bob Gay’s older sister.

This is what you need to know about Melvin Vines. He was one of the most talented basketball and football players to ever attend H.B. Sugg High School. From 1963-1966, Melvin played basketball on a level that today people would be whispering “NBA out of high school” or “One and done in college.”

Scoring 20 or 25 points game after game was normal for Melvin. He racked up those scores against Black schools named Bethel Union, Robinson Union, South Ayden, G.R. Whitfield, Conetoe,Patillo, Frink, and other schools in Martin and Beaufort Counties. Melvin was truly that good.

Playing quarterback on the Sugg football team during the 1965 season, Melvin passed for more than 18 touchdowns.

Other members of the family have played sports in high school, college, and professionally.

William Anthony Gay, son of Uncle George and Aunt Alice May, also played basketball during the 1960’s and was a member of a New York City team that won the NYC Championship in the early 1960’s.

Robert “Bob” Gay,son of Uncle Dave and Aunt Mary, played on a state championship basketball team at Farmville Central High School.

Kenny Phillips, son of Willie Phillips and Gennie Gay Phillips, played college football at Chowan and East Carolina University. Kenny was head coach at Fayetteville State University for more than a decade, and guided his teams to several CIAA division and conference championships.

In 2014, CJ Wilson, son of Amos Wilson and Doris Phillips Wilson and grandson of Willie and Gennie Gay Phillips, plays professional football for the Green Bay Packers.

Rudy Gay,son of Rudy Gay, Sr. and Rae Gay (grandson of Albert Gay, Bob Gay’s brother), plays professional basketball for the Sacramento Kings.

Yes, Melvin was back in the day playing for H.B. Sugg, a small high school in Farmville, NC. Still, and most importantly, Melvin Vines demonstrated pure athletic talent and gametime flair way back in the Black high schools days of the 1960’s.