Gary...how interesting...I had no idea that
there was such interest in Enis.

A well-known local writer...Ed McLannahan, wrote an article for Playboy magazine in 75 or 76 that won him a major award. It was called "The world's best left-handed guitar player", or something like that. Ed comes to the Merrick Inn in the summers (where I play on the patio). He is as close to an Enis historian as anybody. He actually dated the owner of the Merrick Inn, Libby Murray, while in college. You can probably search the Playboy archives, and Ed is still a resident of Lexington. I looked in the local directory...I think his number is (859) 231-8322. His address is 204 Walton Ave. 40505 (?) not sure about the Zip.

After the Playboy article, Enis had a brief resergence of his career (75-early 76). He played several times in Vegas and in Lexington. He would show up in early 1976 at the Sportsman Lounge on Winchester Road. I played in the band upstairs with his old drummer from Brocks, Jerry Musselman, who still lives in Lexington, and then after hours downstairs in the dining room. By that time, he was so weak, we had to carry him upstairs. He sat on a chair and sang his ass off.

Enis was born in a little town in Lincoln County, Kentucky,where my family is from. He had rhumatic fever as a child and learned to play on a guitar my uncles had. My grandmother, who lives in St Clound, Florida
still has the guitar (she's 102 years old).

The L-5 Gibson guitar he had in the 60's was bought by a guy named Dusty Paling, who teachess guitar at Carls Music Center (don't know if he still has it).

The Herald/Leader had feature articles about Enis over the years, and a magazine called ACE (a Lexington publication) has had several relatively recent articles about Enis written by McLannahan. The Herald-Leader has a photo archive and sells repros of old photos and articles(100 Midland Ave...Lexington, Ky 40505-Phone # 1-800-274-7355).

The only recording I'm aware of is "I Kept the Wine and Threw away the Roses". This Album was a classic...Enis in his pink Cadillac on a country Road...don't know the year, but I could find out. The Trimble brothers played organ and drums in the Tabletoppers. One brother died and the
other moved out of state. Besides Jerry, there is a saxophone player named Bucky Sallee still here in Lexington. He is the trumpet player for Keeneland (before each race) and a State retiree.

Enis had a daughter named Donna Fay, who had a budding career here in Lexington and moved to Nashville in the early 80's.She was featured in a recent special on the Country music cable channel. He also had an ex wife who worked a a waitress at the Sportsman in 1975-6, but I've lost track of her.His brother was alive and living in Lexington in the mid-90's and may still be alive. there is a Joey Toadvine listed in the local directory (502) 867-4808, who is probably a relative.

I went to Enis' funeral with Raymond Comer, who was Enis' mentor. Comers was a local club, and Enis played there and next door at Boots Bar until he got too weak to work.
Raymond gave Enis a place to live and gave him money and took care of his medical and funeral expenses for the last 10 years or so of his life. Sadly, Mr. Comer (a close friend) died last year. I have a framed photo taken by a local Photographer, Guy Mendez,which was included in the Playboy article. Guy shot many photos of Enis
over the years. He recently retired, but Ed will know if he is still in the area.

Ed's your main source of "all things Enis".
If I can help you in any way, email me at MCCI@prodigy.net or call me at 1-859-253-0390. By the time I was playing with Enis, he had mostly swiched to rock-a-billy, was fairly "out of it" most of the time (1961-62), and becoming weak from such a hard life. I was called in when the Tabletoppers backed out-of-town acts and would go to Club 68 in Lebanon on many Saturday nights to work with them.

Just a few leads...let me know if I can help in any other way.


Regards,

Russ Lay