News of The Abacos

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The Fun and Fabulous Gully Roosters
By: Charlene AM Fernander

One can scarcely hear anything about the Green Turtle Cay Club without hearing the Gully Roosters mentioned in the same breath. The group of five men, most of them relatives, have been playing together for about twenty years now and have been heard in some pretty fancy places by even fancier people.

According to Kevin, the band ­ comprised of Kevin McIntosh (lead singer and guitarist), his brother, Earklin McIntosh (manager and base guitarist), cousins, Godfrey (Gully) McIntosh (keyboardist) and Vernal Cooper (base guitarist) and close friend, Brent Curry (backup singer and drummer) ­ began playing as a band on weekend nights in their Aunt Emily's (known as Miss Emily throughout the Bahamas) famous Blue Bee Bar (home of the equally famous beverage, Goombay Smash) on Green Turtle Cay, North Abaco. At that time, they carried no trade name, but sat down one night and decided to give themselves and "island" name. "Gully" was the nickname of Godfrey McIntosh and also part of the name of the seagulls they would see flying around the place. After playing long hours in the bar most nights, the members would be able to hear the male chickens making loud noises in the yard as they were trudging their way home, so they decided to use this ­ rooster ­ as the second half of the band's name.

The Gully Roosters played for some time at the Blue Bee before moving next door to the Sea Garden Bar, owned by their Uncle Bert. This bar was a wooden building with a wooden floor which tended to vibrate whenever someone moved on it. So you can imagine what would happen after a large boisterous group of partyers started their own vibrations to the Band's music ­ the floor would jump up and down in time to the people and the people would jump up and down in time to the music.

One night, when the Roosters were playing their usual stint at the Sea Garden, the most popular member Kevin was approached by a few tourists who told him that they loved their music and felt that if they played in the US of A they would be well-received. Kevin and the other Roosters discussed it and thought that it would be a good idea. They had some of their popular songs written down and were invited to play at a party being held by one of their tourist admirers. His name was Dr. William Hawkins, a resident of Stuart, Florida. They stayed with him and did an eight-hour stint in West Palm Beach.

The Gully Roosters have since recorded albums of soul music, including cuts like..."She Left Me in My Own Tears," "Please Stay," "Sandra," "Cheryl Lee," "Pretty Brown Skin," "Round as an Apple," "Destiny" and "I Love you."

Kevin's older brother, Earklin opened his own nightclub in 1983 and things really began looking up for the Roosters. The Club was perched on top of a hill in Green Turtle Cay. The group wanted to call it Rooster's Nest, but as we all know roosters have yet to lay eggs. However, after climbing to the top of that hill to reach the Club, Rooster's Rest seemed more than appropriate as a name. Afterwards, of course with the band playing all night long and the easy flow of certain drinks, you could just as easily roll down that same hill as fall.

More albums such as Rooster Jam with popular cuts such as, "Lets Go Go to Abaco" (written by Kevin) and "If I Ever Needed You" soon followed and then, more trips to play at West Palm Beach. Kevin maintains that one reason the band has been so successful is because they can play anything ­ just come up to the bandstand and make your request and sure enough, the Roosters know how to play it.

Lately, Kevin says he has been in the "junkanoo" mood and is writing a song to match -"We Got the Junkanoo", which is due for release between '98 and '99. He assured me that people will come from all over to hear them perform as they always have.

Kevin, believe it or not, has a one-man band "on the side." He plays at Bluff House, also on Green Turtle Cay, at weddings and at small parties and calls himself Island Man Spice!

All of the members live on Green Turtle Cay, work at several other places of employment among them (Green Turtle Club, New Plymouth Inn, Bluff House Club and as a Dock Master and Builder). They have performed at the aforementioned clubs and at Mick's Bar, Sea View Restaurant, Marsh Harbour's Jib Room and the Boat Harbour Marina's Dockside Bar, on boats, in and around southern Florida towns and in Washington, D.C.

From the relatively unknown (at the time) Blue Bee, through their Rest on the hill, over to Stateside and back, the Gully Roosters have risen from humble beginnings to what they are today ­ a world-class act with a never-to-be-forgotten sound.

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