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| Centaur's original logo |
Centaur was begun in October of 1981 with Chuck Hollingsworth on drums and Bill Hollingsworth on bass and vocals along with their friend Jay Wood on guitar and vocals. Chuck (a space enthusiast) came up with the name, which was in honor of the Centaur rocket (actually a rocket stage), not the mythical half-horse/half-man creature as many may have thought. They practiced at the "shack," a very rural and very spartan old house where Bill and Chuck also lived. (I will never forget, when Chuck and I started dating a few years later, seeing how their bathtub just drained out through a hole in the floor and not through a pipe...nor the giant wolf spiders that found their way inside!) At least they could play long and loud there and the rent was cheap. The first gig they ever played was in February of 1982 at the Belhaven, North Carolina Veteran's of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post. Aptly, this lineup's last gig was at the Greenville, North Carolina VFW Post on December 8, 1985. The band had played a total of 33 shows up to that point, with only 2 of them being one-off gigs with future band members, and not including Jay. They mainly did cover tunes of groups like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, UFO, Motorhead, AC/DC and Steppenwolf with only a handful of original songs, including "C.D.S." which stood for "Chuck's Drum Solo." So many of the clubs that all of the versions of the band played at are now gone. But the memories remain and quite a few photos do, too (though many of them were from old Kodak Polaroid and 110 cameras). In the summer of 2011 Chuck, the band archivist, dragged out all of his old scrapbooks filled with photos and memorabilia and I set out to scan in and fix up everything in them (well over a thousand items!) and put them on discs as slide shows to share with Bill and Jay. In September of the same year, the three of them had done an impromptu 30th reunion jam at Bill's house (see bottom of page for photos), reinforcing even more the urge to document the band's history. All of that lead to the creation of these pages divided into different eras of the band featuring just a few of the photos and a little bit of information so that others who may remember going to see Centaur, or who were in it, can have a stroll down memory lane, too. Enjoy!
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| Centaur circa 1983 |
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First photo of Centaur circa January 1982 |
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| Centaur circa 1985 |
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| Bill Hollingsworth on bass and vocals |
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| Jay Wood on guitar and vocals |
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| Chuck Hollingsworth on drums |
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| A winter scene of the infamous "shack" where Bill and Chuck lived and where the band practiced between 1981-1986 |
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| Bill Hollingsworth at band practice at the shack, 1983 |
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| Chuck Hollingsworth at band practice at the shack, 1983 |
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| Jay Wood at band practice at the shack, 1983 |
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| I think that publication needed a better proofreader! |
typical set list
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| typical set list |
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Centaur would like to thank their road crew and others who helped out at gigs during 1981 to 1985. Among them are Brent Holmes, Tom Miller, Jimmy Moseby, Mike 'Kemosabe' Norris, Ward 'Murdock' Gurganus, Bob Heath, Marvin Lilley, Joe Curry, Al Williams, Randy Williams, Bird, Wayne Hardee and John.
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| Centaur with road crew members Joe Curry and Al Williams |
1982 gigs featuring Bill Hollingsworth/Chuck Hollingsworth/Jay Wood:
Feb 20: VFW Post, Belhaven, NC (with Tezzer)
June 16-17: The Big Surf, Atlantic Beach, NC (with Cirkus)
Oct 30: The Main Event II, Greenville, NC (with Pursuit, also a second guitarist, Tommy Olschner, played with Centaur at this show)
1983 gigs featuring Bill Hollingsworth/Chuck Hollingsworth/Jay Wood:
Jan 28: Quail Ridge Club House (private party), Greenville, NC
Dec 9: The Yellow Rose, Greenville, NC
Dec 31: The Transporter Room, Ayden, NC (with Tyrant)
1984 gigs featuring Bill Hollingsworth/Chuck Hollingsworth/Jay Wood:
Jan 21: The Yellow Rose, Greenville, NC
Feb 25: The Yellow Rose, Greenville, NC
May 6: The Crossroads, Pinetops, NC
May 11: The Yellow Rose, Greenville, NC
May 20: The Crossroads, Pinetops, NC
May 25: The Rathskeller, Greenville, NC
June 3: Grimesland Seine Beach, Grimesland, NC
July 20-21: Rocky Road South, Grifton, NC (with Tyrant)
July 29: The Crossroads, Pinetops, NC (with Maxx Warrior)
Oct 27: (private party), Conetoe, NC
Oct 28: The Crossroads, Pinetops, NC (with Steel Rage)
Nov 30-Dec 1: The Riverside Lounge & Park
Dec 5: The Attic, Greenville, NC
Dec 8: The Attic, Greenville, NC (with Glass Moon)
1985 gigs featuring Bill Hollingsworth/Chuck Hollingsworth/Jay Wood:
Jan 6: The Attic, Greenville, NC (with Tyrant and Gray Wing)
June 8: Contentnea Creek Fireman's Camp (with Drastic Measures)
Jun 9: The Crossroads, Pinetops, NC (with Back Street Kids and Drastic Measures)
Jun 21: Phase III, Ayden, NC
Jun 22: The Yellow Rose, Greenville, NC
July 19-20: Phase III, Ayden, NC
Aug 11: Country Estates Mobile Home Park (Jay Wood was not at this gig, this show featured Bill Hollingsworth/Chuck Hollingsworth/Mike Teeter/James Carver and Lee Cherry)
Nov 10: The Crossroads, Pinetops, NC (Jay Wood was not at this gig, this show featured Bill Hollingsworth/Chuck Hollingsworth/Mike Teeter/Dale Matthews and Lee Cherry)
Dec 5: VFW Post, Greenville, NC (last show with Jay Wood)
AND THIS VERSION OF THE BAND PLAYED ON......PHOTOS FROM CENTAUR'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION JAM, SEPTEMBER 18 & 25, 2011
Known Photo Credits:Jimmy M., Wayne H., Michael N., Al W., Bird, Joe C., Bob H., Frances N.
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