THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 17, 1996 TAG: 9608160057
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 70 lines
NEAL McCOY is a golf nut. If you're going to talk to him, it's got to be an early interview so he can spend the rest of the day on the course.
The interview call came from Luray, W.Va., at 8:15 a.m. But it could have been at noon because, McCoy groaned, ``it's supposed to rain all day long. Well, I got stuff I need to do.'' Pause. ``I need to go golfing.''
McCoy will be in concert at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base on Sunday. The show begins at 3 p.m. In the morning, radio station Eagle-97 will take him to the course on the base - a course appropriately called Eagle Haven.
All of that should serve as a good omen. Eagle and Eagle Haven could equal an eagle. That means two under par on any hole.
Now, let's talk music.
``July 30, a year ago, on my birthday, my wife, Melinda, bought me some golf clubs. She told me I should play since I get invited to a lot of tournaments. I fell in love with the game,'' McCoy said. ``Now, she can't complain when I play. She started this. She doesn't play.''
She takes care of 10-year-old Miki and 2-year-old Swayde.
Now, let's talk music.
``My handicap (golf) is about 15. Not bad for just a year of playing,'' McCoy said. ``I never had anything to do with golf before I got those clubs because I hated patience and quietness.''
There is nothing quiet about his show. Or predictable.
``The whole thing is ad lib - off the cuff, spontaneous,'' said McCoy.
His band members never know what to expect in concert.
``Our attitude is - this is going to be fun for me and the band,'' McCoy said. ``It's a contagious attitude. I don't know anyone else who does a show like this. We work very hard to entertain people.''
The tall Texan, part Irish and part Filipino, has been entertaining the folks since he was a youngster in Jacksonville. He sang gospel, in choral groups, with a rhythm and blues band. Then he went into country.
In 1981, in Dallas, he was performing in a talent show when Charley Pride, who owns a fair portion of the city, heard the real McCoy and signed him.
McCoy toured with him for six years, then went out on his own. His success is the result of a fine baritone-to-bass voice and his ``shameless'' posturing.
If someone in the audience aims a camera, he poses. Wanna talk? He talks.
It is the singing, of course, that keeps him atop the charts. Top 10 hits emanated from his 1994 and 1995 platinum albums, ``No Doubt About It'' and ``You Gotta Love That.''
His current album, ``Neal McCoy,'' contains the single ``Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye,'' the old Casinos pop/R&B classic.
``I've loved that song forever,'' McCoy said. ``I never thought we could put it in country music, but it's a big hit for us.''
Sunday, McCoy will also offer a longtime audience favorite, ``Rapper's Delight,'' a mix of the theme from ``Beverly Hillbillies'' and ``Banana Boat Song,'' a combination which, as McCoy's publicity sheet notes, ``is absurd, but it works.''
The sheet also says that the tall, dark, handsome crooner has ``exotic good looks.''
McCoy mulled that over. ``Exotic? I told 'em to put erotic.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Neal McCoy
Graphic
IF YOU WANT TO GO
Who: Neal McCoy, Little Texas and Rhett Akins
When: 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Little Creek Amphibious Base Main Stage; gates open at
noon
Tickets: $14 advance, $17 Sunday; order at 671-8100
Information: 363-4311 by CNB