50 Years of Rock 'n Roll

It was a different era.  The British Invasion had begun, led by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Elvis had finished his stint as a soldier, and the music was getting better and better. Johnny Rivers of Baton Rouge, LA goes all the way to #2 with his cover of Chuck Berry's song "Memphis Tennessee".  Folk classic "The House of the Rising Sun" is covered by Newcastle, UK blues band The Animals and hits #1 in the US & UK. Texan Roy Orbison tops the charts for the final time in the US & UK with the single "Oh Pretty Woman". 

The Victors Combo formed in a small Tennessee garage playing the music of 1965, 

playing the music you grew up with!

It started for The Victors in 1964 when Wendell Harris bought a used '61 Fender Stratocaster (shown in the classic photo above) and began learning to play. His little brother, Randy, would rush home from school, pull the "Strat" from under his brother's bed and play along with The Ventures, Johnny Rivers and the Beatles. Hurrying to place the guitar back exactly as he found it before his brother came home, Randy would start to practice on an old drum set. The brother's started playing with another family member and guitarist, Eddie Foster, and with that The Victors slowly came into existence. Later, Wendell switched to bass guitar, and the trio added the final link in The Victors, drummer Tommy Knowles.

The Victors became one of the many popular garage bands around the mid-state in the mid 60's, becoming the "house band" for Mt. Juliet's Teen Town. They played throughout the mid-state, and became one of the busiest bands in the area. In 1966, The Victors added keyboardist/bass guitarist James Swain and drummer Raymond Unland. The Victors continued to play into the 70's, when outside obligations began to draw the band apart. Randy and Raymond continued to play for several years with many different bands, but the magic that was The Victors was lost.

In 2013, Randy  reformed The Victors with guitarist Tommy Oakley, drummer Rodney Thomas, keyboardist Steve Johnson, and  bassist Austin Adcock.  Guitarist Rob Pearcy replaced Tommy Oakley for 2 years while Tommy pursued other projects and John Kelly replaced Austin in 2016. 

In 2022, Joe Calvert joined on Lead Guitar.  Joe is recognized as one of the finest guitarists in the world and has played live or recorded for greater than 40 gold and platinum award-winning artists.

In 2023 Randy Brasfield replaced Joe Calvert on Lead Guitar bringing a new fresh sound to the band.  

  2024 brought lots of changes with the addition of Shannon Sullivan (daughter of original Victor, Wendell Harris) adding a new dimension of vocals, long time percussionist Gary Brewster on drums, and Jan Brasfield replacing the retiring John Kelly.