Clay Allison

Robert Clay Allison (September 2, 1841 – July 3, 1887) was a cattle rancher, cattle broker, and sometimes gunfighter of the American Old West. He fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Allison had a reputation for violence, having survived several one-on-one knife and gunfights (some with lawmen), as well as being implicated in a number of vigilante jail break-ins and lynchings. He is posthumously known as the man who "...never killed a man that did not need killing." A drunken Allison once rode his horse through town nearly naked—wearing only his gunbelt.

Early life

Robert Allison was born on September 2, 1841. He was the fourth of the nine children of Jeremiah Scotland Allison and his wife, Mariah Ruth [nee Brown] Allison. His father was a Presbyterian minister who raised cattle and sheep to support the family. Allison helped on the family farm near Waynesboro, Tennessee, until the American Civil War began when he was 21.

American Civil War

On October 15, 1861, he enlisted with the Confederate States Army in Captain W. H. Jackson's artillery battery. Three months later, however, he was medically discharged due to an old head injury hindering his ability to serve. On September 22, 1862, Allison re-enlisted, this time in the 9th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, where he served under the Confederate "Wizard of the Saddle," General Bedford Forrest. He surrendered at Gainesville, Alabama—along with Forrest's men—on May 4, 1865 (at the war's end). After briefly being held as a prisoner of war, Allison and the others were paroled on May 10, and allowed to return home.

Opal (band)

Opal were an American alternative/psychedelic band in the 1980s. They were part of the Paisley Underground musical style.

The group formed in the mid-'80s under the name Clay Allison, featuring guitarist David Roback (previously of Rain Parade), bassist Kendra Smith (from Dream Syndicate) and drummer Keith Mitchell. After one single, they released the remaining Clay Allison tracks under the band's new name, Opal, on the 1984 Fell from the Sun EP. Another EP, Northern Line, followed in 1985. These EPs were later compiled and released as Early Recordings

Happy Nightmare Baby, Opal's first full-length album, was released in 1987. Smith left the group during the Happy Nightmare tour after a show in Providence, Rhode Island. Roback continued with vocalist Hope Sandoval, playing shows as Opal and planning an album to be titled Ghost Highway but in 1989 this band became Mazzy Star and Ghost Highway was presumably released as She Hangs Brightly. Kendra Smith released a number of solo singles, EPs, and one album before retiring to the woods of northern California.