David "Dave" Thompson Plummer, 79, passed away on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 in a local hospital. Dave was born October 24, 1941 in Jacksonville and lived in the Jacksonville Beach and Palm Valley area all of his life. He was a Veteran of the US Army National Guard and attended Fletcher High School.
Dave was preceded in death by his parents Francis Fleming Plummer and Ellen Juanita Smith Plummer; seven sisters: Barbara Guimond, Ione Masters, Iris Alford, Patricia Cheek, Juanita Dixon, Sarah Jane Plummer, and Edith Hardison; and a brother: Maynard Plummer. He is survived by four children: David T. Plummer, Jr. (Brandy), Wanda Langford, Bethany Padgett, and Leslie Huggett (Greg); their mother Merline Mickler; four grandchildren: Jett, Jadyn, Jase, and Justus Plummer; and numerous nieces, nephews, extended family, and friends.
A grandson of prominent Pablo/Jacksonville Beach pioneers H. Warren Smith and Ione Aleathe Price Smith, Dave was known throughout the Beaches as an accomplished musician, a talented sound and recording engineer at Cypress Recording Studios, a skilled builder, and a good friend.
He started playing the guitar at the age of 12 and wrote his first song at 14. Dave moved to Memphis at 17 and recorded at the famed Sun Studio. The experience inspired him to start his own studio back home. He opened a small studio at the docks of an old tugboat site in Palm Valley in 1962. A nearby business was called Cypress Logging Co, which he took as a sign and named his new studio Cypress Recording Studio. He recruited and recorded some outstanding musicians in the makeshift studio, but soon realized he needed a larger and more refined space.
David designed and built the new Cypress Recording Studioin Jacksonville Beach next door to his childhood home in the early 70s. Dave recorded, engineered, and mentored in the legendary studio for 46 years. He possessed a keen and innate sense for sound. He opened his doors to every genre of music and appreciated the originality of amateurs and greats alike. Some of the famous musicians that came through Cypress are several of the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchett, and 38 Special, along with Kenny Price, Arthur Pysock, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Kim Alexis, 95 South, and many more. Dave was a member of the North Florida Song Writers Association.
In addition, Dave loved to perform and continued to be a professional musician himself as he headlined regularly around the area at local venues such as Leonard Skinner's Bar. Dave produced and aired a local Cable TV show that showcased the talents of aspiring performers along with his own work. Dave truly loved music and often would start singing the words to a new song whenever he was inspired, even in the middle of a conversation.
Appropriately, Dave will be laid to rest in the cemetery named for his grandfather, H. Warren Smith, who was once Mayor of Pablo Beach and was the city engineer who facilitated acquisition of the site based on its high elevation on the ridge of the barrier island.
A graveside service will be held at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, October 5, 2021 at H. Warren Smith Cemetery, 1538 2nd Avenue North, Jacksonville Beach. His family will receive friends from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Monday, October 4, 2021 at the Event Center at Peeples Family Funeral Home, 14165 N. Main Street. Peeples is serving the Plummer Family.