The Night Shift

[WildcatOne]

Thanks, Doc and ProZ, tell JTP to email me some pics and the gig info and he's got it...Cheers, WC1
pctalent@sbcglobal.net
PS: Your email kicks back all my messages..."mailbox full"...<g>

[jim sanders]

my PM box or e-mail ? i have heard that before from others.. but i get e-mails everyday from the funnycar group, flathead Ford group, etc... nothing from Stacy lately oh heck while i'm here i should say i signed into myspace. com just to see how it works and maybee meet a local gal who likes motorsports, old kareokee singers, balding men with false teeth etc www.myspace.com/56deanjames

[jim sanders]

wow the link works !!

[WildcatOne]

Cool myspace link, Doc! It's your email that kicks back.
john_sanders@ whatever it is...do you have a different one?

Remember a few weeks ago in this thread, I talked about Big Larry dying and then Duane went over there and they overdosed him but he survived...word came in just now that Kevin, who brought Duane home that Sunday and then I brought him back to his home after he drove Duane's car, died Saturday night of an overdose. Same stuff they gave Duane. That's Big Larry's youngest son. He was 21. I knew this was coming but I expected it to be Larry, Jr. It's Helen's drugs they're taking. She's their mother and Big Larry's widow. She let them take her prescription antidepressant/pain medication and that's what almost killed Duane and now Kevin is dead. Larry Jr is out there somewhere, nobody knows where he lives, but he gave Duane the pills. He hasn't been around here. I'm not sure if I should step in and turn Larry Jr in before more people die, but I don't know if he gave Kevin that stuff. It's a wretched and depressing situation. My wife is probably over there right now with Helen, but I'm not sure. Once Big Larry checked out (heart attack), their family fell apart at the seams and now they're dying, too. Kevin knew better than to do that. He kept Duane alive for 2 days after he took the stuff 3 weeks ago. WC1

[jim sanders]

....jeeez WC......

[WildcatOne]

Yesterday I went to Kevin's funeral. I have to say it was a horrible experience. The misery and agony that the Borgfeld family is enduring at this time is far beyond anything I can fathom. It was exactly as the Bible tells it: the wailing and the gnashing of teeth. This was wrong. It should not have happened. Kevin was young and bright with his whole life ahead of him and he was a good kid that everybody loved, just like his Dad was. Going through that funeral was like getting stabbed in the heart with a dagger. That's about the best way I could describe what it was like, and I'm not related to those people, just a friend of the family. I can't imagine what they are feeling. The gig last night came up and I went and played it. I forget about my regular life when the music starts. I turn into the keyboard player/entertainer and I boogie on down with the band. Pee Wee told me to turn UP...and start stretching out my chops...I was kind of hanging in the background. Kevin was haunting me. He is with everybody right now. He's stuck in that grave trying to get out. It was an accident. He's still here. That was the feeling everybody had. I kept thinking about him and I was not on top of my game at the gig, but nobody else was, either...T-Bone Tom's is an outdoor gig down in Kemah, 3 blocks away from 5th Street. It's hot, humid and there are mosquitos and we all sweated and got winded...we pulled off the gig OK, but we were all kind of relieved when it was over. 4 hot rods were there. A classic '48 Merc, chopped, channeled with lake pipes, a louvered hood and custom scoop, Pee Wee's '56 BelAir, a same model '57 BelAir, and a '55 Chevy Pickup that was perfect and for sale (15 grand). There were 300 dancing and partying people there. A group of young folks in their early 20s came in and watched us play the last set. We did a Little Richard medley at the end of the night, and PeeWee gave me the piano solos...a kid came up to me after the set and he was totally jazzed by my piano playing. He said he has a band in Galveston but they're nowhere near as diversified and experienced as this band is. He told me his keyboard player was there and he said I knocked his socks off. I was humbled and delighted to meet this kid. He carried my 100-lb amp to my van and put it in for me. I gave him a Citykings CD and he was blown away..."You play GUITAR in that band????" I said yeah, these are the money gigs, but the Citykings write and record their own music...he asked about where I'm playing next, and I told him next week I'm at Katie's and the Cock-Eyed Seagull with Shakedown, the classic rock band I usually play with. He said they'll be there and he's full of enthusiasm about meeting me and hanging out. I asked for his email. He wrote it down and gave it to me. His name is Kevin. He's 21. He's excited about life and all it will bring him. I wanted to hug him and cry. I'll send him my URLs and invite him and his friends to the gigs next weekend as my guests and offer to help them with anything they need. He doesn't know how meaningful meeting him was for me. Anyway, Pee Wee's wife Jerry gave me this picture from last weekend at the Texas City Shrimp Boil. L-R: Johnny (Sax), Pee Wee (kneeling), Herb (valve trombone), Frankie (drums), Jeff (bass), Jimmy (guitar), and me (keyboards). Jimmy is holding a Lone Star guitar...LS#1...the first one he built...his custom-made guitars are highly prized as the best you can get. Tonight after the gig at Bojangles I'm driving down to Galveston to spend the night at my Dad's house. I'm taking a dozen boxes with me to pick up the tools he gave me with. Enjoy the races. I'll check back in later. Meanwhile, the show must go on. Cheers, WC1

[draglist]

That's fantastic, John. That meant a lot to that kid and he had no idea what it meant to you. It will be great to follow the young man's progress... bp

[jim sanders]

great story WC..kind of spooky.. i bet he becomes a great friend ....

[WildcatOne]

Thanks, BP and Doc. I hope he does show up again. But I can look at it like I was visited and told that it's OK...I am still having repercussions emotionally from yesterday. You know how it is with men. Men don't show weakness. Men don't let things get to them because we're men and we're tough and strong. Well, I have to say that what I saw yesterday would have made the most hard-case macho thug stop and weep. It was unspeakably tragic. So I had some trouble shaking it off. I'm better today but that will stay with me for the rest of my life. And last night I met Kevin, who just walked up to me and started talking and helping me out with my stuff. Yes, I hope he does show up again. I'd be honored to be his friend. WC1

[draglist]

I'm the biggest crybaby at funerals. I'll admit it. I've had to do a lot of eulogies for loved ones and it's never easy -- and I rarely make it through. I've seen all of those I care to... bp