THAT DON'T IMPRESS ME MUCH!

Parties lasting until the wee hours of the morning, music and laughter coming from the other side of the house and alcohol flowing like a waterfall and they were expecting my sisters, brother and I to be able to sleep? Don’t get me wrong, we were allowed to attend the party until the jokes started to get dirty and the adults were sloppy drunk. That’s how I remember the weekends when Jim Lowe came down from Nashville.

Mr. Lowe never did make it big on the radio; however, he did own a studio, played as a studio musician and wrote several songs that were big hits for other people. And of course, there was always his one hit “Green Door.” That was my introduction to those who might be considered “famous.”

In 1981, I went to work for the local radio station. The FM station was easy listening, and the AM was country music. I had never been a big fan of country music, outside of the music Jim Lowe played at Daddy’s house when he came down from Nashville. The first “celebrity” I met at the radio station was Kenny Loggins from the 70s group Loggins and Messina. The group had several hits “Your Mama Don’t Dance” was one of my favorites because my kids’ Mama DID dance and their Daddy DID rock and roll. Kenny had ventured out on his own and was promoting his new album (that’s what they did when they didn’t have a lot of backing, they went to the radio stations trying to get airplay). I didn’t keep up with his career after that but he apparently did the songs “Footloose” from the movie of the same name, “Danger Zone” from the movie Top Gun and “I’m Alright” from the movie Caddyshack (with Eddie Money).

The next person I met was Big Al Downing, who was one of the first “breakthrough” black artists in country music. He was a singer and a songwriter. He started as a rhythm and blues and rock musician throughout the 60s and 70s. In the 80s he was a regular guest on the television shows The Grand Ole Opry and Hee Haw. He was very personable and gladly posed for a photo with one of our salespeople and me. Some of his hits were “Mr. Jones” and “Touch Me (I’ll Be Your Fool Once More.”

My sister, Renee, and I loved to dance, something I think we inherited from my Mama. Renee and I would go out dancing as often as possible. There was a place on Broadway Drive in Hattiesburg named “Bonnie & Clyde” which had a large dance floor. They had a free buffet on Friday and Saturday nights from 6 to 8 and after 9 they charged a cover charge. Renee and I would try to get there just before they started charging the cover charge. If I recall correctly, we both drank soft drinks, which cost almost as much as an alcoholic drink. One of us would bring in a large purse so we could sneak in diet cokes.

One night we were on the dance floor and we looked over and saw Charlie Pride. I knew he was in town because the radio station had been advertising his concert. Mama was a big fan of Charlie Pride so Renee and I agreed we would go ask for his autograph for our Mama. We approached his table with napkins in hand and asked him for his autograph for our mother. He apparently had a “thing” for blondes. He didn’t believe that we were asking for Mama and made several very suggestive comments to us, obviously thinking we were “groupies.” We kindly declined his offers and politely excused ourselves and returned to our own table.

Working at the radio station definitely had its benefits (not health insurance or retirement type benefits). Promoters for different bands or singers would offer us “tickets” which were what was considered in the television and radio business as trade outs. We advertised the concert and would offer the tickets to listeners in contests.The promoter usually gave us a couple of extra tickets for the staff, so my boss would usually give me a couple of tickets to concerts he thoughts I might enjoy.

I learned a lot about many of the performers. When Hank Williams Jr. came to town, members of his band, the Bama Band came by the radio station. The Make A Wish Foundation had a young boy whose wish was to meet Hank Williams, Jr. in person. The foundation had asked the manager of the station to try and arrange a meeting for the young boy. The leader of the Bama Band relayed the message from Hank Williams, Jr. to the manager and the representative from the foundation that Hank had stated that he didn’t have time to meet the young boy. The leader of the band apologized profusely and offered backstage passes for the young man and his parents. I later overheard the band leader telling another band member exactly what Hank Williams, Jr. had said, and it contained rude obscene words. To this day, if a Hank Williams, Jr. song comes on the radio, I turn the station. As Mama used to say, “I wouldn’t spit on him, if he were on fire.” I also make it a point if his name comes up in conversation, to make sure that people know exactly what kind of person Hank Williuams, Jr. is!

I met Rev. Al Green at a 70s Revival concert on the Mississippi Coast. I also had the pleasure of meeting Willie Nelson again. From what I was told, when Daddy was selling either pictures or books, Willie Nelson was one of his salesmen. In 1959, Willie Nelson sold the song, “Hello Walls” to Farren Young for $50. Sources on the Internet claim he was paid $400, but I put more faith in Daddy being correct than these “sources.”

We usually mailed the bill and the list of listeners to the promoters at the end of the month of the performance, but when Willie Nelson played at the Reed Green Coliseum, my manager, Doc Chastain, decided to let me bring the list of ticket winners to the coliseum office. As I approached the office, people were milling around outside looking into the office. As I walked into the office I noticed a gentleman that looked just like Willie Nelson standing there. I walked over to the counter and handed over the paperwork and as I turned to leave, I said “I think you used to work for my father.” He asked me who my father was and when I told him he said, “Yes I did, and you were just a baby the last time I saw you.” I was so shocked he remembered me, that I think I just turned and walked out of the office.

During my eight years working at the radio station, I had the pleasure of seeing Alabama, Sly and the Family Stone, but I think the most fun I had was when I scored tickets to the Chippendale Hard Body Review. I talked my boss into giving me enough tickets that we could have my baby sister’s bachelorette party. We invited my cousins, aunts, and my Mama. It was so much fun! Mama was giving us all dollar bills to stick in the dancers' G-strings. The funniest part of the night was when one of the dancers sat on Mama’s lap.

In May of 1996, I was working for Judge Stephen Duczer who owned the Bayou Liberty Marina. The production company filming the movie “Heaven’s Prisoners” approached Judge Duczer about filming a scene at Bayou Liberty Marina. Judge Duczer agreed with the stipulation that the production company pay me $100 to watch and make sure that his property was not destroyed.

There were approximately 10 or 12 bystanders watching the filming. Most of them were women in the 50s and 60s who had come to see Alec Baldwin and Eric Roberts. Between “takes,” Alec would go sit in an air-conditioned limo. It was mid-May, the temperatures were over 90 and we were all sweating. Between scenes, Alec walked over to me and asked me for directions to the restaurant Trey Yuen in Mandeville. I gave him the directions and then told him that it wasn’t fair that his crew and spectators were all sweating and he was retreating into the air-conditioned limo. He offered to let me come sit in the limo, to which I declined. I thought the ladies observing the conversation were going faint. After he walked off, the ladies ran over and started asking me all kinds of questions. I laughed and told them that there were better-looking crew members working on the set and that Alec Baldwin was nothing special.

Famous people have never really impressed me. When I started working at a law firm in New Orleans, one of the attorneys introduced me to another attorney telling me that he was a former lineman for the New Orleans Saints. Later while working for the firm, the same attorney told me that he had worked as a prosecuting attorney for Orleans Parish. I looked at the initial attorney, who had expected me to be impressed with a New Orleans Saints lineman, and said “Now I’m impressed.”