A Night to Remember

One of the most wonderful weekends I ever spent was in Helena Ark. We were there for the King

Biscuit Flour Hour Blues Festival. My friend, Tommy worked with a newspaper there and we had played for several venues, we loved visiting and performing there and we made the drive often.

Tommy was involved with the Blues Festival, so he invited us to spend the weekend. Buddy Guy was one of the headliners, so was Levon Helm and Jessie Mae Hemphill and Robert Jr.Lockwood.

I actually got to sip a little whiskey with Mr. Lockwood and Miss Jessie gave me some tips on how to keep a man happy. (involved dancing and high heels) just being backstage with all those great musicians was the experience of a lifetime. But it got even better.

On Saturday night after the show, Tommy said he had a night to remember lined up for us.

I am standing there thinking, it can't get any better than this, but knowing my friend, I knew it could. We got in the car with Tommy and his girlfriend and started to drive, now it was close to midnight and we were in Mississippi Delta country and cotton fields surrounded us. Soon, we were actually driving through cotton fields and there in the middle of nowhere was our destination........... a shot house. Tommy looked at us and said, look these are my friends, everything will be fine and you are about to hear the best blues in your life.

We walked in the shot house, and we were the only pale faces there, but Tommy was greeted with hugs and handshakes, and soon we had one of the best seats in the house. And my friend did not lie, the band was the best group of blues players I have ever heard, and the singer........never before or since, have I heard anyone as good as him.......it was as though we had found the crossroads, and everyone who had ever signed the contract was there performing.

This was in the eighties, and my life was quite different then.......I went to the bathroom and was offered up quite an array of goodies to partake of, life was real good. We stayed until the sun came up and the last note was sung. I knew when we left that cotton field I would never experience anything like it again. Many times I have talked about the magic of my life, I truly have lived some moments that were gifts.........Delta Blues, cotton fields, a shot house.......a night to always be remembered.