Joey Terry...A Dolan Springs Country Bumpkin: October 5, 1961-December 18, 2014 It started when I went to visit my grandparents in 1972 and saw this red headed, pasty white, excessively freckled kid at the Lake Mohave Ranch Club swimming pool, doing cannon balls. He tried to do a can opener and failed miserably. I laughed and walked over to the pool and showed him how to do one. That smile was contagious but what was more rewarding was to watch this kid spend the next hour annoying the hell out of people, doing one can opener after another...successively. I moved to my grandparents in 1973 after getting into a lot of trouble. I was going to have to adjust from living in L.A., population 7 million to Mayberry, population 1300. There would be no more running away and going to the beach, to the mall, to Disneyland or to Dodger Stadium. I felt I was going to be a loner sophisticated city boy amongst a bunch of tumbleweeds. I will have to live with these kinds of memories as Joey is no longer able to make new memories. Feel free to share this with others, life is about being friends...not enemies. Joey, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, you made me smile. Oh and there we were all in one place, a generation lost in space. I felt like...Id been through the Desert On a Horse with No Name as we wandered all over the washes for hours on end. It was like we went to a Garden Party on a Beautiful Sunday. I told you then that you could always Lean On Me and that never changed, because...Im the Candy Man. The laughter we evoked when we sang about our ding-a-ling a-ling on our way Down By The Lazy River...the Colorado. The countless hours we spent swimming and fishing, starting when Morning Has Broken. I was able to See Clearly Now as things were Gentle On My Mind. Although later in life you would not like Bread, you know that I Would Give Everything I Own just to hold you, once again. We never had to worry about Sylvias Mother but we did have to worry about Janet and Lindas father, John Butcher. It would have been as if wed Kissed An Angel Good Morning with those two or the Frye girls or the Toneys or the Escoffiers and the Rohrers as it was just like Puppy Love. But when Schools Out for The Summer and were spending Saturday in the Park with our Motorcycle Mama, Dont Stop Believing because Id Like to Teach The World to Sing...even you. Now I just take things, Day By Day, because I think back to that day at the club when Lance Murray was picking on you when you were trying to find a partner to play pool with. I knew I must have been in the Right Place, but it was the Wrong Time since the mountains behind us had Superstition in their name. It was like a huge Playground in My Mind and I wanted to Drift Away, like Little Willy. I walked over to the jukebox and saw the perfect songs to hustle the little jerks with: Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and Country Bumpkin and Snowbird and of course Knock Three Times. I asked, whos That Lady you were with and you said...Me and Mrs. Jones, we got a thing going on. I really wanted to bust out laughing at you cause I thought for sure you were gonna catch that Midnight Train to Georgia and be on The Cover of the Rolling Stone as you approached a Higher Ground. No Joey, it wont be the Last Song Ill ever sing to you but...if it was Yesterday Once More, Id definitely Sing...sing a song and make it simple to last your whole life long. Maybe, just maybe you have Rockin Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu? Since It Never Rains in Southern California, perhaps we can play til the Twelfth of Never because thats just the Way We Were. I just about fell out of my chair when you thought you were a Dancing Machine and tried to Jungle Boogie while doing The Streak and chasing Spiders and Snakes. Then the undertaker took our Band on the Run when I said Let Me Be There in the morning as I felt the Sunshine on My Shoulders. We never felt like The Joker because we were on Top of The World looking down on creation and the only explanation I can find...was to be The Entertainer and not get busted Smokin in The Boys Room. Do you remember, The Night Chicago Died? All you could think of was, The Show Must Go On because you didnt want to Rock The Boat and...you just had to Tell Me Something Good. Its You and Me Against The World kid, Takin Care of Business as we say Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I loved to sing just like a Rhinestone Cowboy because Id become a Country Boy, I had my feet in L.A. but my minds on Tennessee looking for my Philadelphia Freedom, Before The Next Teardrop Falls. The look on the girls faces when I crooned My Eyes Adored You and gave them lots of Laughter in The Rain...hell, I thought Max Dearing would start Kung Fu Fighting until I said, Thank God Im a Country Boy. He just, just, just started Jive Talkin, I thought I was back in L.A. until someone yelled out, (Hey Wont You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song then we all started a Ballroom Blitz and slid right into The Hustle. Do you remember when Mandy had to tell you, Im not Lisa and that she was actually Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and the she was on Fire? She asked you Why Cant We Be Friends and you said Stop Oh Wait Mr. Postman, its Magic, you know...And the Cats in the Cradle with Wildfire. I told you I Can Help in My Chevy Van because Ive got Feelings, nothing more than Feelings for Lonnie Dailey. She was a One Man Woman-One Woman Man which worked for me since all we wanted was to Get Down Tonight because she lived on the Morning Side Of The Mountain and I lived on the twilight side of the hill. When she was going back to California, I asked her When Will I See You Again. She just said: do it, do it, Do It (Til Youre Satisfied). Then I knew, It Only Takes A Minute girl, to fall in love. She said, No No No lets go Bungle In The Jungle, yes you know I Can Dance but Love Hurts so Dont let the Sun Go Down on Me. I asked you what song came to mind when you saw the Frye girls and you would sing...Fox on the Run. I said Whatever Gets You Through The Night is alright, alright. So back to the songs, Ive Got the Music in Me...what about you? You would come over and say...sing me a song youre the Piano Man and thats what Id do. Then wed go out and chase our Estes or send Sally to do it, cause you were the Rocket Man. Joey: With a friend to call my own, Ill never be alone, and you, my friend, will see, Youve got a friend in me. Goodbye to you my trusted friend...Weve known each other since we were nine or ten. Together weve climbed hills and trees, Learned of love and ABCs, Skinned our hearts and skinned our knees. Goodbye my friend its hard to die, When all the birds are singing in the sky. Now that spring is in the air, Pretty girls are everywhere, Think of me and Ill be there. We had joy we had fun we had Seasons in the Sun. As kids we got to listen to KDWN (K-Dawn) for our music and a couple of other stations. We also got to hear Dodgers games on that station. Of course, Name That Tune was a favorite. Well, I know its kind of late, I hope I didnt wake you. But what I got to say cant wait, I know youd understand. Every time I tried to tell you, The words just came out wrong. So Ill have to say I love you in a song. : youtu.be/EN1nMpmC0n4 Goodnight my friend. I know youll make sense of this note, its full of songs we used to sing...songs Id play the piano/organ to. This was our simple life, the life in Dolan Springs in the 70s. Lets go back to that life buddy. Goodnight my friend. I know youll make sense of this note, its full of songs we used to sing...songs Id play the piano/organ to. This was our simple life, the life in Dolan Springs in the 70s. Lets go back to that life buddy.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 16:41:33 +0000
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