It's cool and drizzling this morning in Middle Tennessee, a dramatic difference from a couple of weeks ago. Sitting out here on the porh enjoying it brougt back to mind.......
1964, I was on tour with The Wilburn Brothers and Loretta Lynn. Loretta was still just getting started but had a good record out already and I had a couple of records that were
the doing pretty good. The Wilburns were the headliners
and we were all working with their band, which included Don Helms, and we were having some really good shows. The last show on the tour was in Southern Illinois and we all arrived there ready to do the show. The show site turned out to be outside, on the roof of the projection booth of a drive in theater. That wouldn't have been too bad, but it was late October and a cold front had hit that part of Illinois with really chilly weather and a cold drizzle. Now it wasn't going to bother the crowd cause they were all sitting in their cars, the little speakers on the inside of the window and the windows rolled up and the heater turned on with the engine running. Course, in those days we didn't even think about cancelling because of the weather conditions. You just sucked it up and went out there and did your show, no matter what. It was so strange singing to a field of cars, motors running, windshield wipers going, listening to our pitiful sound as it came through the midget speakers that served as sound for all drive in theaters. You couldn't see a single face, with the foggy drizzle, and the exhaust steam coming out of the car engines. At the end of each song, the cars would all honk and flash their lights and we knew at the end that we probably got a honking ovation as we all got back under shelter and tried to dry off and warm up. One memorable moment for me was when my lips touched the metal microphone and a blue spark popped me and like to have curled my hair. Yes, the life of an entertainer was always exciting and never a dull moment....dang, that electric shock hurt. -Stan
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