The Road is: Leaving home/Geneva Florida @ 16 for a long adventurous journey on the road. Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island, Melbourne, Charleston, Jacksonville-NC, Albany, Pensacola, Biloxi Mississippi, Key West, Bossier City, Little Rock, Fayetteville, and Memphis.The Road is: a 58 Chevy with a U-Haul hitched to the back.The Road is: North, South, East and West.The Road is: A matchbox of reefer, your first black beauty, drums without cases, leaving a small town, being in a place where something's happening, memories of youth, all of your belongings under one arm, lost love and mistakes, an older women all of 23, after gig affairs that wouldn't kill you, greasy spoon restaurants and 5 star dining, eating in the kitchen, occasional respect.The Road is: Laughs and fears, hallucinogens, black and white, little or no money, a 59 Volkswagen bus with a monkey on Owsley's, 2 bands showing up for one gig in Birmingham, having your gear stolen, the bandleader taking most of the money off the top, waking up in a new state, a union rep at the club to check your card.The Road is: becoming a father on the road, getting divorced on the road, becoming a grandfather on the road, seeing friends for the last time, being evicted.The Road is: hearing old-timers on a bandstand, then becoming one.
The Road is: Missing your daughters first birthday, missing your granddaughters first birthday.The Road is: telling your best friend his daughter has died.The Road is: hearing another band on your break, being in Jacksonville-NC when Martin Luther King is shot. Riviera Beach when the 69 Mets win the World Series.The Road is: being on I-95 outside DC when the Trade Center Towers collapse.The Road is: A VW convertible left for dead on the road, 63 VW bus, 450 Honda, Fiat 500, trusty red 67 Volvo 122 S, 71 VW camper, 78 Saab, 80 Rabbit, 88 Astro, 2007 HHR.The Road is: being unable to pick up a radio station on the road.The Road is: being fired from Moe's Missile Lounge, fired from the Blue Parrot, a club manager pulling the plug on you when the band's cookin.
The Road is: fixing a piece of gear that only Rake & me know how to fix.The Road is: Larry D, Bob Love, Ken Lathe, Jimmy Head, Hobbs, Jim Anderson, Cashwell, James Garner, Gladys, Wayne Sharp, Jim Ramsey, Pete Schaeffer.The Road is: Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, 4-part harmony in a motel room, a white boy in a black club in 1967.The Road is: Driving from Albany-New York to Biloxi-Mississippi, Key West to Birmingham.The Road is: a one-nighter in the Hattiesburg, Mississippi jail.The Road is: a brush with death, grass, opium, LSD, angledust, black beauties, a band that cooks as one, a band you can't wait to quit.The Road is: 9 till 2, 10 till 4, 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off, 1 set, 2 sets, a Sunday Jam, a wet County across the river.The Road is: Mary, Bonita, Cindy, Diane, Glenda, Shelly, and Stacy.
A list of names I can't remember or even knew.The Road is: The Peachtree Hotel in Atlanta, the Bel-air in Biloxi, a trailer in Charleston.The Road is: The Pink Pussycat in West Palm Beach, Franks Beach House, The Fiesta, Mar Lou's in Sanford, The Club Diamond, The Boot Hill Saloon, The Tonic, The Moose, The Elks, an after hours joint in a strip mall, a boat on the Saint Johns River.The Road is: I-10 East, I-20 West, I-95 North, Route 66 and Highway 49.The Road is: a guitar amp too loud, a bass player that rushes, a bass player that drags, a very attractive black prostitute on my lap, mononucleosis, strep throat and the crabs.The Road is: Light My Fire, Purple Haze, Mony Mony, My Way, Keep Me Hangin On, Born To Be Wild, Brown Eyed Girl, Cross-town Traffic, Hush, Yummy Yummy, Portrait of my Love, People Got to be Free, Everyday People, drunks at the bar, rooms filled with smoke.