| The Savvy Stories by Steve Jones (continued) |
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Chapter Six – I Wonder Why I’d first met drummer Chris York way back in 1974 when Earl Dromgoole and I were sitting in with bands at the Kountry Inn, an after hours club out on Azle Avenue. York played with the house band there and was the best drummer I’d heard up until that time. RJ and I knew he was destined for big things. All those years later, in January 1980, Chris showed up at Savvy’s one night. I was surprised that he remembered RJ and me. He had gone on to play with Asleep At the Wheel, and told us about a potential movie part he was being considered for. It was a movie about Bob Wills. I'd come to love my apartment at Quail Hollow. The two previous apartments on Meadowbrook were a big step up from the garage apartment on Lulu, but Quail Hollow was happening! It was the first apartment that really felt like home to me. I bought a wall mural (made up of 16 posters) that made the dining area wall look like a rainforest. The rainforest wall provided a backdrop for Lilly’s extravagant china hutch and oak dining table with glass panels inlaid over wicker designs. Each chair alone cost hundreds of dollars, which was completely unimaginable to me before meeting Lilly. Regardless of what was in store for the relationship, I was in love with my pad!
Life at home had progressed, or regressed to the point where Lilly was looking for every excuse she could find to not have to come home anymore. I recalled a time when I'd done the same thing a year before. I didn’t really get worked up about it because I was having friends over every night after the gig anyway. This was an important socializing time for me as I attempted to re-integrate myself back into the lives of the other guys in the band. Being in a relationship had caused me to drop out of their after-work activities. In the beginning it had been Steve and RJ. Then it was Steve and Lilly. But suddenly I was inviting other musicians and friends over because I enjoyed hanging with them. I was able to have quality time with individuals I’d never been one on one with before. I got to know them and they got to know me. And when friends weren't available to hang out, there were always plenty of toys to play with. Because of my dual income, I’d accumulated a lot of stuff that most of my friends living on just a part- time musician's income didn’t typically have. I'd become interested in computers and had quite a growing collection of software on floppy disks. I also had a VCR and enjoyed collecting and editing videos. The further apart that Lilly and I drifted, the more it seemed I was into STUFF. Ryan Brennan came over and we discussed doing some future film projects together. We came up with an idea for a screenplay. Later we dropped in at Spencer’s Corner and ran into Rick "Hollywood" Myrick. He told me about his new 3-piece combo. Myrick was coming around Savvy’s a lot during this time too. We forged a laid back friendship and I always enjoyed hanging out with him. A month later, in February, I saw Myrick at Spencer’s again when I went to see RIO play. That night I also ran into Eddie Deaton (bass player from TEXAS), Randy Tanner (drummer from Rastus), and several girls who were regulars from Savvy’s. Nobody seemed to take a night off from partying in those days. Our Playboy Bunny pals, sisters Ilene and Thressa, were playing musical chairs with band members. Now Thressa was dating RJ and Ilene was with Ricky Lynn. That didn’t mean they would necessarily be with them for any substantial amount of time - nor did it mean there was anything really going on. It just meant I noticed the pairings of who was hanging around with who and made note of it. My brother Ray finally broke up with his long time girlfriend Denise for good. February 6, 1980 was the most incredible birthday of my life. That night, girls lined up in front of the stage to give me a birthday kiss! I couldn’t believe it, but had to put on as if it were just another night in the life of a local rock and roller. Three girls brought birthday cakes. A friend, Denise, gave me a collection of photos she’d taken of the band. Even my parents were there. Mom presented me with a wonderful photo album of my life and family history that she’d been working on for over a year. Don Howard, who did such a great job of painting my Stratocaster guitar gave me a really cool caricature he’d done of me, and Lilly gave me a huge console RCA color TV. Jerry Hudson played our recorded demos for some radio execs at rock and roll FM station Q102 in Dallas. They were extremely high on our song "I Wonder Why" and asked if we’d let them include it on their upcoming local compilation album. We were thrilled! One of our original songs would be on an ALBUM with guaranteed distribution, and our song would get automatic airtime. This was big new for us – a huge break, and we couldn’t be more excited about it. On February 11 we returned to the studio to re-record the vocals for "I Wonder Why" with the production assistance of Q102 DJ, Gary Shaw. He made it clear that he really liked our song, our sound, and our band, and became a champion for our cause. We had another band meeting at RJ’s, followed by another big photo shoot. Something politically scary happened in the world that gave me momentary alarm about possibly seeing our country going to war. I didn’t write what the incident was, but did make mention of hating the very thought of having to worry about it. A long awaited Steve Martin TV special turned worry into laughter. At band rehearsal we worked up "Refugee" by Tom Petty, and "Back On the Road Again" by REO Speedwagon. Things with Lilly were still off and on, as they had been all along. We just never could seem to get into sync with each other. We really wanted it to work, but it just didn't seem like it was meant to be. The harder we tried, the more messed up things seemed to get. We were still living together at the Quail Hollow apartment, but we found ourselves unable to even speak to each other without things erupting into an ordeal. We made one last feeble failed attempt at intimacy, which made it clear that it was all over but the crying. Valentine's Day had snuck up on me and I had to shell out $55 for a last minute dozen roses for Lilly. Never one to miss an opportunity to shock, instead of "thank you" – she looked right through the dozen roses in my hand and told me she was going to be moving into a house, and wanted me to move with her. All I heard was the part about wanting to move. Again so soon? I had way too much stuff to be moving from place to place every time Lilly got bored. I hated moving. She changed residences the way Emelda Marcos changed shoes. She’d talked me into moving into the efficiency apartment on Meadowbrook, then talked me into moving to Quail Hollow. And once I’d made a really comfortable living space there, she decided there would be another move – to a house! This presented a real quandary for me. I LOVED my apartment. I didn’t want to move away, and I was still sore from the move only six months earlier. It was completely nuts to think of moving again. I had no reason to move. The house she wanted to move into was a rent property owned by her mother. Her concept was that we would buy the house together and live happily ever after. Even at that naive point in my life, I knew what a horrible idea it was. I realized that to move to that house on Costello Street in East Ft. Worth would be admitting I was a complete fool. I thought we both had enough sense to know we should break up, but were both too weak to go through with it. Finally, in what felt like a Herculean burst of strong self-control and iron will, I told Lilly it was time to do what we should’ve done long ago. It was time for her to move on without me and for both of us to try to be happy again – apart. I actually convinced myself that this time I could stand my ground. She continued to live with me until the lease was up for the current residents of the house. We didn’t fight. We were basically plutonic roommates again. In fact, we hardly saw each other for the following months. I loaned my Selectavision VCR to Don Howard and bought a Dokorder 4 track reel-to-reel recorder from Jim Wise. I did a "McDonald's" appearance at Tarrant County Convention Center with John Schneider from the Dukes of Hazzard TV show. We rode in a convertible together. In Savvy Land, the band was putting a great deal of pressure on me to make a clean break with Lilly when she moved. One night, Lilly had plans to go with friends to La Bare, a club featuring male dancers. She gave me the same old lame story about how nothing happens there, but I knew those La Bare guys. They'd told us what went on when the lights came on at closing time. I couldn't stop imagining Lilly hooking up with one of them. I wondered if I was teetering on the verge of insanity. March started with a big band meeting at the club. Savvy had become a really popular band, and Savvy’s had become THE place to party in Ft. Worth. We were suddenly inundated with offers from colleges, businesses, and even High Schools to do concerts, banquets, and proms. When Bowie, and Haltom High Schools approached Larry Patton about booking us for their proms, problems started. Club manager Larry Patton spoke for club owner JC Miller -- Rick Miller’s dad. Their position was that the club didn’t want Savvy (the band) booking proms or other gigs outside of Savvy’s nightclub. We were told that if we took off one night from Savvy’s to do a prom, as a penalty we would have to take the entire week off. We also would have to give the club a month’s notice for any outside bookings. Larry assured us that it was JC’s ultimatum and not his. Rick Miller was caught in the middle. As a band member, he knew this would make it difficult for us. But he also had to consider the club’s point of view since he was a club owner as well as drummer in the band. There was no question in Rick’s mind about what to do. He made a counter ultimatum to the other owners (his family) that stated if they wanted Savvy to continue to be the house band, we wanted a substantial raise for each band member, and we wanted to be able to play outside events whenever we felt we needed to. The other owners had been trying to strong-arm us, but there was just no denying that Savvy had become a big moneymaker for the club and without us the gravy train would come to a screeching halt. The club owners saw the Rick was serious and backed down from their demands. So we all got raises and were told to have a great time at the proms! I sold my VW bug to Rich, and bought a cherry sunburst Les Paul guitar. [I still have that guitar today.] Then I met Marcella, one of the most beautiful girls I’d seen walk through the doors of the club. She was just out of high school, but got in with a fake ID. Marcella looked exactly like the Playboy centerfold girl that had come out the prior month. It was a striking resemblance, and I was struck by her smile. The guys in the band called me "the SHOULDER" because I would go out and visit with our customers during breaks while they sat in the back and did whatever rock and rollers did in the privacy of their dressing room during breaks. The "Shoulder" name allegedly came from my habit of leaning my shoulder in towards the girls as I got their names and flirted with them. It was partly an exaggeration, but the real reason I did that (when I did) was because the music was so loud that you had to get close to someone to be able to carry on a conversation. But I didn’t mind the nickname. It was better than a few other choice nicknames I’d had in my life. But the shoulder definitely went out to Marcella that first time I saw her, and she seemed really interested in me. I was overjoyed as I went back to play the next set, thinking we would be getting together in the near future. It didn’t happen though. She left before the night was over, and when I saw her again at the club she was talking to RJ. I was so bothered by it that I began to give RJ a hard time about it. But he quickly set me straight by reminding me that this was rock-and-roll, and I needed to get used to it. He was right. I would later learn that nothing happened between them, and I would have another chance to get to know her better soon enough. When Q102 made an official announcement that "I Wonder Why" would be on their "More Texas Crude" album, things went crazy! Business, already booming at the club, got even better. Word spread like wildfire and our fans were as happy as we were. In some ways, it was like a big family, or corporation. Fans and band members alike were all in this ride together for better or worse. One day I went out and bought materials for a low hanging ceiling and put it up in my parent’s bedroom at the house I grew up in at 2404 Lincoln on the North Side of Ft. Worth. It was my first big home improvement project, but it came out OK. It was a strange gift, now that I think about it, but dad spent a lot of time in that room doing bookwork, and recording music, and I wanted to make it nicer for him. The low ceiling would help keep it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. It was also intended to help keep their AC costs down. At home, I started going through all our old cassette tapes from the Desperado days and logging them. As the countdown to Lilly’s departure continued, I began to think about possible future love interests. I called RJ’s house one night after the club closed and Marcella was there again. I pretended not to care. Then it started again. I was feeling sick inside emotionally. That familiar nagging feeling was eating at me from the inside out and wouldn’t go away. The more Lilly reminded me that she was leaving soon, the weaker I got instead of stronger. I hated change, but in my madness I hated the thought of ending things with her even more. Then one night I was watching Baretta on TV. Robert Blake played the street – smart detective who was the namesake of the show. Baretta had a great line that really made me stop and think. He said, "If a man won’t do what a man’s gotta do, he ain’t worth a rat’s rear." It was TV writing at its worst, but to me it was profound. I said it over and over in my head until I could write it down and make it my mantra to make me stronger. I’d written in my journals that I was hungering for freedom, independence, even solitude. I was tired of living like a king at work and coming home to a life of a zombie. I wondered how much longer it could go on. No more? Or forever? It was still a crapshoot. Meanwhile, I was getting to meet a lot of celebrities during my McDonald's appearances. I did another telethon where I met radio personality Suzy Humphries, Bill Mercer, and Dallas Cowboy football legend, Jethro Pugh. Donnie Hyles, the bass player from the old Blaze band, came to the club one night and was full of compliments. I was so affected by his comments that I wrote them down later. We were hanging out in the dressing room on break when he said, "Steve, you’re alright! Your head is in the right place. I like you." He went on to say that he hoped we would get to work together someday. With Ricky Lynn Gregg around, I didn’t get much of that. I was used to just being happy to be on this wonderful ride. I didn’t hear a lot of heartfelt compliments like that from my musician peers, nor did I expect them. So that was very cool. Just when everyone thought my ego couldn’t get any more inflated, I was suddenly more full of myself than ever before. I found myself often reflecting about how fortunate I was to have the life I was enjoying. I hadn’t really had to do anything difficult to get there. In the music business they call it "paying dues", but the worst gig I’d ever played had been a blast. I had nothing to bitch about, except of course my failure at being able to make things work with Lilly. Even with that, I only had myself to blame for being such a soft touch. Where was my backbone? Why couldn’t I just let it go? Why did I have to keep hitching my cart to that pony knowing it was only going to lead to more misery? My band mates asked me those questions every day. I couldn’t give them an answer. I was a few years away from learning about the concepts of co-dependency and low self-esteem. But Lilly was a beautiful girl, and she was in love with me. I wasn't even sure what love was anymore at that point. I just knew that I felt like I needed to be completely free, probably because of the temptations that surrounded us at the club every night. Still, I wasn't strong enough to pull away from the gravitational pull of co-dependency. Not yet. On March 12, 1980, the band received a letter from Rick’s ex, Suzanne. It said that the vice president of Epic Records was expecting a tape from us! We were sure that our lucky break was coming. That night, in protest to something or other we'd fought about, Lilly spent the night at her mother’s. I invited some friends over to re-dub a movie called Swamp Creature. Our version parodied Savvy’s nightclub and the Savvy band. Our friend Penny, RJ, my brother Chris, and Rick "Hollywood" Myrick were there. Then the next night Rick Myrick came over and brought a guy named Crazy Glenn with him. On the third straight night in a row, he brought guitar player Chris Clifton over. Myrick was fascinated by the movies we’d re-dubbed and he couldn’t get enough of them. I ran them over and over for him and his friends. For a while, Rick Myrick became a welcomed regular at my Quail Hollow apartment. A few weeks later he showed up at another big party I would have there when other guests included Butch McReynolds and his brother, Jerry Hudson, RJ, Ricky Lynn, Rick Miller - and a gaggle of girls. And of course, like clockwork, Myrick requested we run Swamp Creature as the Featured Presentation! |
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SAVVY STORY INDEX
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