One doesn't usually have the luxury of truly realizing the paths they've taken until the door of time closes, and it's too late to turn back. Emotions had such a hold on me on that September night that I was stuck looking back -- and blind to opportunity. In fact, I was so torn between being miserable about the band breaking up -- and relieved it was finally over, that I failed to notice that I was in uncharted territory. I never knew the exact moment that the old adventure ended and the new one began. It could have actually happened months earlier. It didn't matter. It was a new ballgame and I'd be waking up to that fact soon enough. 

As we pulled out of the alley and onto Grandview to take the back way to her apartment, I didn't have the heart to tell her that I really needed to be alone. As romantic as the image might have seemed, I just wanted to get back to my house and take a long, hot bath -- washing away the funk that was September 5th, 1983. Suddenly, it came to me in a flash; I couldn't stay at Rhonda's that night because of all the gear in my car, and the broken window. She didn't want to come to my place because she had to work in a few hours. Problem solved.

After dropping Rhonda off at her place, I made the trip back home to Lester, unloaded my stuff into the garage, made myself a small breakfast, soaked in the bathtub, and finally crawled into bed just as the sun was coming up. Ricky didn't come home that night. My plan was to pull a Scarlet O'Hara, and put all my worries off until another day. I felt as thought I could sleep peacefully for at least a week; my bed had never looked so good. Six hours later, the phone rang. It was Rick Miller calling an emergency meeting to settle up some finances with Hudson. There was a hint of urgency about it so I got up, got dressed, and drove over to Rick's house to find out what was shaking. 

With the five remaining Savvy members assembled, we engaged in small talk until Jerry Hudson arrived. He was in a sour, antagonistic mood and all pleasantries were spared. Hud opened his little notebook and proceeded to make a case for reimbursing him for a number of things, all of which sounded extremely questionable under the conditions, including expecting to be paid for the past few weeks as our manager.  Dan and I were the main interrogators for our side. We countered with bringing up a laundry list of things that he'd only prayed that we'd forgotten. By the end of the meeting we came to a settlement that was far less than Hud had hoped for, but couldn't argue with. We voted to split Hud's pay between the band members again. It just didn't seem fair that he'd been taking our money for eight months to "manage" us, while planning all the while to quit and go with Ricky at the first opportunity. We knew that Hud had done absolutely nothing for Savvy since leaving for his honeymoon vacation. In fact, the only thing he'd been managing was lining up places for Ricky's new band to play once Savvy was history. I'd seen it with my own eyes around the house. Jerry Hudson had simply found himself caught in a bad spot, overruled for the most part by logic and facts. None of us could fault him for trying to collect from us, and in fact, it took a lot of balls to walk in and ask us for money after he'd been part of a conspiracy of sorts against us. But Hud had made his decision to part ways with us almost a year earlier, and was forever trying to talk Ricky into leaving Savvy. Hud was an opportunist, and had seen a bright and rosy future with Ricky, but not until he could get Ricky to branch out on his own. Now he'd finally been granted his wish.  

Two weeks went by. Ricky had come up with a name for his new band. They were called The Ricky Lynn Project -- or "RLP" for short. They were playing at Matley's in Dallas and I decided to go. Ricky called me up on stage to jam and I sang a Night Ranger song with them. I drank way too many shots and ended up sitting in the parking lot of Matley's, not wanting to drive home. Some friends, Chris and Connie, had me follow them to their apartment in Richardson where they let me spend the night on their couch. I was violently sick all night.  To make matters worse, I'd promised a friend that I would fill in for him on a job the next morning. It was a Grimace appearance at a bowling alley, and between the constant noise of the crashing of the balls and pins, the hot and heavy purple carpet-like costume, and my churning stomach, I continued to throw up all day. Once, I got the costume off just in time too! It was a truly miserable day.

I returned home to good news. Dan and RJ had been in talks with a guitar player named Tim from a band called Raisin' Cane who was interested in playing with us. We would have to discuss it with Rick and Rich before it went any further. This wouldn't be replacing anyone -- but rather adding a member.  The following weekend, Rhonda and I drove down to the Savvy's in Waco to see a band called Cheatah, and then we made it back to town in time to catch Ricky's band's last set at the Roxy in Dallas. 

We had a meeting at Rick's about the possible hiring of Tim as our new guitar player. It just didn't end up being something we could all agree on. After being without a band for almost a month, I went to see RLP again at Matley's.  I was evaluating them from the standpoint similar to that of a scorned and abandoned lover. We had lacked something that made Ricky feel like he needed a new group to play with, so what was so great about these new guys? It wasn't clear yet if LD was going to integrate well or not. He was definitely in up to his ears, but was holding his own. The guitar player, Jimmy, was a pleasant fellow in person, but was obviously in the band to fill a spot and not to upstage Ricky. There wasn't a thing I could say negative about Joel or Tolbert as far as their playing was concerned. They were a tight rhythm section. And Ricky was, well-- Ricky was Ricky. He seemed happy to be in full control of every aspect of the band. It was HIS band now. The band worked for HIM. It was all for one - but that one was Ricky. The RLP was officially all about Ricky. There was no doubt about that. Even though Ricky had been the "star" of Savvy, it was a group of six distinct colorful personalities working together. It would be interesting to see if the new blood could fill the bill and take him to the next level that he couldn't get to with us. 

I missed playing. Ricky was still coming home from a gig every few nights and I wasn't. That was tough. Rich was working at the Savvy's club in Waco. Then there was another conspiracy at hand. Dan and RJ had been scheming about possibly letting Rich go and hiring another guitar player. If that were the case, I was sure they'd explored replacing me while they were at it. It was a back-stabbing-free-for-all. And even though Rick Miller had previously put his foot down about not wanting to fire Rich, somehow Dan and RJ had almost talked Rick  into going along with their plan. But then, Rich Mauch and Paul Bennett had an automobile accident coming home from Waco. Rick felt bad for Rich and decided to make a proclamation. He vowed that no matter what direction the new Savvy took, there would always be a place for Rich. Rick even went as far as to tell RJ, Dan, and me that if we were unhappy with his decision, we should find another band to play with. 

Rick Miller was suddenly sounding like someone with a gun to his head. It didn't really add up, other than to take at face value that his long time bond with Rich meant more than possibly making it in the music business. If we hadn't made it in the music business yet, it wasn't going to happen. I was just hoping to get a band together and start playing again as soon as possible so I could get back into the scene. I'd become addicted to the nightlife, and to being in the spotlight. I felt like I would go crazy if I  didn't get back into it soon. 

A final decision was reached that stated we would officially continue on as a five piece band, sans Ricky. And we would keep the name Savvy. Rhonda had been hoping that I would not go back to the band business, but I wasn't ready to quit just yet. I sold my VIC-20 computer and got a haircut. Another meeting was held at Rick's on October 3rd at 4:30 pm in the afternoon.  I went in really excited about our new plan, but would come away gloomy. Rick just hadn't been himself since the incident over Ricky asking him to join his band. We'd all exposed our darkest sides and worst behaviors during those days, and while it had passed for most of us, Rick Miller still seemed to be locked in a bad zone. During the meeting, when the subject of new material came up, Rick became overly aggressive about the direction of the band. Rather than simply saying he didn't like some of the songs we were suggesting, he became outright defiant against them. The dark side of Rick hadn't subsided yet. It was a real concern for me, even though I didn't let on at the time. At one point during the meeting, I was so frustrated that for the second time, I considered walking away. But I didn't.

Later that night, Dan came over to my house and we cooked up some Hamburger Helper and scrounged for - and finished off all previously overlooked roaches on the premises. He agreed with me that Rick hadn't been himself lately. Dan and I had also noticed that RJ seemed to be taking sides with Rick on every subject. It was almost as if he'd been kissing up to Rick to cement himself as the official number two in command.  But if we didn't start playing soon and bringing in some money, we knew we'd be kissing up too. As soon as Dan left, Ricky came in. We sat in the living room and talked for the first time in a while. He asked how things were going with the New Savvy and I told him our plans to proceed with the band intact as a five piece unit. I asked how things were going with the Ricky Lynn Project and he suggested I keep my options open because he was still considering adding me to his band. I smiled back and told him that would be great. Then as he got up to go to the kitchen, I couldn't help chuckling to myself. It was like an old joke I'd heard before. I just hadn't heard it in while. 

CHAPTER 51:  BOUNCING BACK

SAVVY STORY INDEX

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