Posted by: wifiguy14k on 07/02/2004 19:22:23
She’s waiting for me when I get home from work
But things just ain’t the same
She turns out the light and cries in the dark
Won’t answer when I call her name
On the stairs I smoke a cigarette alone
The Mexican kids are shooting fireworks below
Hey, baby, it’s the Fourth of July
Hey, baby, it’s the Fourth of July
“Fourth of July”
— Dave Alvin
Years ago, when I was driving across New Mexico, training for future roadtrips, I had loaded up the kids and took them to Santa Fe in the “family truckster.” (Picture Chevy Chase in “Family Vacation” — in a minivan instead of a station wagon.)
There were mountain bikes, kid bikes, luggage and tents tied on just about every surface, making the van resemble a giant ant with aphids crawling all over it.
It was so-ooooo “Clark Griswald.”
Well, driving through the heart of Santa Fe, I spotted a celebrity. There was this guy dressed in black — like Johnny Cash — sporting long sideburns and a hint of a pompadour. He was standing on the side of the road, sketching some of the local haciendas.
This man in black was a singer I had seen perform a few times, but my kids didn’t believe it was really someone famous.
“Watch this,” I told the kids.
I whipped the “people mover” over to the side of the road, just a few feet from where the musician was drawing.
“Watch this kids, that’s Dave Alvin. He’s an awesome songwriter…let’s have some fun.”
I rolled down the window and said, “Excuse me. Sir.”
He walked over to the vehicle, staring at all the luggage and bikes and kids — at least confident we weren’t muggers.
“Can I help you?” he said.
We were about a block from the Plaza in Santa Fe and the prominent buildings and centuries-old churches were in plain sight above the other adobe roofs.
I continued the ruse. I inquired: “Hey man, can you tell me how to get to the Plaza?” (…that being the Plaza plainly in site…)
He looked at me like I was crazy — his eyes stirring a mixture of disbelief, pity and laughter for the family of morons.
In the most polite, sincere voice, he said, “Sure, see that stop sign at the next block. Go to it and turn right and you can’t miss the Plaza.”
“O-o-oh, I see,” I said, pausing for effect. “Oh, and sir,” I said as he was about to turn away from the car window. He leaned back in toward the window, politely.
“And sir … can you tell me where I can find Dave Alvin?”
It was perfect. His smile flashed an acknowledgement that we had gotten the best of him, and that he had appreciated the subtle humor of the little vacation memory.
Not missing a beat, the musician replied, “Dave Alvin? No, man, he’s been lost for years.”
That’s all we said, and he walked away and the mini-van full of morons drove back to the Plaza.
Several years later, Dave Alvin played in a tiny saloon in Fort Worth. It was an intimate room and during the breaks, the audience could mix with the musicians. I stood in line with several autograph seekers. When it was my turn, I said, “Hey man, can you tell me where I can find Dave Alvin.”
“Oh, that was you … in Santa Fe,” he laughed.
The first time I ever saw Alvin, he was fronting the rockabilly band The Blasters. He and Joe Ely and some other musicians played an outside concert for the college kids in Lubbock, Texas.
After that, Alvin did in a stint in the seminal LA punk band X. What a diverse career!
Back in those days, there were a lot of talented musicians hanging around Lubbock ( … before they all moved to Austin …)
Concerts like that Lubbock show remind me of one of the best reasons to live in a small city. They get most of the major recording acts — only difference: you don’t have to fight 40,000 people to get a glimpse of an artist a mile away.
I had this same conversation with a friend in Boise … they had all of the headlining acts … so close you could almost touch them on stage.
Back in the hometown of Amarillo and in neighboring Lubbock, I saw and touched many of them — The Clash, Ray Charles, Bow Wow Wow, George Thorogood, Nora Jone’s dad (the artist formerly known as Ravi Shankar), The Doobies, John Lee Hooker, B-52s, Willie Dixon, Foghat, Muddy Waters, Rush, Van Halen, Yes and on and on … all in small venues.
I saw many of the best shows … but there was one I missed.
Years ago, “the Braided One” played an all-day concert on the football field of Kimbrough Stadium, at what was then called West Texas State University.
My best friend went. I didn’t like country music and stayed home.
I’m still kicking myself to this day. People still talk about it being the wildest thing ever seen at WTSU — totally wild and free and bring your own whatever — with the music flowing all day and all night.
Well … fastforward to 2004. This weekend, I get a chance at redemption as Willie and friends light up the Fourth in Fort Worth’s Stockyards: Leon Russell, Jack Ingram, Los Lonely Boys, Merle Haggard, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Cross Canadian Ragweed, (my favorite) Billy Joe Shaver and more.
Hey Baby, It’s The Fourth of July.
Stay tuned!
