Roy Clark – Concert
An Otherwise Great Day
I got to sleep in till 8:00 on a rainy Saturday. Now I know some consider that early for a Saturday wake-up call, but for me, that’s like sleeping till noon. Besides, I couldn’t spend all day in bed; I had big doin’s planned for the whole day. It started off at about 9:30 when I headed down to the Dodge dealership in Wichita to take possession of my new pickup. I traded in the old Blazer with 162,000 miles on a Dodge half ton with only 15 miles. And 10 of those miles were from when I test drove it. It also has a CD-player, which is really my only requirement that I had. The best part, I saved $8,000 off the sticker price because they had a hailstorm come through and leave an ever so small dent on the hood. After I signed the next three years of my life over to Daimler-Chrysler, I decided to treat my self to lunch at Jimmie’s Diner. They have burgers with grilled onions on them that are yummy in my tummy. All the waitresses have names like tootsie and buttercup, which seems stupid to me, but whatever floats your boat. Then, I headed home in my new truck and found out that there was a Rocky marathon on TV. Man, I love those movies. (Except for Rocky IV, which is just plain dumb) When Rocky IV came on, I started channel surfing and found O’ Brother Where Art Thou on another channel. In my book, this is the greatest movie of all time. It has a little bit of everything, a prison break, good music, bloodhounds, political intrigue, beautiful sirens, a Cyclops, and a bank robbery. But I had to leave right as Dan Tyminski, aka George Clooney, sings “Man of Constant Sorrow” at the big shindig towards the end of the movie. Why would I leave right at the end of the movie? Well for one thing, I already have the movie on VHS, so I can watch it anytime. For another, I had to get to Ponca City where I was meeting Van and Kelle at The Porch, aka El Patio, before going to see Roy Clark with all the blue hairs at the Poncan Theatre. We had a good time at The Porch swapping lies and other untruths. I left a quarter tip on my $10 bill and took my leave of Stillwater’s leading couple so I could grab one of the last seats for the Roy Clark concert.
The place was a near sell out and was the 2nd of two shows that he but on that day. Roy’s age is starting to show, but he can still pick a guitar with the best of them. He showed off his and his band’s picking on several tunes including “Ghost Riders in the Sky” featuring twin fiddles. His shows are part music and part comedy. Many of his jokes are old, but still funny. He’s also able to poke fun at himself, especially when it came to his age. He had one reoccurring joke about his medication. Everyone around me thought it was hilarious, but I didn’t get it, I guess I’ll have to wait 40-50 years before I get the punch line. He played one gospel tune in the middle of the show. “I’ll Crawl All the Way” is a moving song about the lengths he’ll go through for his faith. As I mentioned earlier, I’m a big fan of O Brother, and they played “Man of Constant Sorrow.” Roy mentioned that he was a big fan of the movie; I always felt he was a kindred soul of mine, and now I have my proof. He finished up the show with “Thank God and Greyhound,” “Yesterday, When I was Young” and “Orange Blossom Special.” The final song featuring triple fiddles (I guess that’s what it would be called) trying to out do each other. The crowd was very appreciative as they gave a very resounding standing ovation for Roy and his band. And it really means something when 90% of the crowd has to use their walkers to stand up. All in all, a great show. A final note about his shows, he ended before 10:00 pm so the crowd wouldn’t miss their bed times. What a thoughtful man.
So, what have we learned today, the world is easier to deal with when you have a new vehicle, at least till the first payment is due, I had a very good day, and an evening with Roy Clark is filled with great music, laughter, and medication jokes.
You might be asking yourselves, why was it an OTHERWISE great day instead of just a plain old great day? Well two things kept it from being a great day, one it was raining, and second, I didn’t meet a cute girl. Otherwise, it was a great day.