A rock 'n roll reunion
In the 1960s, music was huge in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Students attending the University of Arkansas joined old bands needing new members or formed bands of their own and played every weekend at one of the many clubs located around town. Some of the bands went on to enjoy national success, some broke up after band members graduated, but because of the camaraderie that exists between musicians, many stayed in touch with each other. Several years ago, Gerald Golden, a bass guitar player who played for several different bands, began an annual reunion called July Jam which reunited bands from that era.
I attended the University of Arkansas during that time and played with a band called Bill Lafferty and the Jokers the last two years I was there. After leaving the University to join the Tulsa Police Department, I lost touch with most of the guys I was friends with and played with while I was there. Then, thanks to Facebook, I've been able to reunite with some of those guys over the past year and that's how I found out about July Jam.
Last weekend, I attended this annual reunion for the very first time and what an experience it was. I drove down to Russellville first to spend some time with my son, Michael, and then on Sunday, he, his wife Nicki, and his mom accompanied me on the drive up the mountains to Fayetteville for this grand reunion. We were met by my son Will and his wife Erica.
After a great Sunday brunch at HogHaus, we went across the street to George's Lounge, a bar that many of us frequented when we attended the University and it's still going strong. This was the location for this year's jam session and many of the guys were already there when we arrived. It was literally like stepping back in time.
Even though the event is called July Jam, it really wasn't a typical jam session. Instead, different bands from that era played sets of the music they played back then and it was a real treat. Tragically, Bill Lafferty, the lead singer and founding member of the Jokers and our drummer, McAllen Wolfe are no longer with us, but poignantly, Lauren Lafferty, Bill's daughter, and Sara Elizabeth Wolfe, McAllen's daughter, were in attendance and it was wonderful to meet and talk to both of them. Another guy from the band, Mike Garlington, our lead guitar player, lives in Dallas, Texas and couldn't make the trip so that only left two of us able to make it to the Jam. I was very content to sip on a cold one, talk to many of the guys that I hadn't seen for 40 years and just soak up the great music from that golden era of rock and roll.
One of the guys I was sitting with pointed out a guy across the room who was the original drummer for Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, a band that eventually morphed into The Band, played at the original Woodstock in 1969, and were eventually immortalized by Martin Scorsese in his brilliant documentary, "The Last Waltz."
I tried to point him out to Linda who was sitting on my other side and she asked me which guy I was pointing too. I told her the one with the long white hair and she said, "But they've all got long white hair."
Sad but true.
In fact, there were probably more guys with long white hair and white beards in one small place than any place I've been in before. But man, they can still play their music.
It reminded me of a trip Will and I took a few years ago to the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis and one of the acts was Jerry Lee Lewis. He had to be helped to his piano by two of his assistants but once he touched the ivory, he came alive and performed just like he always had. That's the spirit and the power of music and I saw that reincarnated on the stage of George's Lounge over and over last Sunday.
After three hours of great music, it was over and everyone went their separate ways, vowing to keep the reunion going next year. Music has always had the power to unite rather than divide because when the music's playing, individual differences, skin color, ethnicity, religious beliefs and politics go away, totally replaced by the common denominator of the song. I've experienced this at every concert I've ever attended and it was present once again last Sunday on the stage at George's.
Michael, Nicki and Linda went back to Russellville after the music died and I drove up to Bentonville to spend the night with Will and Erica before coming back home the next day; rejuvenated, refreshed, and on a natural high from the shared experience of the Jam, of reuniting with old friends we all share a special bond with and a determination to repeat the experience next year.
Because, as the Doobie Brothers sing in one of their songs, music is the doctor of my soul.