I have been thinking about David Bowie and life in general. I seem to be approaching “Changes” in my life as I watching my rock “Heroes” leave the world. I was a big fan of the man from the very beginning and that is where I want to start with a quick story….I sometimes feel compelled to write although I often wonder if many people even read these things….maybe I just write things down to clear my head.
As I listened yesterday to an almost unprecedented morning Sirius XM Classic Vinyl channel broadcast I really understood just how large his dude was in the art world. I really enjoyed listening to people talk about David’s influence in their life as I worked away at my corporate desk. I should have took the day off but I was over-productive anyway and the place needed what I was doing at the time.
Back to my story…I was born in North Carolina and spend most of my time there now…unless I am somewhere in Florida. I grew up mostly in Mississippi and one of the thirteen moves before I graduated high school included a multiple year stint in Meridian, Mississippi. While in Meridian I met a guy named Ronnie James who was the middle child of a woman who worked for Peavey Electronics. My Dad’s finance business was next door to the Mother of the guys who started Peavey Electronics. Mrs. Peavey was in the florist business. The Peavey thing was all over town and I always enjoyed asking questions about “the amplifier factory.” I still wear the shirts and hats of that company proudly as a Southern music company. All that said Ronnie and I were friends and his older brother had a really nice album collection. In the 1970’s “albums” meant vinyl recordings. I would spend nights over at his house just to listen to the music his brother had….Ronnie and I both loved the music of David Bowie and many others. I still remember the night I stood under a street light in Meridian, Mississippi listening to FM radio and heard the word that Duane Allman had died in a motorcycle accident. That was right in front of Ronnie’s house. It was sort of like yesterday when I picked up my iPhone from the charging station in my studio on the way out the door and I saw the news of the death of David Bowie. I was just stunned.
I have to admit. In the early days I thought David Bowie was really strange with his weird hair and costumes. As time went by I bought his music as he had some killer songs and so many cool riffs. I really did not care how he changed his hair or what he did on stage, I just loved the music. I still do as I am listening to his library as I write this. Now as he has left us all I really understand him from beginning to end. I just listened to an interview from long ago where he was laughing and playing music. He was an awesome guy and an artist from beginning to end. It took me a while to understand his “character collection” but there was never any doubt from the beginning that I loved his music. He knew his legacy would live on and I do too. What an awesome artist with such unique music from “our” era. ‘Nuff said….I’ll save the rest of my story details for some other time.
Please note this photo was taken in the last week by Jimmy King and was used without permission. “We” are told it was one of the last photos taken of David and I wanted to share it as we should celebrate the life of such a great artist with a smiling photo.
I have so many favorite Bowie songs…but this one always sticks in my head a such an awesome tune. See ya down the road….