BUDDY MICHAEL
LONG-DISTANCE DEDICATION TO BUDDY
SOME 45 YEARS AGO in West Union, Iowa the neighborhood kids would congregate in my mother's driveway when Larry and I were having band rehearsal in her garage. They'd park their bikes on the front lawn - some would listen, and some would dance a bit.
One kid in particular would really zero in and soak up all those '70s tunes. His name was Buddy Michael; and he, his friends and a couple of his brothers were frequent visitors at these Sunday-afternoon, garage-band sessions.
Buddy had health issues that curtailed some of his outdoor activities during the summer. But he was a good kid with an avid interest in music. He even wrote some lyrics back then that I put to music - he couldn't have been much more than 9 or 10 at the time.
Buddy's cassette copy of "Rockin' Joe" has long since disappeared. But I know I have the master tape filed away somewhere in my studio. And I keep promising him that I'll find it someday and make him a new copy.
I'd kind of lost track of Buddy through the years; but through the magic of Facebook, he tracked me down; and we keep in touch via Facebook messenger.
Now at age 54, Buddy has overcome some major challenges in his life; and finally life is good. He and his wife Andrea have been married for 22 years, and they live in North Carolina.
Buddy and Andrea, his lovely bride of 22 years.
Buddy follows Jeanne Grebin's (Preston, MN) video posts of my Wednesday-night gigs at The Club in Preston, Minnesota; and he recently asked her if she could have me play "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" (one of Buddy's favorite tunes.)
Last Wednesday Jeanne informed me that Buddy would be watching online and could I do "Leroy Brown" for him. So Jeanne fired up her trusty iPad and began broadcasting live - worldwide and especially to Buddy in North Carolina.
I think Buddy enjoyed the dedication as he sent the following Facebook message:
"Doug, Thanks so much for doing that for me - it made my year. I did not know you were going to have everyone that was dancing tell me hi - that surprised me.That song blew me away when you played it at your moms when I was a kid. You're a good man, and I thank you Doug so much."
Click on either of the two images above to see the dedication.
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