(EDITORS NOTE–Many times when I bump into a CBA member they ask me how J.D. Rhynes is doing…lots and lots of folks asked me at the camp out at Lodi last week. My response is ALWAYS the same. The old man’s Parkinson’s is ravaging his body but it CANNOT TOUCH his mind. When I speak with him on the phone, he’s not one bit different, not one bit, from the first day I met him so many, many years ago. Today, the last Thursday of the month, is his day for the Welcome column, but you may note that the one I’m running is from a few years back. His missing today’s column IS NOT related in any way to his health issue. Rather, it’s because he’s been unable to get his dictating software working. He assures me he’ll get that fixed. And one last thing–if you feel an inclination to mention this column on the Message Board, he’ll definitely see your post and, unless it’s mean and ugly, mine usually are when it comes to the Mountain Man, he’ll enjoy it. RC)
Daily Grist–“When you forgive somebody for what they have done to you, that does not make their actions right. What it does, is sanctify you in the sight of God for doing what you should do.” JD Rhynes
Earlier this week I had occasion to travel down Highway 26 in Western Calaveras County. A couple mile before the County line on the left-hand side of the road was a big wide spot where the oak grove dance hall/County store/service station used to be.I pulled over to the side of the road and set there for about 30 min. experiencing some of the most powerful memories I have very experienced from the past. The memories that I experienced that day were almost overwhelming. I only wish that all of you folks could have experienced what I did and that old dance hall years ago. My good friend and picking partner Ray Park played there with his band every Saturday night for about 10 years, and that is where first really got to know him. Every Saturday night a bunch of us kids from Stockton would load up the car with six or eight of us and head to Oak Grove dance all in Western Calaveras County about 25 miles from Stockton. It was not uncommon to find three or 400 folks there from Calaveras County and Stockton enjoying the dance and the music. Twice a year during the summer, Ray would have what he called”ladies are free tonight”, and that’s when you’d find anywhere from 1000 to 1500 folks there dancing all night long. I remember cars parked beside the road a mile in each way from the dance hall itself. Those dances lasted from dark till daylight, and I would get home just in time to go to church with Mama and daddy.
This is during the middle 50s and Ray had a world-class country band at that time, featuring the female vocalists/songwriter Hazel Houser who wrote such wonderful gospel songs like, wait a little longer please Jesus, river of Jordan, and my babies gone the latter of which was recorded by the Louvin brothers. Hazel also had a gorgeous teenage daughter that all of us guys stood in line to dance with. Those were such wonderful times in America when life was simple and pure. Then in January of 1958 I met my first wife there at the dance one Saturday night. By October of that year we were married, and we had three wonderful children from that union. Cancer claimed her life on August 1, 1987. But as they say, life goes on whether we like it or not. As I sat there that day where the old dance hall used to be, a lot of memories came flooding back. I remember the time back in the late 50s when a couple of prominent ranchers from the area were on a running drunk that had been going on for a couple of weeks, and they stopped at the bar in front of the dance hall to have a few cocktails. I will call them Elmer and Sam for obvious reasons not to embarrass their family’s. Elmer told me this himself. He said Sam and I had been drunk for a couple of weeks when we stopped at Oak Grove bar to try and sober up. We were sitting there drinking beer when Sam said to me; Elmer we ought to buy this place and you can store your hay in the dance hall ( Elmer was a hay grower), and I will turn the bar into a cathouse, Elmer said that sound like a plan to me, and they asked the bartender what he wanted for that place and he told him 100 grand. So, Sam and Elmer proceeded to write him two checks for 50 grand a piece, had a couple of more cocktails and went home. Luckily, Sam’s wife knew that he was prone to do reckless things when he was drinking so she checked the checkbook and found that check that he had wrote, called Elmer’s wife only to find that he had wrote a check for 50 grand too. So the next morning bright and early the two wives made it to the bank and cancel those checks before the dance hall owner could cash them, which he tried to do about an hour after their wives had been there and canceled checks.true story, things that legends are made of, whether good or bad but fun to know, especially since I knew both of the principles involved in this story.
In later years,Vern , Delbert, Keith, Rose Maddox and I drove past the old Oak Grove dance hall one day as we were en route to Modesto for a gig, when Rose said stop! So Vern stopped and backed up and Rose says me and my brothers played there in about a half-dozen time in years past ! That was back in the late 30s and early 40s, and Rose said it was not uncommon to have three or 4000 people there to dance the night away. I just wish I could’ve been there to enjoy it. Country music history on the fly folks. Like Vern and I both said years later, we didn’t know how good we had it did we? As the runway get shorter everyday, I am just glad I got to experience some of those high-speed runs ! High-speed does not even get CLOSE to describing the fun we all had back then. I guess you had to be there. Thank you country music lovers and God bless all of you.
