Tonight as I was surfing through”Facebook”, I ran across a video of George Jones singing a duet with that pretty little Melba Montgomery. Sitting here tonight watching that video of so many years ago, [in the middle to late 60s ], it triggered a memory of the first time that I got to experience Melba Montgomery singing one of her original compositions In person. In fact it was the same one that I watched tonight with her and George Jones singing “we must’ve been out of our mind”. If I remember right, the year was late 1961 or maybe early 1962, because the weather was still colder than a ducks butt in the middle of Montana. One Friday night when the San Joaquin Valley Boys were having their weekly band practice, Dave Caroll our bass player told us that earlier in the day he read in the Stockton Record newspaper, that a week from Saturday the country music act “Lonzo and Oscar”, members of the grand ol’ Opry, would be appearing at the Rendezvous Nightclub in Lodi California, for one night only. Soooo, We dug out that ad for the show, and it read; Lonzo and Oscar, and band, will be appearing one night only at the Rendezvous Nightclub in Lodi, California. Show starts at 730. Three dollar cover charge. You have to remember that in the early 60s, you did not get to see very many members of the grand ol’ Opry live and in person, so the band decided we would go see them, even though it wasn’t bluegrass and they were a comedy act.
The next Saturday night we all met at Dave Caroll’s house, and Kenny Freeman, Shelby Freeman, Dave Caroll, and I piled into Dave’s big 54 Chrysler Imperial and off we went to Lodi. The Rendezvous Nightclub was a very big nightclub for the time with a nice stage, showroom and dance floor, and it probably would seat around 100 people. We got there about 30 min. before showtime, there was already about 75 people there to see the show, and by the time the show started the room was totally full.
The “band”, as advertised in the paper, was Oscar doubling on drums and Electric mandolin at times, Lonzo playing rhythm guitar, a Marty Robbins clone playing Electric bass and singing lead vocals, and Melba Montgomery, rhythm guitar and vocals, both lead and harmony.I can’t remember the young bass players name because it’s been 53 or 54 years ago, but he could sure as hell sing just like Marty Robbins, and was an excellent bass player. Haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since then, but isn’t that the way it goes in the music business. I had never even heard of Melba Montgomery before that night, but she just knocked the place out with her vocals, both lead and harmony when she sang with the bass player.
They featured Melba on vocals for about a 15 min. segment of the show. She told the audience, here is a new song I wrote on the way to California this trip, and the name of it is “We must have been out of our mind”. And her and the bass player proceeded to just absolutely kill it, and brought down the house when they were through. I knew right then that Melba Montgomery was destined for country stardom, and it was about two or three years until her and George Jones hooked up and did some of the most memorable duets in country music history.
Like I said earlier, Lonzo and Oscar were a comedy act, similar to Homer and Jethro, so after the opening set to warm up the audience, there was a about a 45 min. break for the bar to sell drinks and to let Oscar get into his comedy”outfit”. Lonzo just wore a suit and tie and he didn’t have to change into a costume, so we asked him to sit with us and visit until showtime, which he most graciously did. He was genuinely glad to find out that we were a bluegrass band, that came to see the show even though they were a comedy act. Shelby made the comment to him that that little gal they had singing with them was destined to be a big country star.Lonzo agreed with him wholeheartedly, and told us that she was just 19, and just getting started in the business, but he had no doubt that she was going to be a big star on account of that voice of hers. He sure knew what he was talking about.
The comedy act lasted for 45 min., then there was another 30 to 40 min. break, and then they played a lot of old country standards and dance numbers and the audience danced and enjoyed the hell out of it. Lonzo introduced all of us to the rest of the members of the band after the show was over, and I got to give that pretty little Melba a big hug, and tell her how much I loved her singing. [ Marty Stuart had her on his TV show a week ago, and she can still sing like an angel.]
About three months ago I was driving through Lodi, California one day, and I drove past the remnants of the old Rendezvous Nightclub which was destroyed in a fire some 30 or 40 years ago. About three of the walls are still standing, and it got me to thinking about the night about 54 years ago that the San Joaquin Valley Boys met Melba Montgomery for the first time. I got to thinking about all the country entertainers that I have been fortunate to meet in my lifetime that went on to make it big in country music. People like Cal Smith, Del Reeves, better known as Curly Reeves when he was playing with Chester Smiths band, Chester Smith himself Rose Maddox and her brothers, Leona Williams,Kitty Wells, Cottonseed Clark,Merle Haggard, John Hartford, and a host of others I can’t think of right now.In fact, remembering anything nowadays seems to get harder and harder, especially since I have seen 77 winters come and go.
But every once in a while a beautiful memory will pop into my mind that Is such a pleasure to think about, and usually that memory dredges up one related to it and within an hour or so I’m sitting here marveling to myself; geewhiz, was that really me doing that?I sure have had a lot of fun In my lifetime and the best part of it is all related to my music I love with all my heart. I am just glad I can remember this tonight, and be able to share these memories with my bluegrass family. May God bless and keep you all, yer friend JD Rhynes
