There was an infomercial on television tonight pushing to sell the songs of the great MoTown singers. If you aren't aware they were all Black. No big deal I loved their music. The Temptations were and still are among my all time favorites. I ask, who doesn't love the long version of 'Papa Was A Rolling Stone'?
But there was another who was my very special. I had all his albums dating back years. His name was BB King. You know him. He made famous, 'The Thrill Is Gone''. I still know all the words.
In 1982 we were living in Davenport, Iowa and it was announced that BB would be playing at the Col Ballroom so I bought two tickets and eagerly awaited that January evening.
We arrived fifteen minutes before showtime and it wasn't too difficult to ascertain WE WERE THE ONLY WHITE PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE. It didn't bother me and it didn't phase the Queen. I came to see my vocal hero.
After an hour a woman came up to me and said, "What are you white people doing here?" Maybe she thought we were only interested in the Bee Gees or Rufus Cahoon and the Gas Powered Cantalopes. I didn't respond. Then there was a reverberation all around us. I heard muttering, something about white people. Well Mr. King sang The Thrill Is Gone as his final song so we stayed the entire night.
And that's my story. So, for those people who are racists too bad. I didn't consider the black folks comments to be rascists, either. We were different in looks. It was no big deal to me and it shouldn't have been.
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