Posted by Debra on June 16, 2001 at 02:46:04:
It was september 1995, two legendery country music stars were touring together on a worldwide reunion
tour, George, a 60 year old idol of very many, but who olso has a history and reputation for dissapearing
and not turning up for shows, his 50 year old wife Nancy, Tammy the 50 year old female star of the show
(and a close personal friend of mine) and her 50 year old husband Richard, James and Charlie, two good
looking musicians in the band both in there mid 40s, my cousin Jeff, who was 20 years older than me but
the only one in the family who i could realy say i got along with, and myself, we were all traveling from
florida to nashville tennessee, i was travelling olong because i was a friend of Tammys, and regulaly
stayed over at there home, and Jeff was with us because he was a reporter for a country music magazine
and they wanted to cover the tour, Tammy and George had been in the music business long enough to learn
not to trust or talk to reporters, but theyd known Jeff long enough to know he was different,
"everythings loaded you guys" said Don the tour manager who was travelling seperatly with his own
family, (as did the rest of the band members) so, George, Nancy, Tammy, Richard, Charlie, James, Jeff,
and me, all piled into the big silver eagle touring bus, which was fitted with bathroom bedrooms etc, our
driver (olso called Don) clambered in the drivers seat, "now remember" yelled the manager " no stopping
for any reason whatsoever on this trip, if George disapears on us again well be sued and youll be fired"
"well lock the damn door then" Don yelled back "i aint taking responsibility for him this time, and theres
enough food and drink on board to last a month" "ok see yall in nashville then" Don called back as he
locked the silver eagle bus and walked to his car, no one thought it was extream everyone including
George himself understood, hed often have a laugh about it, he didnt trust himself either, Don started the
engine off and off we set from milton florida to nashville tennessee, a 12 hour trip.
Everyone was in high spirits, we sat around the table drinking cokes and lemonade, Charlie was
strumming his guitar, Nancy fixed us all some cornbread and beans, then settled in frount of the TV to
watch some movie, Jeff was trying to get an interview out of Tammy who was trying to co-write a song
with me, and James and Richard were having a friendly argument about some old ball game, we were all
having a real good time, I began to notice Nancy fidgetting a bit and i sensed she needed to use the
bathroom George appeared to have noticed it too as a bit of a bulge appeared in his trousers, i smiled
secretly to myself, but it olso made me aware of my own bladder and the cokes id been drinking,
but my
need wasnt urgent i was enjoying the atmoshphere on board, i had fancied Charlie secretly for years, but
he never knew it, but everytime he opened his mouth that sexy texan drawl made my knees quiver and as
long as he had that guitar in his hand i wasnt going nowhere, so i finished off my coke and tried to divide
my attention between Nancys obvious need, getting the song finished with Tammy, and Charlies hypnotic
guitar playing, Jeff had got his interview from Tammy (well as much as he was gonna get out of her for
the moment,) then started asking George about why he had the reputation for not showing up, not been a
direct country music fan he haddnt heard the stories and the legends, i saw that he too had one eye on
Nancy, Jeff and i exchanged knowing looks between us, then Nancy got up and headed for the bathroom,
but couldnt get the door open, "hey George" she called, "come and give us a hand with this door will you
please" "yeah just a sec" he replied "no now" she called, George got up and tried the door, "its locked" he
cried "and hell i need to go too, wheres the darn key" "we gave it to Don" i replied trying very hard not to
giggle at the predicament we were in, we still had about another 10 hours to go, in a bus that was locked,
with a bathroom door that was locked, with 3 women and 6 men on board and several dozen empty coke
and lemonade
cans...........................................................................
Continued