Bennie

  • old boots

After running a couple of errands the other day, I stopped off at the music store to kill some time ogling  guitars.  I took a Yamaha classical off the wall, sat down on a stool and started tinkering with it, just to compare it to the classical I have.  A couple of fellows came in and the garrulous one stopped in front of and told me to play something.  I fumbled around a bit  till he wandered off.  His companion soon left, but he took a guitar down from the wall, pulled up a stool close to me and began to play.

He was a more advanced player as well as being an outgoing type and he soon volunteered that he started playing in 1947 when he was 13.  He would play and talk, and from time to time he would demand that I play something.  I think he was just trying to be polite because I wouldn’t get very far before he would start to play again.  He was a Chet Atkins disciple, among other styles, and said he probably knew 1000 songs.  He played mostly finger-style, everything from gospel to Merl Travis. 

Bennie Brown

Finally he snatched the guitar I was playing out of my hands and handed me the Taylor he’d been playing because he couldn’t hear the nylon strings very well over the humidifier blowing in the corner.  I tried the Taylor but, again, didn’t get far before he wanted to play another song for me.  I was happy to let him so I wouldn’t embarrass myself and because he was pretty good. 

Before we went our separate ways, I found out his name was Bennie Brown.  He lives in Amarillo but was from Quitaque, and yes, he knew Clyde and Renée.  He plays and sings in Sunday school at Quail Creek church and other small venues around town.  He asked me if “I had a woman.”  I allowed as how I did.  He’d lost his wife a couple of years ago and wasn’t sure why, at 83, he was still here.

We got .19 inches of rain a couple of weeks ago, enough to wash a little dust off everything, but not near enough to make us feel good about things.  This morning it is snowing and the ground is covered though the grass and weeds poke up through.  Tonight I think the brass monkeys will be singing saprano. This past week we had a day that started out at 18º and hit 70º in the afternoon.   Climate change.

Joyce thinks she saw ducks flying up from the pond two or three weeks ago.  My first sighting was on February 24 so we’ll put that down as the official date for first duck sighting of the year.

2 thoughts on “Bennie

  1. Glad to hear you met Bennie. He’s a nice fellow. His brother, Robin, was a classmate of Clyde’s. Robin plays guitar also. They have a older brother that also plays.

    Miss you guys. About time for a visit.

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