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Our band was playing all around Athens. One of the places
we played regularly was The Georgia Theater. Sam Smart was the owner with
Hap Harris. Sam had booked B.B. King to do two shows on the same night that
Jimmy Buffett was playing at the Coliseum. I was torn…Buffett or B.B.?
I chose Buffett. I had terrible seats. My date and I were in the nose bleed
section. Buffett did his concert and came out for the encore and yelled
into the microphone, "I'm only doing one more song! I'm going to see
B.B.King!" Buffett was going to catch B.B.'s second show. (Aside: Did
I mention that Russell Smith and the Aces were Buffett's opening act? They
were my idols, too. And it wasn't because Russell is shorter than I am.)
Anyway, I told my date, "Let's go!" We headed for the Georgia
Theater where Sam let us in for free and told me to go to the balcony where
Buffett and the Aces were to arrive. I was in heaven. Jimmy was on my left
and Russell was on my right and my date was somewhere in between that. Well,
as things go, a little mirror was passed around and my good friend Jimmy
Buffett offered me a line of cocaine. Now, those who know me well, can see
the humor in this. I declined the drugs, but was floating on air anyway.
I can now say that I shared a very meaningful moment with Jimmy Buffett. |