The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da
Most everyone I know and hold dear marches to the beat of their own drum. I'm drawn to these independent thinkers and free spirits by the "beat" of their souls. Each person unique. Each with their own story to tell. I am truly grateful for their influence on my story. Drum beats, heart beats, toe taps, finger snaps, hand claps, knee slaps, keeping time, "and the beat goes on..."
Charleston was once the rage, uh huh
History has turned the page, uh huh
The mini skirts, the current thing, uh huh
Teenybopper is the newborn king, uh huh
I have been reflecting on the pages of history in recent months, especially the faces, places, and events that have influenced my 65 years. Sonny and Cher's single "The Beat Goes On" hit the charts fifty years ago in 1967. I was fifteen, one of those "newborn king" teenyboppers on the scene. Much of the time during the "Summer of Love" I could be found on the baseball field in Newport. Sonny was one of my baseball coaches; not Sonny Bono, but Sonny Burgess.
Unlike some of the other young ballplayers, I had awareness that Sonny Burgess played music since my father spent a good deal of time at the Silver Moon where Sonny and his band, the Pacers, often performed in the mid to late '50s. His success as a recording artist at Sun Records alongside Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Lee Riley, and others was known to me, but I knew him best on the baseball diamond as a volunteer coach and salesman in the local sporting goods stores. After time away from the music scene, the Pacers regrouped and have played all around the world in the past few decades on their way to induction in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Sonny also hosted "We Wanna Boogie," a music show on KASU-FM, for more than a decade and was instrumental in having U.S. Highway 67 through Newport designated as Arkansas' Rock 'n Roll Highway. He was dedicated to keeping the music and northeast Arkansas relevant to today's "teenyboppers" and future generations. I have been fortunate to see Sonny and the Legendary Pacers play many gigs. Just in the past year, Kathryn and I have danced to the music of the Pacers at Billy Bennett's 90th birthday party at the Newport Country Club, at Freda Steenburgen Nichols' 92nd birthday party at South on Main in Little Rock, and at Depot Days in downtown Newport. But then Sonny laid down his six string last month for the final time on life's stage. No encore... Sonny's life came full circle at a memorial gathering on August 24, 2017 at the Silver Moon hosted by his son, John. As usual, Sonny played to a full house.
The 'baseball connection' kept us close in spirit through the years. Sonny and my dad were mighty fine friends. My mother worked for Sonny's wife, JoAnne, and Sue Ellen Burton at B and B, a first class women's apparel store, establishing a lasting friendship. These personal relationships nourished a family friendship shared throughout my life that will carry on in my heart... Kern Kennedy and Bobby Crofford, two of the Pacers who played with Sonny for well over fifty years, assure me they will keep "the beat..."
The 'baseball connection' kept us close in spirit through the years. Sonny and my dad were mighty fine friends. My mother worked for Sonny's wife, JoAnne, and Sue Ellen Burton at B and B, a first class women's apparel store, establishing a lasting friendship. These personal relationships nourished a family friendship shared throughout my life that will carry on in my heart... Kern Kennedy and Bobby Crofford, two of the Pacers who played with Sonny for well over fifty years, assure me they will keep "the beat..."
And the beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da
The studio musicians who backed Sonny and Cher on "The Beat Goes On" were a group known as "The Wrecking Crew" with one of its more famous members being an Arkansas lad by name of Glen Campbell. I am confident that Glen was not in the studio with "The Wrecking Crew" at the time Sonny and Cher recorded this tune since 1967 was the break out year in his solo career, but I could be wrong. In any event, I am a Glen Campbell fan drawn in by his brilliant guitar pickin' and boosted by his Arkansas roots. I didn't know Glen personally, but I did get to meet him once and came to know some of his family when I lived in Arkadelphia during the 1990s. I attended the premier of "True Grit" in Little Rock in 1969 where Glen was present. My sister, Lana, negotiated an autograph from him on her premier program, which I hold in safekeeping, boxed up with other mementoes from our youth. The music of Glen Campbell and Sonny Burgess will forever be playing on my life's soundtrack. "And the beat goes on..."
The same month of January, 1967 when Sonny and Cher hit the charts with "The Beat Goes On," Winthrop Rockefeller stepped into the Arkansas Governor's office as the first Republican elected to play that role since Reconstruction. My thoughts seldom center on politics, but this event generated interesting conversation in my family circle at the time. Rockefeller won the 1966 gubernatorial election over the Democratic nominee, "Justice Jim" Johnson. Johnson had prevailed in the Democratic primary as a segregationist in a seven "horse" race that included Newport's Sam Boyce, my uncle Max Bowie's law partner.
Upon taking office, Rockefeller named a former FBI agent, Lynn Davis, to lead the Arkansas State Police. Davis set out to eliminate illegal gambling in the state using high profile raids of well known "open" operations in Hot Springs and other towns, Newport being one of these. Did I mention that my father spent a great deal of time at the Silver Moon where friendly, illicit games were known to frequently occur? Anyway, Davis was in his position with the state police only a short three months getting ushered out on a residency technicality and by political pressure from the majority Democratic party, but his raids left a mark and "open" gambling in Arkansas began to slowly fade from the scene.
A decade before Sam Boyce chose to throw his hat into the Arkansas Governor's race in 1966, he was on campus at the University of Arkansas and invited a fledgling Rock 'n Roll band to play a fraternity party in Fayetteville. Those band members were friends of Sam's from Jackson County... Sonny Burgess and the Pacers. Folklore contends that The Pacers were the first Rock 'n Rollers to play at the University of Arkansas. Sam's son, Henry Boyce, is now the Prosecuting Attorney in Newport and the curator of the Rock 'n Roll Highway 67 Museum. "And the beat goes on..."
Upon taking office, Rockefeller named a former FBI agent, Lynn Davis, to lead the Arkansas State Police. Davis set out to eliminate illegal gambling in the state using high profile raids of well known "open" operations in Hot Springs and other towns, Newport being one of these. Did I mention that my father spent a great deal of time at the Silver Moon where friendly, illicit games were known to frequently occur? Anyway, Davis was in his position with the state police only a short three months getting ushered out on a residency technicality and by political pressure from the majority Democratic party, but his raids left a mark and "open" gambling in Arkansas began to slowly fade from the scene.
A decade before Sam Boyce chose to throw his hat into the Arkansas Governor's race in 1966, he was on campus at the University of Arkansas and invited a fledgling Rock 'n Roll band to play a fraternity party in Fayetteville. Those band members were friends of Sam's from Jackson County... Sonny Burgess and the Pacers. Folklore contends that The Pacers were the first Rock 'n Rollers to play at the University of Arkansas. Sam's son, Henry Boyce, is now the Prosecuting Attorney in Newport and the curator of the Rock 'n Roll Highway 67 Museum. "And the beat goes on..."
January, 1967 was also the setting for an ill-fated "test launch" of Apollo 1, the first manned mission of the Apollo space program with the goal of getting man to the moon. At initiation of the "test," a cabin fire raced through the command module killing all in the three member crew of Apollo 1, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. Manned Apollo flights were suspended during investigation of the incident. Eventually, the backup crew for Apollo 1 comprised of Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham completed the first manned mission in the program aboard Apollo 7 in October, 1968. The program's goal was fulfilled in July, 1969 when the lunar module of Apollo 11, manned by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, touched down on the moon and Armstrong took that "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" onto its surface. My "teenybopper" friends and I watched the historic landing on television.
I find it intriguing that the two Apollo flights most important in bringing to realization President John F. Kennedy's dream of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth" before the end of the decade of the '60s bore the numbers 7 and 11, the "winners" on the come-out roll in a craps game. President Kennedy gambled with the public pronouncement of his "dream" in 1961... NASA rolled the dice... Apollo 11 came up a winner... I recall hearing someone mutter, "Life is nothin' but a crap shoot." "And the beat goes on..."
My dad was a craps dealer at the Southern Club in Hot Springs in the late 1940s when he befriended Don Washam, Bob Fortune, and Joe Tarkington, three fellows from Newport. Those friendships led to my father moving to Newport after being convinced that he would always "have a game" to play there. A couple of days before Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon in July, 1969, Don Washam passed the dice and exited this life and "the Moon." Don Washam, the father of my life long friend, Donnie, was the principal owner of the Silver Moon where my dad "worked" at the gambling tables. Donnie had just finished high school a couple of month's before his dad's death. It was the summer before my senior year at Newport High School. In the months that followed, ownership in the Silver Moon would change hands and I would leave the Newport of my youth. Wide "open" gambling, as I had known it, moved 'underground.' After the summer of '69, I no longer viewed "the Moon" in the same light as I had before. "And the beat goes on..."
My dad was a craps dealer at the Southern Club in Hot Springs in the late 1940s when he befriended Don Washam, Bob Fortune, and Joe Tarkington, three fellows from Newport. Those friendships led to my father moving to Newport after being convinced that he would always "have a game" to play there. A couple of days before Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon in July, 1969, Don Washam passed the dice and exited this life and "the Moon." Don Washam, the father of my life long friend, Donnie, was the principal owner of the Silver Moon where my dad "worked" at the gambling tables. Donnie had just finished high school a couple of month's before his dad's death. It was the summer before my senior year at Newport High School. In the months that followed, ownership in the Silver Moon would change hands and I would leave the Newport of my youth. Wide "open" gambling, as I had known it, moved 'underground.' After the summer of '69, I no longer viewed "the Moon" in the same light as I had before. "And the beat goes on..."
The grocery store's the super mart, uh huh
Little girls still break their hearts, uh huh
And the men keep on marching off to war
Electrically they keep a baseball score
Sam Walton's discount retail concept with roots in Newport was at the forefront of merging groceries and general merchandise. Over time, small grocery stores have morphed into today's "supercenters." Wal-Mart Stores was officially incorporated in 1969 and went "public" in 1970. I don't recall the exact date of Walton's return to Newport to open a Wal-Mart store, but I'm fairly certain it was near summertime of ' 69 since I do remember my pal John Pennington and I were lucky winners of a helicopter ride at the store's grand opening. I had never been in a helicopter before then, so I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a few beats that day. Of course, the beat of my heart was prone to skipping in the summer of '69 since a "little girl" in a "mini skirt, the current thing, uh huh," had caught my eye and captured my attention earlier that year. Love can cause a heart to skip a beat... "Uh huh..."
And while the setting may have moved from the jungles of Southeast Asia to the deserts of the Middle East, young men "keep marching off to war" today just as they were in the late '60s. The echoes of protest are resounding... Loving and embracing the subject of history, Kathryn and I visited the National World War II Museum in New Orleans earlier in the year. Just this past week, youngest daughter, Elizabeth, and I visited the National World War I Museum in Kansas City. While in the KC area, we also took in the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in nearby Independence, Missouri, which cast added light on the events of World War II as well as the Korean conflict. I have been yearning to visit the Truman Library for years since he was our president when I was born. He visited Newport in July, 1952, on his way to dedicate the dams in Norfork and Bulls Shoals. So glad Elizabeth and I finally returned the favor of his visit to Arkansas so many moons ago...
The tours of the WWI and WWII museums are heart wrenching reminders of the sacrifices rendered by many in defense of the freedoms enjoyed by all in our country. War has challenged most every generation since the birth of our nation. Pleas for peace and protest songs serve as background noise. Causes of war are often varied and vague... The introductory film at the National World War I Museum begins with these words, "No one can say precisely why it happened, which may be, in the end, the best explanation for why it did." "And the beat goes on..."
There are no scoreboards on the battlefields of life like those that can be found at baseball parks. And baseball scoreboards have certainly changed over the years. I love the old manual scoreboards at Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago, but even those iconic parks have ramped up their electronic presence in recent years. The introduction of video boards in left and right fields at Wrigley altered the atmosphere a bit and coincided with the Cubs first World Series championship in 108 years in 2016. Fans are now watching to see if the magic continues in Chicagoland... Just a few weeks ago, granddaughter Claire and daughter Evelyn accompanied me to a Cubs versus Cardinals game at Wrigley. A couple of days later, Kathryn and I attended a Cubs versus White Sox game at Wrigley. Nothing like "rivals week" at the "friendly confines" of Wrigley Field. Batter up!
And the beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da
My obsessions with baseball and music were born from interests shared with my parents. Music was always playing on the radio or the record player at our house. Pick up baseball games were played year round in the neighborhood. And I could see the lights at "old" Memorial Field from my house on South Main, so I always knew when a game was happening at the park. Each time I drive into the parking lot at the Newport Country Club, I reflect on the many baseball games I watched and played in at Newport since the outfield of the old ball park is adjacent. Just recently I found myself in that very spot, the same day as the memorial for Sonny Burgess.
As I walked to the entrance of the Newport Country Club, I glanced over my shoulder to the field area where Sonny had often given me tips about baseball and about life. I was in Newport to attend the service for Sonny as well as that evening's Newport Alumni Hall of Fame Banquet. I am fortunate to have personal relationship with each of this year's Hall of Fame inductees. Dr. Patti Mullins (NHS '75), a passionate Dallas Cowboys fan, has been a long time friend whose father, John Mullins, himself a Newport Alumni Hall of Famer (2010) was Superintendent of Newport schools during most of my student days. Dr. Austin Grimes (NHS '46) has been a longer time friend and is a renowned orthopedic surgeon and artist. John Purdy (NHS '58) was inducted posthumously as one of Newport's finest ambassadors. He and his wife, Rosanna, were leaders of our United Methodist Youth Fellowship group when I was in junior high school. Joe Black (NHS '70) is one of my littermates who I had the pleasure of working alongside in the 1990s doing economic and community development work for Southern Development Bancorporation. The 2017 Excellence in Education award was presented to teacher Iris Diann Clark. Pal John Pennington kept "the beat" as the evening's emcee. I had the good fortune of sitting with Greyhounds football coach Mark Hindsley and his wife, Mallory, as well as Oshae Pruitt and Luke Samaniego, two exceptional young men playing for the 2017 Hounds. Visiting with these present day Greyhounds while witnessing my classmate Joe Black's Hall of Fame induction, I could not help but reflect on Newport's winning tradition in team sports. The 10-1 1969 Greyhounds of my senior year were led by quarterback Bobby Joe Forrester. Forty-eight years later, Bobby Joe's son, Cash, is the Greyhounds quarterback. In the evening's conversation, I discovered that Mallory Hindsley and my daughter, Emily, are friends and sorority sisters. I love connecting the dots on life's game board...
A "tip of the cap" to the board of directors of the Newport School District Charitable Foundation for establishing the Hall of Fame and keeping "the beat." Melissa Washam Keiffner is the Foundation's director. She and Julie Allen are to be commended for coordinating the annual banquet. I was privileged to pinch-hit for my good friend, John Pennington, at the 2016 Hall of Fame induction ceremonies when he assumed a different role in accepting membership into the Hall of Fame on behalf of his father, Wardell Pennington (NHS '43). Other inductees last year were Bobby Huey (NHS '52), Mark "Redbird" Ramsey (NHS '77), and the 1965 AA State Champion Greyhounds basketball team. It was so nice to reconnect with Coach Bernis Duke, the head coach of that '65 championship team, who was my family's neighbor in his final season at NHS. Hearty congratulations to the 2016 and 2017 Newport Alumni Hall of Fame honorees! "And the beat goes on..."
Grandmas sit in chairs and reminisce
Boys keep chasing girls to get a kiss
The cars keep going faster all the time
Bums still cry, "Hey buddy, have you got a dime?"
And the beat goes on, yes, the beat goes on
In 1967, the "grandmas" and grandpas who were "rockin'" and reminiscin' would have included my grandparents. Fifty years later, I find myself in reminiscent thought of those days gone by and thankful for the faces, places, and events that enlightened my path. Much has changed over the years. Yet, the mind sometimes wanders to "chasing girls" and driving fast cars in those days of yore. The landscape of my hometown is different as is its "smilescape." Many of the "smiles" that once lit up my life still shine today, but only in my heart. Among the smiles forever nestled within my heart are those of cousins Bob "Doc" Meacham and Artemis Gray Fallert Brykala, better known as "Little Art." Since I last tipped over a glass filled with thoughts, so many funerals for family and friends have simply happened. After each, "the beat goes on..." I remember...
Over the past fifteen months, two of my 1970 NHS littermates have gone missing from the kennel, Scott Baker and Linda Johnson. Others who roamed the campus of Newport High School during the '60s and '70s who have scampered off life's playing field in recent months include Buddy Black, Jimmy Jowers, Denny Treadway, Elizabeth Fellows Lewis, Harry Mack Adams, Marcus Nelson, Mary Jackson Elrod, Melva Babb Davis, Jetta Young Consono, Belinda Howard Baker, Anna Catterlin Walls, Connie McGaughey Stuart, Kathy Ellis Cook, Norine Richolson Tribbey, Pat Dallas, Sam Harvey Boyce, and Pam Hout Wallace. The parents of several classmates and friends who have departed this life include Matilda Brownd, Nancy Sink, Norma Wooldridge, Dorothy Rogers, Betty Matthews, Frances Dobson, Ila Lacy, Sue Pratt, Virginia Holmes, Betty Graham Penix, Harold Rutledge, and Bill Fortune. I also remember mentors whose guiding principals can only be revisited in my mental notes... school administrator Steve Castleberry, ministers Herschel McClurkin and Dan McKee, bankers Albert Rusher and Robert P. Taylor, and the aforementioned Newport ambassadors John Purdy and Sonny Burgess.
Each of these individuals crossed my life's path at one time or another. I ran alongside some of them; I followed in the steps of some of them; I admired all of them. Every one of them has a story...
My cousin, "Little Art" Brykala was nine years older than I, lived nearby in the South Walnut Street/South Main Street neighborhood, and often was asked to "take me along" with her when I was a youngster. She and her friends, Pat Battles, Sue White Grady, and Pam Decker, would occasionally allow me to tag along on their jaunts to the Farm Drive-In and other points of interests to teenagers in the late '50s and early '60s. I stood by her three dearest friends and her sons at her grave site not long ago in reunion remembering times together and Little Art's wicked sense of humor. "The beat goes on..."
Pat Dallas was three years younger than I, but we had become friends through scouting in our younger days. We enjoyed shared interests in music and writing. Pat's parents, Becky and Ray Dallas, were my earliest employers at their OTASCO store in Newport and his older brother, Mike, is a fine friend. I was fortunate to have opportunity to sit and reminisce with Pat several times in his final days in Fayetteville and joined life long Newport pals, David Gray, Gib Ponder, and Phil Madison, in reunion to commit Pat back to the White River of our youth in keeping with his expressed desire. "The beat goes on..."
I visited often with Buddy Black, the "Voice of the Greyhounds," in recent years. Last October, Buddy organized a four class reunion of the NHS Classes of 1967 through 1970 in Newport that proved to be a memorable return to the kennel for many aging Greyhounds. It was at this reunion that I last saw life long friend, Elizabeth Fellows Lewis. I am so appreciative of Buddy's efforts to bring us together. He was a friend to all. I will miss him bringing me the play by play from life's game. Newport has known many top flight ambassadors, none finer than Buddy Black. "And the beat goes on..."
Reflections of Newport past and present brings to heart and mind a "young pup" from the NHS Class of 1994. Newport Police Lieutenant Patrick Weatherford was killed in the line of duty on June 12, 2017. From present day remembrances, it is apparent Patrick was a "well respected man about town" and an outstanding law enforcement officer. I remember Patrick as a courteous and kind student at Newport Junior High School during my time on the school board in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I wish the healing power of abundant love for Patrick's family and all of Newport. "And the beat goes on..."
Yes, "the beat goes on..." Just weeks following the last time I dropped rambling thoughts on paper, we welcomed our newest grandson to life's stage. Owen Thomas Richardson was born to daughter Emily and son-in-law Josh on June 24, 2016. He arrived some distance away from us in north Africa, so it was not until November 11, 2016 that we first met in person, which just happened to be his older brother Miles's third birthday. Such a happy day for us! All six of our grandchildren, Oliver, Claire, Julian, Annabel, Miles, and Owen, bring us immense joy... "Grandmas (and grandpas) sit in chairs and reminisce..." That would be us these days...
"And the beat goes on..." Until it don't...
I'm Miles from Nowhere... Think I'll take my time.......
joe
Each of these individuals crossed my life's path at one time or another. I ran alongside some of them; I followed in the steps of some of them; I admired all of them. Every one of them has a story...
My cousin, "Little Art" Brykala was nine years older than I, lived nearby in the South Walnut Street/South Main Street neighborhood, and often was asked to "take me along" with her when I was a youngster. She and her friends, Pat Battles, Sue White Grady, and Pam Decker, would occasionally allow me to tag along on their jaunts to the Farm Drive-In and other points of interests to teenagers in the late '50s and early '60s. I stood by her three dearest friends and her sons at her grave site not long ago in reunion remembering times together and Little Art's wicked sense of humor. "The beat goes on..."
Pat Dallas was three years younger than I, but we had become friends through scouting in our younger days. We enjoyed shared interests in music and writing. Pat's parents, Becky and Ray Dallas, were my earliest employers at their OTASCO store in Newport and his older brother, Mike, is a fine friend. I was fortunate to have opportunity to sit and reminisce with Pat several times in his final days in Fayetteville and joined life long Newport pals, David Gray, Gib Ponder, and Phil Madison, in reunion to commit Pat back to the White River of our youth in keeping with his expressed desire. "The beat goes on..."
I visited often with Buddy Black, the "Voice of the Greyhounds," in recent years. Last October, Buddy organized a four class reunion of the NHS Classes of 1967 through 1970 in Newport that proved to be a memorable return to the kennel for many aging Greyhounds. It was at this reunion that I last saw life long friend, Elizabeth Fellows Lewis. I am so appreciative of Buddy's efforts to bring us together. He was a friend to all. I will miss him bringing me the play by play from life's game. Newport has known many top flight ambassadors, none finer than Buddy Black. "And the beat goes on..."
Reflections of Newport past and present brings to heart and mind a "young pup" from the NHS Class of 1994. Newport Police Lieutenant Patrick Weatherford was killed in the line of duty on June 12, 2017. From present day remembrances, it is apparent Patrick was a "well respected man about town" and an outstanding law enforcement officer. I remember Patrick as a courteous and kind student at Newport Junior High School during my time on the school board in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I wish the healing power of abundant love for Patrick's family and all of Newport. "And the beat goes on..."
Yes, "the beat goes on..." Just weeks following the last time I dropped rambling thoughts on paper, we welcomed our newest grandson to life's stage. Owen Thomas Richardson was born to daughter Emily and son-in-law Josh on June 24, 2016. He arrived some distance away from us in north Africa, so it was not until November 11, 2016 that we first met in person, which just happened to be his older brother Miles's third birthday. Such a happy day for us! All six of our grandchildren, Oliver, Claire, Julian, Annabel, Miles, and Owen, bring us immense joy... "Grandmas (and grandpas) sit in chairs and reminisce..." That would be us these days...
"And the beat goes on..." Until it don't...
I'm Miles from Nowhere... Think I'll take my time.......
joe
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