Last night, something made me remember that next Friday, April 5th, the day before the Kentucky Derby, it will have been 40 years that Bob Shane and I became real friends.

Now, at our ages, time flies. We always watch CBS Sunday Morning. We’ve been doing it for almost as long as the show has been on the air, when it first started in 1979, and Charles Kuralt was the host. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the only thing that’s on TV that’s worth watching. I’m sure that this Sunday, they’ll have a big segment on Harry Belafonte. For the last year or so, on Saturday night, I remember that CBS Sunday Morning is going to be on the next morning, and I think to myself, “That’s impossible!!” It was just Sunday … a few days ago.

So, now, my remembering that Bob Shane and I got to really be friends 40 years ago seems like centuries ago.
I think I’ve got the year right. It was 1983. It could have been the following year, but I’m fairly certain it was 1983.

Let’s see … Tom Dooley was a hit in 1958. I was 14 then. A year or so before this, I had moved into a new neighborhood, in Lexington, Kentucky, where I grew up, and one of the kids in the neighborhood was a guy named Tom McGoodwin. He was a year and a half older than me. I can’t say exactly why, but we both took a strong liking to each other. Tom, was the neatest guy I’d ever met. There was never any question about this then, or during the next 60+ years that we remained friends, until he died a few years ago. Back then, when you thought something, or someone was “neat” it meant that you thought whatever it was, or whoever it was … was really cool. Like … the Trio was really neat or cool.

Back then, when I was 14, I can’t say that I was a great music lover, like I am now, but when I was a kid, music certainly was a part of my life. The night Elvis was on Ed Sullivan, I was watching with my parents. I liked Elvis, but he didn’t make a big impression on me that night. He next day, I went with my mom to the A&P to get some groceries. Next to the check-out, there was a stand that was full of 45 records. One of them was Elvis’ Hound Dog and Love Me Tender 45. My mom said to me, “You want one of those … don’t you?” Before I could answer, she grabbed one and put it in our cart. I was going to say … “I’d rather have the new Ricky Nelson 45.” But, the words never got out of my mouth. When we got home, I don’t know why, but I called Tom, and told him that I had the new Elvis 45. He immediately came to my house, and we played the 45 (both sides) about a million times on my little portable phonograph. Of course, we didn’t play it a million times, but it sure seems that way. (The way it seems like you played a new Trio album a million times when you first got it.)

Well, I don’t know how long went by after that … maybe over a year. But, one day, I got a call from Tom. He said, “Maxy,” my brother Bill has a new album you have top hear … come to my house now !!!” I did just hat. Tom’s older brother, Bill was in college and lived in the fraternity house. He’d brought home the Trio’s Hungry I album. My life, and Tom’s life were never the same after that. First, Tom got a Martin tenor guitar. Then, he got a Pete Seeger long-neck banjo. Tom did exactly what many of you did. He became a banjo player. It took me much longer to get my first guitar, a Harmony tenor guitar, that I got in 1963―that I still have.

Now, fast forward to 1983. Tom and I are both living in Louisville, Kentucky. In the 25+ years that had passed since we first became friends, and had first become Trio fans … a lot had happened to us in our lives. We were both in our 40s. Jackee and I didn’t have any kids. Tom was never married. Not having these responsibilities had made it possible for us to each have what I’ll call very “adventurous” lives. Well …. “adventurous” is too strong a word. Let’s just say that we were never very conventional people. After all … Tom was a banjo player.

When Jackee and I first got married, and we lived in Louisville, the Kentucky Derby was a weekend event. The Derby was on Saturday, and people in Louisville had parties all weekend long. By 1983, the Derby had expanded to being a week long event. (Now, it’s a month long event. The last two weeks before the Derby, there are dozens of events EVERY day and night.)

By 1983, I don’t know who paid for it, but one night, during Derby Week, there was a free concert on the Belvedere. This is a park like place that overlooks the Ohio River. In 1982, the entertainers for the concert was The Lettermen. That was a great show. In 1983, the entertainers were the Trio and The Association. By this time, Tom and I had gone to many Trio shows. We’d both seen Nick, Bob & John three times. And, by this time, Bob knew Tom. Because … Tom was a guy that was very hard to forget. He had a handlebar moustache, and he wore clothes that made him almost look like a clown. Tom had many pairs of colored sneakers. He’d buy matching red and blue sneakers. On one foot, he’d wear a red sneaker, and on the other foot, he’d wear a blue sneaker. That was Tom. (In addition to being a banjo player)

One other thing about Tom. From the time Tom began college, he read TIME magazine from cover to cover EVERY week. Tom was a walking encyclopedia on world affairs and politics. Tom was one of those guys who seemed to know everything, and he was very opinionated. Very liberal.

In college, Tom majored in English, and he had his Master’s in English. He was a high school English teacher before he got busted for possession of pot. Afterward, he became a surgical nurse. Tom was very good with his hands, and very often, during an operation, after all the difficult stuff had been completed, surgeons would say, “Tom, you can finish him up.” Needles to say, Tom had many interesting operating stories to tell. After you’d heard a few of them, you’d know that you should try to avoid any form of surgery because there’s no telling what might happen.

All of this, whenever I was in Tom’s presence, made me a very dull person. So, it was no wonder that even though Tom and I had talked to Shane many, many times, before and after Trio concerts, Shane remembered Tom, and not me. I should probably add that the same thing happened during the many, many times we saw John Stewart.

Well, in 1983, when the Trio was going to do the free Derby concert with The Association, the day before the show, in the morning, near noon, Tom and I were together at my office talking. Tom was having difficulty playing the banjo part in one of the Trio songs, and he wanted to ask George how to play it. So, I said, “Let’s call the Galt House, and see when the Trio is going to check-in.” The Galt House is a big hotel in downtown Louisville where all of the entertainers stay when they are in Louisville to do shows. So, I called the Galt House, and I asked the operator when the Trio was going to check-in. After I asked this question … there was silence on the line. I thought we’d been disconnected, and I was about to hang up, and call back. Just as I was about to do this, Bob answered the phone.

We talked for a few minutes. He said he’d been to see his dentist in New York City, and had gotten to Louisville a day early. I asked Bob if he wanted to go to lunch, and he said “Sure.” So, that’s what we did. Bob immediately recognized Tom. We had lunch at the Bristol Bar & Grill on Bardstown Road. https://bristolbarandgrille.com

Bob got the chili and loved it. He said it didn’t hurt his sore gums. After we ate, we went to Tom’s house. Bob said that Tom’s house was a lot like Nick’s house in Port Awful. There, Tom and Bob smoked some pot. (I never got into it.) Afterward, we went my house. When we got to my house, Bob immediately spotted the 1963 T-Bird convertible that I’d restored. Bob said that Louise had one just like it, and it was always his favorite family car. That’s when Bob and I became close friends. It all happened because of my T-Bird because we were both car guys. As was the case with Bob, and all of his cars … I’ve regretted more than anything … selling that car. It was one in a million other 1962 T-Bird convertibles because it had air conditioning. (Maybe not a million.) But, in 1962, very few convertibles had air conditioning. And, it could freeze you out. We were broke, and we needed the money. And, in 1990, I sold it.

The Trio and The Association put on a great show. There was a big party after the show. Larry brought Shane some great pot. He shared it with Tom.

Bob and I remained friends until shortly before he died. (I didn’t have anything to say to him after he fired George, Bill, and Rick) It all began in 1983 … 40 years ago … next week. During Derby Week! It doesn’t seem like just yesterday … it seems like centuries ago. One of these days … I’m going to get another 1962 T-Bird convertible … with air conditioning. Mine was like this one.

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