52 Years between Avalons
By ice rivers
- 1212 reads
My life changed in 1958.
I was a kid.
Clarabell had said goodbye.
Elvis had said hello.
Davey Crockett had died at the Alamo.
I had never heard an electric guitar.
Then a rock and roll show came through town into our sparkling new War Memorial.
Clyde McPhatter, The Elegants, Jimmy Clanton, Johnny Tillotson, the Olympics, the Danleers, the Coasters, Dion and the Belmonts
I was sitting in the third row.
I was changing fast.
Then Bobby Darrin came out
Splish Splash
Queen of the Hop
More change for me, contractions coming quicker and each more intense
Then Duane Eddy
Yup
Cannonball
Rebel Rouser
Twangy, super amplified twangy guitar.
In some ways, I lost my virginity right there.
Then Buddy Holly and the Crickets
Oh Boy
More guitar
every day
Peggy Sue
And the last act
The star of stars
The teen idol
The heart throb
Frankie Avalon.
I wasn't even a teenager yet but I found a teenage girl sitting on my lap calling me "honey" and screaming "Frankie".
Dee Dee Dinah
Gingerbread
Venus
When I left that night, I was an authentic rock and roller...not just a kid anymore.
I still am and clearly am not.
Next came the sixties.
Fit hit the shan...........
Fifty two years later I went to Seneca Casino and saw Frankie Avalon once again.
Frankie was seventy now.
He has eight kids.
Phil Everley's son is the lead guitarist in Frankie's touring band.
Frankie's forty seven year old son is the drummer and he is damned good at it
Frankie looked like a happy man.
From what I'm told, so did I.
And so, at last I am.
Today anyways.
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Great sense of time and place
Great sense of time and place.
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