By kiki
In 1954, when Connie and I were dating, we danced to Rhythm-&-Blues and Rock-&- Roll music at Betty's Barn in Irwindale, Ca. Betty's consistently had named artists and musical groups of that era playing live in their Saturday night dances. One such artist was Joe Houston, who played jazz, rhythm, and blues. Houston, who made his home in Los Angeles, was a tenor saxophonist born in Texas in 1926 and died in 2015. Houston's signature song was "All Night Long," Connie and I would swing to that tune every time he played it.
Betty's Barn was the place for teenagers and young adults to dance back in the early '50s, and Connie and I danced at Betty's many times. - But then life got in the way: we married in December of '54, and when the kids started arriving, we had to curtail our dancing dates. Soon after, I lost track of Joe Houston.
Fast forward to the mid-1980s
By the mid-'80s, we were living in La Puente (we still do). At that time, La Puente had many beer joints and a few "Nite Clubs" One of the clubs was on Valley Blvd and Orange Ave: The now-defunct Copper Digger. The Copper Digger, who sometimes had live shows, was more like a dive that wanted to masquerade as a nite club. Still, I would stop at the Digger now and then for a beer or bourbon and coke, and one time that I stopped there, they had flyers advertising a life show featuring Joe Houston. As I read the pamphlet, my first thought was, 'wow, Houston is still alive?' As I was drinking my beer, I thought, 'boy, Connie, I think I would love to see Houston again,' so I decided to buy two tickets to see Houston and relive those Betty's Barn days
A couple of weeks later, we drove to The Digger. We walked in and were seated close to the stage. Soon after, the Joe Houston Band took to the stage. I looked at "Joe Houston," and I turned to Connie and said, "that's not Joe Houston" she asked me, "why do you say that?" "This dude is about ten years younger than me, and Joe Houston was about ten years older than me." So during a band break, I walked up to "Joe Houston" at the bar and asked him if he could play 'Cornbread and Cabbage' (another Joe Houston hit from the early '50s). He said he didn't know the tune; I told "Houston," you are not "thee," Joe Houston. "I'm Joe Houston," he said. "I don't know your real name; it might really be Joe Houston for all I know, but you are not the Joe Houston you're pretending to be."
Fast forward to the mid-1980s
By the mid-'80s, we were living in La Puente (we still do). At that time, La Puente had many beer joints and a few "Nite Clubs" One of the clubs was on Valley Blvd and Orange Ave: The now-defunct Copper Digger. The Copper Digger, who sometimes had live shows, was more like a dive that wanted to masquerade as a nite club. Still, I would stop at the Digger now and then for a beer or bourbon and coke, and one time that I stopped there, they had flyers advertising a life show featuring Joe Houston. As I read the pamphlet, my first thought was, 'wow, Houston is still alive?' As I was drinking my beer, I thought, 'boy, Connie, I think I would love to see Houston again,' so I decided to buy two tickets to see Houston and relive those Betty's Barn days
A couple of weeks later, we drove to The Digger. We walked in and were seated close to the stage. Soon after, the Joe Houston Band took to the stage. I looked at "Joe Houston," and I turned to Connie and said, "that's not Joe Houston" she asked me, "why do you say that?" "This dude is about ten years younger than me, and Joe Houston was about ten years older than me." So during a band break, I walked up to "Joe Houston" at the bar and asked him if he could play 'Cornbread and Cabbage' (another Joe Houston hit from the early '50s). He said he didn't know the tune; I told "Houston," you are not "thee," Joe Houston. "I'm Joe Houston," he said. "I don't know your real name; it might really be Joe Houston for all I know, but you are not the Joe Houston you're pretending to be."
And, how do you know that?" he asked. "Because you are about ten years younger than me, and thee Joe Houston is about ten years older than me, plus you can't play Corn Bread and Cabbage" he smiled and said, "Okay, but please don't tell no one, and I'll buy you a drink," "I won't say anything but, it will cost you two drinks," he said that that was okay.
The 'Joe Houston' band gave a good show. We had a good time dancing the night away, but he wasn't "thee" Joe Houston from our Betty's Barn days.
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