The Hospital Hospitality House Benefit
National Guard Armory, Nashville, Tennessee
February 27, 1999
Performance #3910
After a long search, we finally found the entrance to the Armory parking lot, only to embark on another long search for the entrance to the building itself! But at last, we discovered a portal and entered, only to find a mostly empty building. (Uhhh, we were a little early, hoping for front-row seats. Obsessed? Who, us? Nah!) We wandered around a few minutes checking out the auction merchandise and generally getting the lay of the land. We found RD and spoke with him a short while before he had to go get ready to perform. We found the coolest little pins the HHH was selling. Little wooden pins, each bearing the likeness of one of the guys, and all of them autographed by the Cowboy whose likeness the pin bore. Yes, I got a complete set. Hey, the money went to a good cause! We also got HHH Benefit T-shirts with drawings of the guys on them. We also got programs for the benefit, enough for all the cyberpals who come to the Gathering at Bear Creek Farms in June (unless we get a sudden influx, that is!).
Throughout the evening, we got to meet and/or visit with lots of family members, since this was a true family evening. Katie Miskulin was part of the show, performing on her clarinet. More about that later! Once again, Miss Alice was the spokesmodel for the Mercantile, demonstrating the trick rope while showing off the new songbook and wearing a RITS T-shirt. Vanna White, look out! You have some real competition! We even got to meet little George LaBour, who is huge! According to Mom, he's doubled in size since his birth 10 weeks ago. He's a darling little guy, cute as can be, and evidently born to show biz. He was up on stage with all the commotion and lights and people and everything, and he was just calmly taking it all in. We also were lucky enough to meet Mrs. Chrisman. No, not Teresa! I mean Mrs. Chrisman, Sr., a.k.a., Woody's mom. Lovely lady, and very proud of her son (as well she should be!).
But all the meet and greet stuff aside, the show was wonderful too! Riders played two sets, with a young country group called Caney Ridge playing the middle set. I have to tell y'all, once again the handsome Ranger sang "Desert Serenade" for me (evidently, they don't do it all that often. When RD said they were going to do that one, he had to remind Woody that Woody starts that one off!). Then two songs later, that wonderful Ranger asked Joey to play "Texas Sand" for donna j. too! By that time Bobbie had to tie a string on me because otherwise, I'd have been floating at ceiling level along with the other helium balloons. Here's a complete playlist of the first set:
Texas Plains
That's How the Yodel Was Born
Wahoo!
Cool Water
Farr Away Stompp
La Malagueña
Sioux City Sue
The Hoop Dee Doo Polka
Poetry Corner, wherein Too Slim recites an original composition relating the episode of the disintegrating Upright Bass in Calgary
Night Riding Song
Cowboy Camp Meetin' (the feedback from the group mic was terrible, and they had to back away from the mic and do the song "unplugged." It was wonderful anyway!)
Celtic Medly (Annie Laurie/British Grenadiers/and another song I recognized but couldn't come up with the name for)
Timber Trail
The Arms of My Love
Desert Serenade (RD did this one "for donna j." Gotta love that Ranger!)
Mike Fink, King of the River
Texas Sand (Joey did this one "for donna j."I didn't request this one, although it is one of my very favorites! RD asked Joey to do it for me. No wonder he's the Idol of American Youth!)
Side Meat's Andrew Lloyd-Webber medley
There's a Blue Sky 'Way Out Yonder
The second set was mostly a request set. They did lots of requests so we got to hear some stuff we don't usually hear at a concert. And they didn't do 'em all at once, either! Here's the list:
Pecos Bill (And I'm happy to report that they did this one with the original lyrics. Pecos Bill once again took his life in his own hands by rolling a smoke instead of flossing his teeth!)
I'm Going to Leave Old Texas Now (the kids were adorable for this one, including the smart-alec teenager who just went "La la la la la" when Woody shoved the microphone in his face!)
I Still Do
Ridin' Down the Canyon (As a wonderful surprise, Katie Miskulin took the melody with her clarinet on this number. She did a fine job, and proud papa beamed while she played! She's quite a young lady!)
Clarinet Polka
Ghost Riders in the Sky
Blue Montana Skies
The Trail Tip Song
Down the Trail to San Antone
The Saltin' of the Slug
Idaho (I love this song!)
Tumbling Tumbleweeds
The Fastest Accordion Player in the West (It's absolutely amazing that Joey can still do this with one keyboard finger still out of commission from surgery! Truly a virtuoso. That's why they call him the Cowpolka King!)<BR>
160 Acres
Lonely Yukon Stars
Jingle Jangle Jingle
Cherokee
How Does He Yodel? (Wherein RD relates the method of yodeling taught at George Peabody College in the Slim Whitman College of Yodeling Knowledge)
Happy Trails
Sadly, there was no encore, and (unless you know why) unbelievably, no autographs after the show. Why? I hear you gasp. How could this be? Well, our beloved Too Slim, professional to the end, was performing Saturday night (two shows, remember) with a 104° fever and a horrible case of the flu. He never showed it a bit in the first set, and only if you knew what to look for would you notice he was getting a little pale and his voice was getting a little bit strained toward the end of the second set. While the rest of us climb into bed and moan at the first sniffle, Too Slim stood there under hot lights performing his heart out for two sets Saturday night. Not only did he stand there and perform, he did a danged fine job, too. His performance did not suffer at all. He was entertaining, smiling and laughing, singing up a storm, and slapping that bass (and face) as well as we've all come to expect (and that's pretty darned well, for sure!). So for that, I'd like to say this: Thank you Too Slim, for giving us all you've got, then reaching further and giving us more than that! You are the best, and we love you for it!
All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, with nary a dark spot other than worrying about Too Slim once we found out how sick he was. I can only hope he's had a chance to recover and he's feeling better now.
So 'til donna j. rides your way once again: so long saddlepals! It's been so good to see ya...
donna j.
Every day...the Cowboy Way!
All photos and material ©1999-2013 by donna j.
