The 16th a convoy
consisting of an 03 Lincoln, an 03 Mercury plus a sound truck carrying the show and band
I'd tour with that week, picked me up at the Holiday Inn near the Minneapolis, Minnesota
airport where I had flown to. We drove north some 4 1/2 hours to Coleraine, Minnesota
where Jeannie Seely, Steve Hall/Shotgun Red, the Shotgun Red Band and I would do the first
concert, which was at the high school auditorium there that night. Monday, the 17th, we
were at the Northern Inn Ballroom in Bemidgi, Minnesota. Wednesday, the 19th our concert
was at the school auditorium in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Steve Hall/Shotgun Red
& the Shotgun Red Band would open the shows, then Jeannie Seely, then me. Near the end
of my show, Grammy award winning, Grand Ole Opry star, Jeannie Seely would slip back on
stage and join the "Shoobie Do Wah's" on "Lonely Teardrops". I'd then
asked her to stay on stage and join me for duets of "Today I Started Loving You
Again" and "Shake, Rattle & Roll". At the end of each of her shows, she
got standing ovations after the ending with her biggest hit, "Don't Touch Me". I
received a standing ovation after each of my shows. Long autograph lines then awaited
Steve, Jeannie and me.
After going back home to
spend the night, I was back on the road that Friday night, driving the more than 300 miles
to Quincy, Illinois. I was there to play a concert at the Jr. High School auditorium,
Saturday, the 22nd, joined by "Two For the Show" from Branson. Some 1,200
welcomed us. This audience blessed me with two standing ovations and a long autograph line
in the lobby afterwards.
Saturday, the 29th, I
played my annual concert at the Music Ranch USA in West Point, Kentucky. The wonderful
audience who had come from as far away as England, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, West
Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky blessed me with 7 or 8 standing ovations! Country Classics
did a marvelous job backing me. A long autograph line then awaited me in the Lobby as my
U.S. Fan Club President, Roy Combs and his wife, Donna opened the record rack. Rube &
Nancy Yelvington (who hire me there) told me this was the best of the seven shows I've
done there. I made this 600 mile round trip drive alone.
Photo by Delores Lafollette
Jeannie Seely & Narvel Felts
Duet on "Today I Started Loving You Again" & Shake, Rattle &
Roll"
School Auditorium, Brainerd, Minnesota, March 19, 2003
