On our
way to Oklahoma to celebrate our
Mother's 84th birthday with her,
my sister Patsy and I detoured
to Cape Girardeau for Narvel's
third annual show at the Eagle's
Club with Double Edge backing
him.
The date had been rescheduled
from March due to his double
hernia surgery in late February.
He's recovered now, has
headlined a show in France since
then, and has had numerous show
dates in the States this spring
and summer.
Double Edge opened the show at
8:00 P.M. with Narvel coming on
stage around 9:20 P.M. Little
did we know that he would be on
that stage for two solid
hours!! He opened with "Funny
How Time Slips Away", "Drift
Away", the beautiful "Blue
Darlin'" and then took us back
30 years to 1979 for
"Everlasting Love" which peaked
in the U.S. and Canadian charts
at No. 8 and 7 respectively.
Back 40 years to 1969 for
"Who'll Buy The Wine" a song I'd
never heard him do before, back
fifty years to 1959 when he was
20 years old and had been in the
music business three years, had
recorded for both Sun and
Mercury Records, for a song he
cowrote and recorded in Ontario,
Canada, which became his first
charted hit, "3,000 Miles".
Narvel told us that "Begging To
You" which he sang next, and
which is one of my favorites,
charted in Europe this year and
has been played by DJ "Cousin
Carl" on Country 106.1 coming
straight from Cape Girardeau.
He then transported us back to
January 1957 to his first
recording session at Sun
Records, 706 Union Avenue,
Memphis, Tennessee, with Roy
Orbison, Jack Clement,
Harold Jenkins (soon to be
Conway Twitty), Johnny Cash and
Jerry Lee Lewis present as he
tore into "Great Balls of Fire".
We got to hear "Kiss-A-Me Baby"
and were taken back to June 1957
when it was No. 12 on the charts
in Flint, Michigan, and No. 7 in
Poplar Bluff, Missouri, when he
played the Jewel Theatre there,
and while Narvel performed at
both places the girls tore his
clothes off, a thrill for an 18
year old who had been picking
cotton the year before.
"Reconsider Me" the 1975
Billboard and CashBox Single of
the Year was followed by "My
Babe". Cousin Carl joined Narvel
for a duet of "Rollin' In My
Sweet Baby's Arms".
Steve
Schaffner who traveled with
Narvel as a young man in 1979
for a few years rehearsing each
band for Narvel's shows and who
Narvel introduced as a great
guitarist, violinist and
symphony orchestra member and
who co-wrote "Pink and Black
Days" with Narvel inspired by a
comment Roy Orbison made to
Narvel, "Hey, Narvel, I haven't
seen you since the pink and
black days," was called on stage
by Narvel along with Fred
Horrell and Michael Anthony
Smith, an "early Elvis"
impersonator known as "The
Hillbilly Cat". They did a
rousing "Shake, Rattle and
Roll".
Narvel mentioned several times
that he was into overtime,
clearly over the 45 minutes or
one hour show that he usually
does. But it was obvious he was
having fun, feeling good, and
delivering one of the best shows
ever.
An emotional and powerful "Even
Now" was next in memory of his
only son Bub who he, his wife
Loretta and daughter Stacia lost
in a car accident September 14,
1995.
Then it was back to 1963 for
"Mountain of Love", a Top 5
international hit "Lonely
Teardrops", "Headin' Home" which
he wrote as a homesick new
artist in the first week of
March 1957 during a week-long
gig in St. Louis, "Somebody Hold
Me" and closed with two extra
verses of "Funny How Time Slips
Away" and all too soon he had
been on stage two solid hours!!
Double Edge took a short break
and then did a final set
highlighted by band member Judy
Webb's "Sweet Dreams". The
"Hillbilly Cat" was called back
on stage and did Elvis's "Hound
Dog" and "That's All Right,
Mama" with the band.
We left well after midnight with
Huey P. still selling CDs, and
Narvel still autographing
CDs, talking with friends and
fans and posing for pictures
with them.
What a night!! What a show,
Narvel!! Way to go!!
Faye Huffman
Baton Rouge, LA
