Over seven hundred of us
braved the dropping temperatures
and the setting sun in the River
View Amphitheatre of the Lady
Luck Casino in Caruthersville,
Missouri, for Narvel's outdoor
concert. Double Edge opened the
show promptly at 5:00 P.M. with
Narvel onstage about 20 minutes
later. He explained that there
were no stage lights, so the
show had to be over before the
sun set.
Deejay Michael Steele of WOLF
95.9 airing from Jonesboro,
Arkansas, introduced Narvel who
opened with "Funny How
Time Slips Away", and two other
Top Ten's, "Drift Away" and
"Somebody Hold Me", "Pink and
Black Days" took us back to the
late '50s followed by a 1974 Top
Ten "When Your Good Love Was
Mine", and the B Side of that
record, "Fraulein" which Narvel
told us was written by Lawton
Williams and was a Hot Disc Top
10 European hit last year.
Narvel wrote "Loretta" in 1962
and sang it for his future bride
Loretta for the first time when
he took her to meet his parents.
It's still just as lovely today.
He was proud of the fact that
his daughter Stacia and her
friend Danny were in the
audience as well as his nephew
Billy Joe and wife Sissie.
Narvel tore into "Great Balls
of Fire" after reminding us of
his first recording session at
Sun Records, 706 Union Avenue,
Memphis, Tennessee, on January
23rd, 1957, with Jack Clement,
Roy Orbison, Harold Jenkins soon
to be Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash
and Jerry Lee Lewis in
attendance. Fan Club member Ruth
Bryant was acknowledged by
Narvel while onstage. Her late
husband Deejay William Bryant
played Narvel's songs on
Dyersburg's WDSG Radio Station
for many years.
We were treated to "Kiss-A-Me
Baby", one of Narvel's early
Rockabilly hits, then to the
1975 Billboard and CashBox
Single of the Year "Reconsider
Me". Sun Records recording "My
Babe" was next followed by the
1979 Top Ten "Everlasting Love".
Narvel sang a soulful "Danny
Boy" in his son Bub's memory and
received one of several standing
ovations. "Danny Boy" was the
last song Narvel sang and Bub
played drums on in Dyersburg,
Tennessee, in August of 1995,
just a few short weeks before
Bub's fatal car accident on
September 14, 1995."Lonely
Teardrops" was requested and
done by Narvel with Double Edge
doing a great job backing him.
Huey P. Long handled Narvel's
CDs and picture sales. Narvel
mentioned that he and Huey met
on the first day of school of
the ninth grade in Bernie,
Missouri, and have been friends
ever since. "My Prayer" closed
the show just as the sun dropped
below the horizon.
Unfortunately, due to the
dropping temperatures, a lot of
people were simply too cold and
left during the show which was
sad and maddening because casino
management had an empty indoor
concert hall that could have
been used for Narvel's show. Did
they flip a coin and decide that
even though the temperature was
below 50 and dropping that over
seven hundred friends, family
and fans who had traveled
hundreds of miles weren't
important enough to be
comfortable for the show?
In spite of that, Narvel donned
his coat, hat and gloves and
never got in a hurry during his
two and a half hour autograph
line. The last 20 of us were
rewarded when a couple ahead of
us told Narvel of their favorite
song "To Love Somebody", which
he had not done as part of the
show. So he simply sang it for
them a cappella. What a treat for
us! We all clapped and yelled.
A-ha, there was justice for
enduring the weather.
Faye Huffman
Baton Rouge, LA
