The earliest memory I have with my dad and I together will surprise no one. I don’t know the year exactly but must have been around 1969 or 1970.I was in Los Angeles with my mom. my dad was already there from his earlier trek from Austin to pursue music. While I remember my dad having a small upstairs apartment in Venice a short walk to the beach. I vaguely remember beach time together and body surfing lessons. But beyond that, everything is a blur of various events with various folks. The only vivid memory I have is sitting on the floor of dads living room watching a Dallas Cowboys football game. Charlie waters even made a great interception that caused chaos in the apartment with dad and a few buddies. I was just being groomed to be a fan at that time so I kinda just watched the guys get excited.
Im sure I was getting to visit dad while living in LA with mom. They weren’t friendly and mom had her abusive addict bass player boyfriend Roy Cox. I also remember a time when mom and roy took me to dads to demand money or he would not get to see me anymore. I was crying,at he bottom of the stairs while my dad, above, was enraged and hurt. they were yelling, although at the time I didn’t know what was going on. It was later in life I learned this from dad.
At this time my dad was trying to get a band together, but on his own, he was going to open mic night at the troubadour. He would frequently win the nights he went with his rendition of “cryin” by Roy Orbison. And the $100 was usually his. As a teen and adult I heard dad sing that song at parties or home and it was astounding how good he sang. Veins would protrude his forehead and neck while hitting the super high notes. When I was about 19 and got an acoustic guitar, I learned Cryin. we did that song together and what a thrill to play and listen to him absolutely crush that song. LA might have been the birth of “Dobie Gent” the stage name he created, but never really developed into anything beyond a passionate hobby. Dobie Gent was, a blend of dobie grey, the singer of “drift away” and peter gent, the author north Dallas Forty, a book based on the Cowboys OF COURSE!!!!