Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 16:17:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Divers <daviddivers@ymail.com>
Subject: Singer's Story - 5

Chapter 5--A Big Step Forward

After we relaxed and cooled down some, we threw on some clothes and got out
our guitars and played until after three AM.  Although we didn't know all
the words to each other's personal songs, we both played by ear and after a
few bars we could follow most everything the other could play.  So, we
rehearsed my song, "Ripples", and then some of the Gospel classics in case
we got to sing in the interview.

Both of us were trained to sing harmony as well as lead and we could switch
leads in the middle of a song.  It really sounded as tight a harmony as
those old Everly Brothers records.  You couldn't tell which voice was
singing the lead part unless you watched us.  He played rhythm guitar and I
picked out the lead on my acoustic.

That night we slept in separate bedrooms just for propriety's sake and,
after a lingering breakfast, we crossed the bridge to the interview in
Ocean Springs.

Chris had told me that right out of high school he had worked at this same
radio station as a DJ/Janitor/gofer before he got his big break.  He was
one of the first generation to join our record Label and had been their top
earner ever since.  He had originally been part of a local Biloxi Gospel
group and his solo voice was discovered by the same man who had discovered
my family.  So, it would be like old home week when he interviewed.  We
walked into the building and he asked the receptionist if the boss was
in. "Tell him Chris is here"!

The receptionist crossed the lobby to a private office and right away the
boss came walking out and wrapped Chris up in a big bear hug and began
shaking his hand.  He said, "It has been a long time since you were on the
coast Chris.  We have been advertizing your homecoming show for almost a
month.  It's too bad you don't get back home here more often.  All we get
to hear are all those hits you keep pumping out.  And who is this young man
with you"?

Chris said, "This kid is Billy Ray Stone who is going to be one of the
biggest stars in Gospel music one of these days ...He is part of Stone
Family--the one who sings "Ripples".

Immediately the owner began pumping my hand also and telling me how great
my song was and did I want to sit in on the interview too.  He said, "y'all
can do a half an hour if you want to".

We had brought our guitars, so Chris sent me out to the car to get them.
By the time that I got back Chris was helping them rearrange the main
studio so it could accommodate both of us on stools side by side.  Chris
told me to give him my interview question list and he was personally going
to interview me on the air.  He said they were going to record it live and
would play advertizing excerpts from it several times that day before the
show.

The owner served as the announcer to interview Chris about the show and
then we played one of Chris's hit songs with me playing lead guitar.  Chris
then introduced me by asking, "I bet you can't guess who it was that was
playing that fine lead guitar.  It was none other than my new friend Billy
Ray Stone of the Stone Family. "

He went on the say that my family and I were one of the featured bands on
his homecoming show at the convention center.  Then he asked me most of the
questions that were on my list.  Naturally I plugged my families'
recordings and the show.  Then he coaxed me to sing, "Ripples", with him
singing harmony and playing guitar.  It was a knockout.  It was so
beautiful that the owner kept us on the air chatting and singing for almost
a full hour.  With the owner's encouragement, every time there was a pause
for a commercial, we would figure out another song that we knew in common.
At the conclusion of the interview, the owner walked us out to the car and
said that if the family ever broke up, Chris and I could have the greatest
duo in the history of any of music, bar none.  He hugged us each and said
that we had a standing invitation anytime we were in town.

As we crossed the bridge heading towards the convention center complex we
stopped and looked at the Biloxi harbor and the shrimp boats.  Then we
headed on down highway 90 to the Coast Coliseum and Convention Center
Complex.

We arrived just as the busses were pulling in along with the semi-truck
loaded with the sound system and lighting.  When we tried to enter the
center, the manager stopped us and said that the ticket sales were so
strong that he and the promoter had decided to move the show into the
adjacent coliseum.  They had a crew ready to hang the lights and speakers
and side curtains.  As we were talking, there was a line of people standing
at the box office to buy tickets and more still pulling into the parking
lot.  We said, "I guess our little interview got some attention".

As my family's bus pulled into the bus security compound, I could see my
Daddy smiling from the driver's seat.  The minute his feet hit the ground,
he gave me a big hug and said that they had heard the whole radio show and
it had sounded wonderful.  He said he wished that he had recorded it on a
CD so that he could play it back for the record Label.  I told him that the
owner of the station had recorded the whole thing and he was going to play
parts of it all day to promote the show.  Daddy said, "If that is how we
have to sell out a show, maybe we will have to send you and Chris out more
often".

I thought to myself, "...I would be in hog heaven if that happens".

I helped him park and hook up the power and sewer to the bus and then went
in and talked to my Mamma and the family for awhile.  Daddy came in and
said, "I'm going to call over there to the station and request a copy of
that program because the Family holds the copywrite to some of the material
on the recording.  Why don't you go ahead and get some rest so that you
will be fresh for the show tonight".

To tell the truth, my mind was on other things rather than chatting with my
Mamma and them.  So, I took a shower and then went to my bunk and lay down.
As usual I was conflicted...guilt and remorse while at the same time
reveling in the memories of last night and this morning.  I felt like a
conquering hero because of the success of the interview and, at the same
time, like the wretch that we sing about in "Amazing Grace".  God had built
me up to an incredible high and then I rolled around in the mud like a
rutting hog...or the other way around.  Never the less, I savored the
moments that Chris and I had been together.

Around four in the afternoon Chris came to the bus and asked my Dad if I
could possibly do a guest appearance on his part of the show.  He said that
the radio station owner had called him and announced that he was going to
personally MC the show and he wondered if Chris and I would do some of the
duets that we had done on the radio that morning.  He said the phone was
ringing off the wall wanting to know if we were going to sing together that
night.  He was also going to bring several copies of the CD that he had
recorded at the station.

Daddy gave his approval and Chris asked me if I could come over to the back
stage area and run over a few things with his band.  He turned and started
to walk back towards the coliseum.  I grabbed my acoustic and ran to catch
up with him.  Even though we seemed to be contemporaries, he was fast
becoming my idol.  It probably wasn't quite love, but it was a strong case
of "heat".  As we walked along we quietly chatted about the night before
and the interview.  He treated me like an equal instead of a fifteen year
old boy.  In some ways he seemed to be about my age...I guess that is why
we clicked as well as we did.

Ever since my voice fully developed, people sometimes seemed to treat me
like a little boy playing an adult role--sort of like I was an actor just
mouthing the words that somebody else wrote.  I wasn't!  My Daddy knew me
to a "T"-- He trained me.  Every song that he wrote for me was tailored to
my vocal and emotional range.  Sometimes he made me stretch a little bit,
but it only made me better.  Chris sang the same way.  That is why in many
folk's opinion he was the best of the tenors in Gospel music.

So, we got a couple of stools and the other musicians got comfortable and
we jammed for a little while and then we picked two songs to focus on.  We
couldn't do the songs from either his or the Stone Family shows because
that was part of our scheduled act.  So we settled on some of the classic.

After I went back to the bus and got my stage clothes, I went over to the
dressing rooms backstage at the coliseum.  The promoter always sets out a
buffet meal for the performers , so I fixed me a plate and sat by myself to
eat.  I changed and then went to the wings of the stage and watched the two
opening acts perform.  The first to go on was the quartet that Chris had
first played with there in Biloxi.  After they sang their first two songs,
Chris joined them to do two more.  Then a trio came on and sang and played
for the next half hour.  Then it was time for Chris.  When Chris went on
the crowd went wild... It was a case of the local boy makes good.  He sang
for about 45 minutes and then he turned towards where I was standing in the
wings and introduced me.

When I walked on the stage the young people in the audience screamed and
cheered.  Many shouted for my song "Ripples".  Others hadn't realized how
young I really was.  I was newly tall--I had been very gangly until I was
fourteen and then my body grew to fit my long legs.  I had also filled out
and was now almost 6' and weighed about 170 lbs.  My dark Welsh-Irish
complexion and coal black hair and eyes were a startling contrast to
Chris's fair complexion.  A stage hand brought out two stools and set up
the mikes.  Chris and I quickly checked our guitar tuning and, with a nod
from Chris, the steel guitar kicked off our first duet.  We began with one
of the Gospel classics that we had done on the radio that day.  It brought
down the house.  It was difficult to get started on the second song due to
the applause and cheering.  We finally got into the second song with the
same result except now the girls were screaming as if we were Elvis or the
Beatles or something.  I left the stage because it was time for my family
to perform.  We did many of our Stone Family recordings and then my Daddy
introduced me and we went right into "Ripples".  Again the screaming...I
played two of my other singles and then the crowd began chanting, "WE want
Chris too", "WE want Chris too"..."Sing some duets"...

I turned to the wings of the stage and asked the MC to see if Chris was
still back stage...then I told the crowd..."if you want us to sing some
more, there is a price to pay...I want all you young people who will to
come down here in front of the stage.  I want some of you "not so young" to
come with them--Pastors please come..."

My Daddy turned towards me with his mouth agape because I had never done
that before.

As Chris came onto the stage, I asked my Daddy if he would lead an altar
call.  He handed Chris his guitar and jumped down off of the stage and
joined the dozens of young people who were flocking to the front.  It
seemed like half of the adults were coming also.  I whispered the name of,
"Because He Lives" and we began softly singing it in harmony.

With Chris continuing to sing that song I said, "We are not here tonight to
play with your emotions.  Chris and I are not the reason you came down
here.  We may sing sweet harmony but you own us no allegiance or obedience.
But there is a sweet spirit flowing that just begs you to surrender your
lives to God's service.  If you feel that call, get with one of these
pastors and recite the sinner's prayer.  And some of you Pastors, don't let
it end here tonight.  Get these young people's names and if they don't have
a home church, find out where they live.  Y'all have church busses and we
need you to pick these young people up and get them into church and Sunday
School."

With that I again joined Chris and we sang many other altar-call songs.  We
must have sang for another twenty minutes and when the crowd began finally
to just stand around and groove to the music, we ended it by singing,
"Ripples" in two-part harmony.

Although it was after nine o'clock when the show was finally over, the
crowd continued to mill around the coliseum floor.  Chris advised me not to
get down on the floor.  But, my Daddy and a lot of other pastors were down
there, so I decided to do it anyway.  After all, this was a Gospel music
homecoming not a Rock concert.

As I started down the stairs I looked back and he just shook his head and
threw up his hands.  He came down also.

There were lots of teens and young adults just waiting.  And it just wasn't
just girls. There were lots of boys as well.  They mobbed both of us.  For
a few minutes we held them at bay by asking them to pray with us.  But as
soon as the last "Amen" was said, they were all around us.  They didn't
hurt us.  They just wanted make contact and get our autographs --all that
teen stuff.  It was impossible to carry on a conversation with any one
person because all the questions were coming at once.  We got kissed and
hugged and hands were everywhere.  Most were above the belt, but in the
crowd, a few strayed to my butt or crotch.  And a few lingered for longer
than an accidental touch.  We stayed down there for almost an hour and then
the security staff finally cleared them out.

I have to admit, that was it one of the last times I ever was able to do
that.  There was just too much confusion and danger of getting accidently
hurt.  But it was an experience.

That was the beginning of my trip to "stardom"--such as it is.