It was not entirely unusual for my father to greet us as we came back from the morning newspaper rounds, because he loved to read the paper first thing in the morning. Being the “paper boy” for a small Indiana farming town meant that my dad usually had to wait before we got back delivering everyone else’s paper first before he could get his hands on one.

Normally, dad stayed up half the night — the perennial night owl. For some reason, he seemed more disheveled than usual.

“John Lennon’s been shot,” he said, or words to that effect — after 30 years, quite honestly, I really don’t remember the exact turn of phrase he chose, but I remembered he delivered it with a certain resignation, a certain matter-of-fact sadness to his voice.

Out delivering the paper in the frosty Indiana morning, my mother and I had no idea of what had happened. While we sometimes listened to the radio during our seven mile route, this particular morning we spent the time laughing and chatting away the hour or so it took to get the papers out to our customers. And because John Lennon had been killed late on a Monday night, there was nary a word nor a peep about it in the paper we delivered that Tuesday morning. I’m sure that by the time the 5 star edition of the Indianapolis Star had rolled off the press — the last print run of the night — and thrown into the back of the eagerly awaiting delivery trucks, the news of Lennon’s death had come too late for the powers that be to do anything about it.

So there was that fairly awkward moment of realizing that you’ve been enjoying yourself while something tragic is unraveling around you, made all the more poignant by realizing that you weren’t even aware of it.

He had apparently been up half the night, at least — my father — listening to whatever news reports he could get off of the few TV channels we got in those days — long before any of us had 24/7 coverage on CNN. My mother always said that my dad’s love of the news had come from being a history major in college. History unfolding in front of his very eyes, was I think the way she put it once.

But it touched me deeply that he cared enough to tell me. That he cared enough to wait up for me as we came back from our rounds.

Make no mistake about it. My father was not of the “Rock and Roll” generation. He particularly loathed Elvis, whom he tended to ridicule whenever the subject came up. I never really got a bead on exactly what my father thought of the Beatles, but if I had to guess, they probably wouldn’t have registered very high in his book. And even though my father was a student of history, I don’t know if any of John’s exploits — good or bad — registered on him or not. I really don’t know, in retrospect, what exactly my father knew of or thought about John Lennon, but it touched me deeply that he cared enough to stay up and let me know. To share a moment of senseless, tragic loss, that touched us, and the whole world around us simultaneously.

I remember seeing a bit of documentary footage recently, where John and Yoko tried, in vain, to patiently explain to a newspaper reporter their campaign for peace, and for ending the Vietnam War. The reporter, quite clearly, made it obvious that she thought they were stark raving mad. And patiently, without getting too angry, John explaining by saying that “if we save just one life, it will have been worth every penny.” Just one life…. Just one life….

My father, a Presbyterian minister, was himself a man of peace, and the types of musicians that were revered and respected in my house growing up were folks like Pete Seeger. Maybe deep down my father somehow knew that John Lennon was also a man of peace. I can’t really say now. There’s probably no one who would remember, and my father has long since passed on himself. And when I heard, earlier this fall, that Pete Seeger would be singing in Central Park to celebrate what would have been John’s 70th birthday, something touched me inside, as if to let me know that it had finally come about full circle. I’d like to think that perhaps my father was somewhere nearby, singing along and perhaps enjoying the beautiful fall day.

But all I can tell you for sure is that after 30 years, it still hurts. And I never quite felt the same about my father since that day, for being moved enough to wait up until dawn that crisp and deathly cold Indiana morning, so he could tell me in person that John Lennon had been shot last night.

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Show Title: More Rhythm Rockin’ Blues Favorites

Lightnin’ Hopkins • Annie’s Boogie • Lightnin’! • Arhoolie

J.B. Hutto • Hip Shakin’ • Stompin’ At Mother Blues • Delmark

Muddy Waters • Turn Your Lamp Down Low • The Complete Chess Masters Vol 2 • MCA/Chess

Papa Lightfoot • Jump The Boogie • Rural Blues Vol 3 – Down Home Stomp • Imperial

Jimmy Reed • She Don’t Want Me No More • The Complete Vee-Jay Recordings • Charly

Hound Dog Taylor • Take Five • Natural Boogie • Alligator

G. L. Crockett • Look Out Mabel • House Rockin’ Blues • Ace

Elmore James • Early In The Morning • The Classic Early Recordings 1951-1956 • Ace

Jimmy McCracklin • He Knows The Rules • House Rockin’ Blues • Ace

Junior Wells • Lord Lord • Blues Hit Big Town • Delmark

Johnny Acey • I Go Into Orbit • N.Y. On Fire – Bobby’s Harlem Rock Vol. 2 • P-Vine

Professor Longhair • In The Night • New Orleans Piano • Atlantic

Smokey Smothers • I’ve Been Drinking Muddy Water • Sings The Back Porch Blues • Official

Chuck Berry • Let It Rock • The Chess Box • MCA/Chess

Little Junior Parker • Pretty Baby • Backtracking: The Duke Recordings, Vol. 2 • MCA

Bobby “Blue” Bland • Farther Up The Road • I Pity The Fool – The Duke Recordings Vol 1 • MCA

Clifton Chenier • Baby Please • Chess New Orleans • MCA/Chess

Larry Williams • Dizzy Miss Lizzy • The Specialty Story • Specialty

Betty James • I’m A Little Mixed Up • The Blues Vol 4 • MCA/Chess

Bird Rollins • Just Let Me Be • Strand 25034 (45 rpm) • Strand

Clayton Love w/ Ike Turner’s Kings Of Rhythm • The Big Question • Trailblazer • King Masters

Joe Hill Louis • She May Be Yours • The Complete Sun Singles Vol 1 • Bear Family

Howlin’ Wolf • Dog Me Around • Moanin’ At Midnight • Varese Sarabande

J.B. Lenoir • When I Am Drinking • I Don’t Know • Vogue

Robert Henry • Something’s Wrong • King 4624 (78 rpm) • King

Papa Lightfoot • After While • Down Home Blues Classics 1943-1953 • Boulevard Vintage

Eddie Taylor • Leave This Neighborhood • Big Town Playboy • P-Vine

Lightnin’ Hopkins • Walkin’ The Streets • Rockin’ The Blues • Hot Productions

Little Junior Parker • Love My Baby • Sun Records – The Blues Years • Charly

Baby Boy Warren • Stop Breakin’ Down • Stop Breakin’ Down • Official

Clifton Chenier • Opelousas Hop • Bayou Blues • Specialty

Wilbert Harrison • Let’s Stick Together • The Fire•Fury Records Story • Capricorn

K.C. Douglas • Little Green House • All Night Long They Play The Blues • Galaxy

Square Walton • Pepper Headed Woman • RCA 20-5493 (78 rpm) • RCA

Howlin’ Wolf • Saddle My Pony • Chess Box • MCA/Chess

Snooky Pryor • Judgment Day • Original Vee-Jay Recordings 1955-1957 • P-Vine

Lightnin’ Slim • I’m Him • House Rockin’ & Hip Shakin’ Vol 4 • Hip-O

Lightnin’ Hopkins • They Wonder Who I Am • Remember Me • Ember

Little Milton Anderson • Little Milton’s Boogie • Catfish Blues • P-Vine

#1) Fast Boogie • Little Walter • Chess Blues (Box Set)

#2) Rib Joint • Sam Price & His Texas Bluesicians • In The ’50s; Hit, Git & Split

#3) Down Town • Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated • R & B From The Marquee

#4) Shuffleboard • Memphis Slim • The Come Back

#5) Elmo’s Shuffle • Elmore James & His Broomdusters • The Classic Early Recordings 1951-1956

#6) Track Down • Calvin Frazier • Stompin’ 27 – 22 Rockin’ Blues Classics!

#7) Frog Hop • Earl Hooker • Earl Hooker – Simply The Best

#8) Cuban Getaway (aka Bayou Rock) • Ike Turner & The Kings Of Rhythm • Ike’s Intrumentals

#9) Old Time Shuffle • Lloyd Glenn • Honky Tonk Train

#10) Boogie In The Dark • Jimmy Reed • Jimmy Reed – The Complete Vee-Jay Recordings

#11) Chicken (aka Chuck-A-Luck) • Baby Boy Warren • Detroit Blues (JSP)

#12) St. Louis Sunset Twist • Benny Sharp And His Orch. • Stompin’ 3

#13) Five Spot • Otis Spann • Chess Blues Piano Greats

#14) Juke Box Boogie • Doctor Ross • The Complete Sun Singles, Vol. 1

#15) Dog Man • Big Amos Patton • River Town Blues

#16) Shake Dancer • Little Walter • Blues With A Feeling

#17) The Squeeze • Wild Jimmy Spruill (With Horace Cooper & Band) • Scratch ‘n Twist – Rare And Unreissued 1956-1962

#18) L.C.’s Shuffle • L.C. Good Rockin’ Robinson • Mojo In My Hand

#19) I Got It • Johnny Young • Johnny Young And His Friends

Be sure to check out our podcast page for more great Blues!

And next week, don’t miss a show that we’re very proud to present, which will profile the greatest of the greats of Texas Blues Guitar. We stay pretty much strictly uptown for this tribute– T-Bone Walker, Gatemouth Brown, Lowell Fulson, Albert Collins, and, yes, Freddy King, too! (Some of the great Texas Country Blues artists– like Lightnin’ Hopkins, Frankie Lee Sims, Smokey Hogg, Soldier Boy Houston (and many more)– will be featured in an upcoming show).

It all happens on “Blues Unlimited,” every Wednesday, from 2-4am, only on KXCI Community Radio, 91.3FM, right here in Tucson.

Interested in previous shows? Write to us at bluesunlimited@gmail.com

Perhaps you’ve seen the DVDs of the AFBF performances, or heard of them. Relive some of the heady magic of yesteryear, tonight, July 8, 2009, from 2-4am, MST, only on www.kxci.org

Oh, and future programs will be devoted to the AFBF 1967-1972 years, and a third installment on the early 1980s tours. Enjoy!