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Phase 9

            Even though Mook’s Session disintegrated, I was still obsessed with music, and Billy D and I were still friends. I spent a lot of time with both BD and KK aside from my basketball obligations, which basically amounted to three practices and a game each week, so there was always a long weekend. Not so long after Mook’s Session, Billy D told me he had purchased a Doric organ. He said it was nice, and I was excited about it. He invited me to stay overnight at his parents’ place, located above the Little T in Vonore, after the Friday night football game.

            I don’t remember anything about the game, not even who Madisonville played, but Billy D and I went to the dance, the first one held in the gym of the new high school, where the hero band (now to be referred to as The Heroes) played. For some reason there was a thick tension in the air. The Heros seemed to play everything with more intensity than usual, but I’ll never know the outcome because Billy D and I headed for Vonore after the fourth song.

            Everyone was asleep at Billy D’s. Perfect. We spent the rest of our waking time listening to Otis Redding and quietly playing that sweet Doric organ. Billy D showed me the chords to These Arms of Mine, and sang as I played. I hoped there was a chance to start another band, but Billy D had other plans. He told me he was about to audition for The Thumbers, a band based in Tellico Plains. That seemed kind of curious to me. I’d seen The Thumbers when I was in 6^th grade. They were really good musicians, but lacked the slick polish of The Heroes. They seemed more country, more raw. I didn’t know how I felt about that.

            About four or five months after my first jam session, the same guy, AB, called again and invited me around to see his band. I was still playing with Mook’s Session. I saw no harm in taking a listen. I didn’t know who AB’s band was, but when I got there discovered it to be The Thumbers. I had seen The Thumbers nearly two years before when the band played for two straight weekends at the old high school. One of the players used a Silvertone guitar with amp built right into the carrying case. I didn’t see that guy around on this particular trip, and learned later that he had been drafted.

            A couple of Thumber members had attended a Mook’s Session practice a few weeks before. I hadn’t thought them impressed enough with me or any of us to engineer a heist of an MS member, but that must have been the case. The Thumbers’ drummer was a fellow I had met before. He was close to my age and had played Little League during the season I had played. He had a most unorthodox style in that he played this little beat that never varied from song to song. I didn’t see how I could play with a drummer like that. They didn’t exactly invite me in, and I went my way.

            Not long after the demise of Mook’s Session, AB invited me to a jam session featuring himself, a drummer from a Sweetwater band, and the rest of The Thumbers. The thing didn’t kick off for many hours after the proposed starting time due to the tardiness of everyone involved. The two original members of the group said almost nothing through the entire jam, and appeared agitated about something. The next time I saw Billy D, he was playing with The Thumbers. AB was no longer with the band (he, too, was drafted), but the drummer I thought couldn’t play began to sound very good after Billy D got ahold of him. I was sent back to the spare bedroom at home to continue practicing.