Rock and Roll Voodoo by Mark Paul Smith

Author:Mark Paul Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BQB Publishing
Published: 2019-02-11T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

RICK

Less than two weeks after Tim and Jesse’s warning from Carmen, The Divebomberz were scheduled to play Johnny’s Cimarron, a huge club in Shreveport, Louisiana, three hundred miles northwest of New Orleans. Jesse was amazed at the rapid turn of events. He hadn’t seen any way out of New Orleans until the door to their exit opened like a magic stone gate to a secret, mountain passage.

Rene’s parents had moved north and realized the clubs in that region would love the band’s country-rock sound. Rene’s father booked the job in Shreveport, which paid eighteen hundred for Wednesday through Saturday. The band would be filling in for another group that had to cancel.

Jesse was beginning to see that many of their opportunities happened because someone else couldn’t make it. Even more amazing than the miracle booking was that The Divebomberz became a six-man band shortly after New Year’s Eve.

Jesse answered the phone one morning and heard a man with a smooth New Orleans drawl speaking softly. “Hey, man. It’s Rick. Madame Carmen says you need me playing keyboard for your band.”

Jesse immediately wondered if Rick was the powerful force Carmen had predicted would come to them from Tipitina’s. It shocked him that a keyboard player would come into his life so soon after he first realized he needed one. He entertained the notion he had dreamed him up, but that’s not what happened. Rick did appear as if by magic. He had seen Professor Longhair sitting in with the band at Tipitina’s and realized how much The Divebomberz needed a keyboard player. He got Jesse’s phone number that night from Pete and called Jesse after the holidays.

Jesse was cautious at first. “How do you know Carmen?”

The man chuckled at Jesse’s reaction and introduced himself. “Sorry for calling out of the blue like this. Like I said, my name is Rick. I’ve been playing around New Orleans most of my life. Sooner or later, we all get to know Madame Carmen and Ruthie the duck lady.”

“You say that like they’re one and the same person,” Jesse said.

“They may well be. The two of them have serious Voodoo connections. Dr. John introduced me.”

Jesse was stunned. “You’re a friend of Dr. John’s?”

Rick paused long enough for Jesse to think he might be telling the truth. “We know each other pretty well. I love the cat. He’s helped me out a lot. But I learned most of what I know from Professor Longhair.”

That was all Jesse needed to hear. “That’s way good enough for me. Can you come to the Fae Do Do Club on Magazine Street on Saturday around noon? That’s tomorrow. We’re trying to get a rehearsal in the afternoon before our gig at nine.”

“I’ll bring my organ down if you’ll help me get it off the truck.”

Jesse had to laugh, thinking Rick was joking. “How big is it?”

Rick was serious. “It’s a Hammond B-3 with a Leslie. It’s big and it’s heavy.”

Jesse had no idea what he was talking about, but he wasn’t ready to admit his ignorance.

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