Boz

  One great thing about living in Greenville is that it is pretty much halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte, so a lot of artists would come to Greenville to do concerts.  When it was announced that Boz Scaggs was coming to the Peace Center in downtown Greenville, I got excited.  I loved his music, especially on his album "Silk Degrees" that came out when I was working in the Sanger-Harris record department in the late 1970's in Fort Worth. 

 When tickets went on sale, I went down to the box office to buy a ticket.  I told the girl in the box office that I wanted to buy a ticket for the Boz Scaggs concert.  She was rather young and said that she had never heard of Boz Scaggs.  She asked me if he was related to Ricky Scaggs.  I told her no and that it was different music.  She was confused.

 I couldn't afford a downstairs ticket, so I got one in the balcony.  The show was great.  He played all of his hit songs.  I sang along with them.  While I was enjoying the show, I felt a hand on my left knee that wasn't mine.  I looked next to me, and there was an elderly woman smiling.  I tried to move my knee away from her hand, but she kept it there on my knee.  I wondered if she didn't have feeling in her hand and didn't know it was on my knee, but then I guessed she did know and was just frisky.  At any rate, I was rather uncomfortable and found myself giving Boz standing ovations, even if no one else was.  When the show was over, she and I went our separate ways.  She could have been a lonely widow with a lot of money.  I'll never know.

 I had brought my album "Moments" with me, in hopes that Boz would autograph it.  "Silk Degrees" would have been better, but the dark background wouldn't show the signature with a black sharpie.  I went to the stage door to wait on everyone to come out.  A guy came up to me and asked me if I wanted a backstage pass to enter the building.  Of course, I said yes.  He ushered us into a hallway where the dressing rooms were.  One by one, the band members came out to head to their cars.  I got to see Greg Phillinganes, who played keyboards for the band.  That was a thrill for me.  He has played with Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and may more.  He said hello.  Then, our guide came to us and said that Boz was feeling bad after the show and was dehydrated, so we couldn't meet him.  I was disappointed, but it was still cool to get backstage.  And, despite an old lady grasping my knee, I had a great time.