From Holland K. Smith

Sam? Sam Myers? SJM? Big Daddy? I just talked to you the other day.

I am once again haunted by the chorus to that James Taylor song..

I've seen fire and i've seen rain

I've seen sunny days that i thought would never end

I've seen lonely times when i could not find a friend

But i always thought that i'd see you again

I guess I'm gulity of taking my friendship with Sam for granted. As anyone that knew Sam for very long felt..he was like an old friend or family member...you could rely on Sam..for better or worse, he was always there, like a pilar.

He had a special name, code, password, nickname..(complimentary or not)..for all his closest friends. Oh yes he had one for me, too...anyone that hung around him long enough would hear mine eventually, so I wont bother with repeating it here. I always approached him with "SJM, what's shakin?" and he immediately knew it was me. I had to do this because he wasnt real keen on strangers and he remembered people by what they said and where they were from.

Sam was something else. Where do I begin? I've got a book's worth of stories just about the crazy times when I had the Monday night jam at Schooners. This is where I learned about the blues first hand, man. Sam was still drinking back in those days, and brother, we ALL got a lesson or two between the crazy folks that were in there and Sam(the REAL MofC) from time to time. He would come in from a frigging six week tour in Europe and walk in like the King of Norway, waving to his subjects, and sit there and comment about the jammers and drink and then perform like he had been waiting all week for this night. And the place could be packed, or it could be dead..didnt matter.

Stories...hmm. I dont even know where to START brother. Ha. Alan, I'll tell you, I've been lucky enough to have a few former Rockets in my band, and you would probably be better off asking them..although they'd probably have to tone it down. Jim Milan, John Street, Danny Cochran, Marc Wison all have amazing and hilarious and sad stories about Sam on the road. I dont think I could tell them quite like they could.

I hear there's a book being published about him..even from the short time I've known Sam forward, I just dont see how in the world they could fit ol SJM's life into just one book.

It's gonna be enough to drive a documentarian to drink.

Jack Daniels and a splash of Coke, I hope.