Momnesia

Last of the Breed: Three legends, two men and a lot of $6 beers

This is a story written by my father.

AUGUSTA, GA. / ATLANTA, GA. - My son came to me with a dilemma: two tickets to the “Last of the Breed: Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Ray Price” show at Chastain Amphitheatre and a shift at work he couldn’t get covered.

“I’m sorry about that,” I said with as much pity in my voice as I could put in it. Inside, I was jumping for joy at the chance to see three of my all-time favorites in country music. And my son wanted to know if I wanted to go see them with just two hours notice and my wife teaching all evening. How little does he know about me?

A golfing friend once held me and two others captive in his car while he played a loooong tape of a country concert he recorded. He did have a few too many “Jacks” before he got us, but we were too gentlemanly to make a big deal about it. I called him to invite him and told him had to make a decision right now. He said he had to ask his wife.

“I’m waiting for a married man to ask his wife if he can go on a date with another married man,” I thought, as I dressed and waited for his call. “There are so many things wrong with this picture. We may never live this down if the other guys we play golf with hear about this.” But Henry called back. I had a date.

Chastain is an outdoor theatre in a city park, and concerts are a big social event. I could see more skin than if I was at the beach. “This might not be too bad,” I think as the wind began to blow and what passed for dresses on some of the young women seemed to float in the air. Henry nudged me as the wind picks up. I nodded my head and assumed a more mature appearance.

Unlike other concert venues, one can bring refreshments to Chastain or arrange for Chastain personnel to prepare something for you. Or, as we did, bring nothing and faint from the summer heat. The last option: mortgage your house to buy refreshments on site; but we passed on the food and concentrated on the drinks. It was hot. We did this as self-preservation.

We had a lot of self-preservation as the evening grew on, even though a beer — uh, I mean, a “refreshment drink” — costs $6 each. Luckily, the young folks sitting next to us offer to share their cooler contents. I looked at Henry and said, “Life is good.” After we finished our pricey beers, they handed us two more without making us grovel for them. But then they spied some of their friends. We both teared up as the group left to visit them for the rest of the evening. Back to the $6 beers.


Chastain is a great arena for a musical event, even if one is in the nosebleed seats. And Merle Haggard was the first to take the stage. He sang and talked to the audience, as if they were his friends, for an hour and 15 minutes. His voice is somewhat weaker than when he was a younger man, but this doesn’t take anything from him in the least. When Willie meandered out to sing “Poncho and Lefty,” all of Atlanta could hear the crowd roar their approval. Willie kept the audience in the palm of his hands. He sang most of his hits and included three songs from a new album he has coming out later this year. It looks like it will be a success if the reaction of the crowd means anything.

Ray Price came out and joined Willie for two songs — that was it for Ray for the night and I was disappointed. He is in his sixth decade of singing and only the people of my generation, born in the 1940’s, the Country music purists and the Country music industry know what he has meant to many songwriters and singers over the years. He is getting weaker as he grows older, but his voice is still deep and pure. The two songs didn’t show what he could do, but perhaps his physical strength limited his time on stage.

The other disappointment I had is one I have read about for years in the newspaper. Since most people see a concert at Chastain as a social event, conversations run the entire concert. A few entertainers have become very upset about this and have either stopped singing and asked everyone to be quiet or have decided not to return to the venue. I always thought the entertainers were spoiled, but I have changed my mind after one concert. I was taught to be respectful of the entertainer, give applause, stomp or yell after a song, but never talk with your friends, neighbors or on the cell phone. The people at this concert never shut up. I could still hear the music, but the conversations were an annoyance.

Still, it was a great show. If Willie, Merle and Ray come back into town for another concert, I don’t know if I’ll go see them again. They might not meet the standards of tonight’s show, and I don’t want to remember them as having a lesser show than tonight.


I haven’t been to a music show in years, and I thought it would be nice to buy my son a tee shirt. After all, he did give me the tickets — alright, my wife called and told me to buy one for him. Those of you who go to concerts on a regular basis will laugh at my reaction to the prices. Then I remembered that my wife strongly suggested that I pay.

"I guess it didn’t cost that much," I think, when I see how happy my wife is. She gives me a hug. Maybe I can talk her into letting me play golf tomorrow since she is in a good mood. Nah…

Editor's Note: The writer unknowingly arrived late to the show and missed the 40-minute set that Ray Price played prior to his arrival. Witnesses say he was in good vocal form.