Sincerely, Your Friend

My pal, Benny Joy, only met Elvis twice. The first time was in an amusement park in New Orleans. The King raved about Benny's record, Sincerely, Your Friend. He told Benny that when he heard it on the radio that he sent his dad to the record store to buy it. He had worn that copy out and had bought another. He told Benny that he was going to record the song. Thrilling stuff.

Over the years Benny would think about the encounter and he loved to tell the story. Of course Elvis records would come and go without any sign of a Benny Joy song.

Benny Joy met Elvis one more time and Benny was very excited that Elvis remembered him. He promised that he was still going to record that song.

When Elvis died a mutual friend sent Benny a roster of the songs that Elvis was working on in the studio. Sincerely, Your Friend was on the list.

Benny was a good guy and a good friend. He seemed to have no sense of irony. I don't remember him ever being sarcastic. Oh, he had a temper. There were folks who had cheated him and he remembered every detail. There was a woman who had hurt him and he never got over it. Every hurt was right on the surface, though.

I don't much approve of sarcasm. Seems to me that it is just a cheap substitute for clever. I'm sarcastic. I hope I'm not mean. They usually go hand in hand, it seems to me.

I want to be genuine, honest, authentic. Real. I may not have much to offer but I don't want anyone to have to search too hard to find it.