It was in the year 1972 when my brother, Randy, turned me on to Jackson's first album. ( the one now known as "Saturate Before Using" ) And through the next year, he and I learned most everything on that album. I said "most everything" . Then in the fall of 1973, September, Randy came to me as I lay sick with the flu and said that he was leaving. He said he was going hunting for deer on the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound / Straits of Juan de Fuca juncture in Nothwestern Washington State.. He told me that I really needed to learn the song from JB's album "From Silver Lake". Sick as I was, I assured him that I would figure it out. Then he departed, heading for the ferry at Anacortes.
The next thing I remember was being at the Puyallup Fair (Western Washington State Fair) about two days after Randy had gone hunting. My other brother, Loren, somehow found me at the fair that evening and brought me the news.
Needless to say, I had to learn the song. For those of you that have never heard it, just let me tell you that the whole story is within the words of "From Silver Lake" , right down to the breathing, the ship across the sea, and his lady "she was lookin' where he'd gone".
I performed the song on Randy's Epiphone 12 string at his memorial service for well over 300 people. The loudest applause was the silence. I have never performed the song again.
Donald Richard Watts jr. |
