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>I played guitar for/with Sam from the start of 1982 >until mid `85. It was a real thrill to have been asked >to join his band. I had know Sammy since 1975 when I >moved to Corpus. Those were some really fun times and >some aggravating ones as well, especially the time our >tour bus broke down in Lubbock. We were on our way to >play in Amarillo for a few days. It had been snowing >and the fuel line ( a $10.00 part) split and dumped 75 >gallons of fuel on the highway. Our driver, Randy >pulled into a truck stop in the middle of the night >and I woke up freezing about 8:30 in the morning >(couldn't heat the bus unless it was running..). The >parts place didn't open until 9 am. Once Randy fixed >the fuel line we were on our way. Seemed like that >damn bus was always breaking down. It was nice to read >the story about our gigs at Billy Bob's. I remember >the drink "incident" real well. We all went looking >for a waitress while Sammy was yelling "My career's >going to end tonight if I don't get a couple of >f___ing Jack & Cokes before we go on." >In-spite of the way Sammy could be at times, I still >loved every second of it. In March of 2005 my wife and >I flew to San Antonio for a few days. We drove down to >Corpus just to see Sam for a day. I glad we did that >as it was great to see him again after 18 years of >living in L.A. (even though it seems like I'm on tour >alot over the last 7 years. I'm the guy in the bus >photo on the far left. the club owner mooning us still >kills me. I never knew until Walt gave me a copy of >the photo. Walt.. where are you? >I learned alot about music, guitar playing, songs and >work ethics from the thousands of hours I spent with >Sam. I think about him often and even more so when my >band plays places that we went to all those years ago. >I also wonder what's happened to all the friends and >bandmates we had back then. I seem to only hear about >the ones that pass onto the next world.. >One last though here.. I recall about 2 months after I >had started playing with Sam at his club (Neely's) >that one night when he was introducing the band, he >said "And here's Don Butler on guitar. This is his >last week as he's joining the Coast Guard." About two >weeks later some poor woman came up to me and said "I >thought you were leaving to join the Coast Guard?" No >mam, that's just Sammy's sense of humour. He was just >havin' one over on all of us. The ultimate >prankster.... >Thanks for reading! It's great to see how many people >Sam touched with his music and his life. >Don Butler

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