Read Online Storms by Carol Ann Harris - Free Book Online Page B

had what it took to be a success story in the music industry.
    The band took a two-week break before the start of the tour to promote
Rumours
, and everyone was heading off to Hawaii or Mexico to rest up, party, and try to forget about the pressure that was building like a hurricane with each passing day. But Lindsey, instead of flying to a vacation spot, wanted to go home. He called me at Producer’s Workshop and asked me to drive up to northern California with him to meet his family that weekend. My palms turned sweaty as I gulped and answered, “Sure, baby, I’d love to go.” I could feel the blood draining out of my face as I hung up.
    What am I going to wear? What will I do if his family decides I’m not right for him? What if they just flat-out hate me?
I thought, as I laid my head down on my desk and tried to will away the nerves that were threatening to make me nauseous.
You can do this, Carol. You’ll love them and Lindsey will be proud of you. I mean, he wants me to meet his family, so that’s a big deal. I’ll try so hard to be perfect and I’ll make them like me. Even if it kills me.
    Two days later I climbed into Lindsey’s blue and somewhat battered BMW 328i and we began the long drive up to Palo Alto. During the ninehour trip Lindsey smoked joint after joint and told me about his childhood and his family. His brother Jeff was responsible for his learning to play guitar, he told me. Apparently Jeff would rush out and buy rock ‘n’ roll 45s the minute they were released and play them for Lindsey when they were still in elementary school. Lindsey begged his parents for a guitar and they bought him a $35 Harmony. He taught himself how to play by listening to Elvis and Kingston Trio records.
    As approaching headlights swept the interior of the car, Lindsey had a smile and a faraway look on his face as he went on with his tales of childhood highlights. He told me he won his first singing contest playing “Black Slacks” at the age of seven while on vacation with his family in Arizona. A star was born.
    Lindsey took another long drag of his joint and kept talking. “I went to Menlo-Atherton High School. I’ll drive you by it. Anyway, Stevie went there too and she was a year ahead of me. I joined a high school rock band named the Fritz Rabyne Memorial Band. In 1967 we regroup, shorten the name to just Fritz, Stevie joins as the lead singer, Bob Aguirre is on drums, a guy called Brian is on lead guitar, and I played bass and sang.”
    â€œYou played bass? Why?” I couldn’t imagine Lindsey not having a lead guitar in his hands.
    He looked sheepishly at me and told me that because the music was pretty psychedelic, he didn’t feel he could play it that well. “Then, later on”, he said, “the band breaks up and Stevie and I form Buckingham Nicks. We had an album out on Polydor. The fuckers dropped us from the label while we were playing a small club tour in the South. I’ll tell you all about it later. We have plenty of time for all that”, he added meaningfully as he reached for my hand.
    â€œHey Lindsey”, I said, “I have someone in my family who is pretty damn famous!” As Lindsey looked at me with a surprised expression, I continued. “My great-uncle is Frank Hamer. He’s probably the most famous Texas Ranger in the world! He was the Ranger who tracked down Bonnie and Clyde in the 1930s! He actually received a citation medal from Congress for doing it. He also captured the Dalton Gang and the Newton Boys—some of the worst gangs of bank robbers in the old West!Oh, and he was also famous for his sarcasm. When a small town in Texas called in the Rangers to put down a riot, my uncle came to the rescue. When he stepped off of the train—alone—the townspeople said to him, ‘We have a riot down here! Where are the rest of the Rangers?’ And he answered, ‘One riot, one