Strong Enough To Be Gentle

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Jim during the ending part of Strong Enough To Be Gentle!
"Ooooh my soul." 11/13/75

As many times as my sister Sheila and I have seen Black Oak, the show that stands out the most in my mind was on November 13, 1975 at the Erie Fieldhouse in Erie PA. It's the first time we met Jim Dandy! I had turned 21 in February and had been a BOA fan for about 3 years. My husband Ralph was elected to drive us the 2 1/2 hours to Erie. There was myself, Ralph, my sister Sheila, my good friend Avis, and an annoying male friend of Sheila's.

We decided to leave about noon. In those days, with festival seating, it paid to be there as early as possible. X-Rated had just been released and we were looking forward to hearing some of the new material live.

When we got to Erie we drove past the Fieldhouse so we would know where we were going later and then decide to go get something to eat. While driving past a Ramada Inn, I happened to spot a familiar blue tour bus. So where do you think we decided to eat? No one was around so we went in to the restaurant and had supper. We were really nervous because I had seen pictures of their tour bus before, so I knew the band had to be close. There wasn't a sign of them in the restaurant, so we finished our meal. (Sheila and I were too nervous to eat much since we were the BOA fanatics.) We stepped out of the restaurant into the parking lot at just right time because who did we see making his way toward the bus but Jim Dandy himself. Now, my sister had never been quite as shy as myself, thank God, so she starts yelling: Jim! Jim! Wait! He turned around and looked, and I really expected him to run as fast as he could away from this motley crew bearing down on him, but not Jim. He started walking toward us, and he must have known we were nervous, so he started the conversation by asking us if we were coming to the show later. He talked with us for 5 or 10 minutes, and posed for photos, and was just as nice as we expected him to be. Imagine meeting the person who's Circus Magazine Ravemate Pin-up for July, 1975 hung on your living room wall!!

Robyn Hand + Jim Dandy 11/13/75.

My sister Sheila with Jim 11/13/75.

Avis Keener + Jim Dandy 11/13/75.