Musical Timeline 14

This is a blog from my music site at www.myspace.com/fredclarkmusic, part of a musical time line series about my music career:

Just prior to finishing the recording, I decided to name the album "Living In Dakin's Neighborhood" as a tribute to some of the people in my town. Dakin in this case is actually Dakin Williams, younger brother of the late great playwrite Tennessee Williams. Dakin had a career as a successful attorney as well as being an author and actor. (He would take part in stage productions of his brothers plays--often in drag as Blanche Dubois!) I first met Dakin as a teenager--he had an office downtown, and would run in to him from time to time. He was quite the snappy dresser, and always had good stories to tell about hanging out with Marlon Brando or Elizabeth Taylor.
After deciding to name the album, I ran into Dakin at the post office and told him of my intention. He was quite excited about it. To celebrate, he asked me and Lauren out to dinner. We picked out an evening we could all agree on, and he picked out a favorite restaurant of his in St. Louis. Me and Lauren arrived at his house that evening and as we approached the door we could hear a piano playing. The song was "Windmills of My Mind" by John Hartford. (John Hartford is Dakin's cousin). We then spent about the next ten minutes ringing the doorbell and knocking on the door---he couldn't hear us through his piano playing. Finally he answered, and explained he was practicing so he could give us a special musical performance. He played the song, his wife came in the room for a few minutes, we talked, and then Me, Lauren, and Dakin left for the restaurant in his late model luxury car. We started out, and the Dakin said he had a new CD he wanted us to hear. Now keep in mind, Dakin was probably about 80 years old at the time. He put in the CD, and it was a booming, thumping techno-electronica mix. On the way over, he told us how the restaurant we were going to (the name escapes me) displayed a picture of him and Tennessee (amidst other celebrities) in a prominent area in the entrance. When we arrived, Dakin was a bit upset because the picture had been moved to a less prominent area. He let the host and the manager know about it, after all, Dakin reasoned, Tennessee was the "Playwrite of the millenium". The manager moved the picture back to the prominent area. The rest of the evening was spent eating a fantastic dinner and listening to Dakin stories, mostly about how he felt his brother's death was a homicide and not a suicide, (which makes sense to me--if someone was going to commit suicide, there has got to be a better way than trying to swallow an aspirin bottle cap) and of assassination attempts on his own life for trying to expose the cover up. The evening ended with me driving us back to Dakin's house and listening to more techno music.
After the album was released, Dakin would attend some of my shows, and I would always be sure to introduce him to the crowd. He always received enthusiastic applause, and he got a big kick out of the extra publicity.
In the last few years I've lost touch with him. His wife passed away a few years back, and I heard he is living in a retirement home now. Hopefully I will be able to reconnect sometime soon with my old friend.