Rock ‘n’ Roll Highway 67

Bob King’s  King of Clubs

The 1st time I laid eyes on it I figured it to be  somewhere I’d never go – fifteen or so years later I finally went in.   I was in the “old” half ,  for those of you who knew the place.  It was a Sunday , my brother was visiting and wanted a beer and I live  in a dry county.  Bob’s was a private club.
The collage of  Bob  was hanging  behind the register, along with a half dozen or so pretty cool pieces of memorabilia from the 50’s and early 60’s scattered around the place.  We had a couple brews, soaking in the “atmosphere” of the locals dropping in,  every one of them  knew we weren’t from around there.  They’d have one and  buy some  “to go” and we were shooting pool so really didn’t  speak to  anyone.

Our  bar maid brought us  cold ones  while we played    and  caught up some with each other.  My brother  rolls his own cigarettes & was doing  this when she walked back once-  she freaked out until  figuring out it was tobacco, anyhow we got into a conversation since we were the only folks in the joint  at the  moment.  She  told us about  the dance hall adjacent, and how we needed to come on a Saturday night etc.   I’m like  “say I saw guys leaving with  beer, can I buy some?” Half listening and wanting  to  leave.  In walks Bob King.  The epitome of what I thought a ‘crazy old coot’ picture would look like if I looked this up in  the encyclopedia
(that’s ‘on google’ for you youngsters) he  kinda rambled on  for a few minutes about something & I had  no clue  what he  said, not  one word.  I  tried to interest him  putting a credit card machine in (they only accepted cash) as I worked for a bank at the time.    He grabbed something  from behind the bar and out the back he went…   I saw him again one day in town and finally spoke, what stories I heard, what stories I missed hearing… RIP  Bob-   These will  be continued in another  post as this day  I  bought  some to go’s and split.

Fast forward a few (about 10) years…  I’m with a buddy who says, “Let’s go to Bob Kings and have a beer” I’m like OK… this time  the dance hall side is open.  The  whole place is covered with photographs of every Sun Studio legend and  so many more, artists from 60 years of  performances…everything signed.  I ask if I can go  get a camera & they’re like  “sure”.

I was literally bending light shades  from pool tables to light these  as it was  so dark,  a guy  went out to his truck and brought in a LED work/drop light. the  sounds of  Bob King’s live at the end of the video you hear  someone breaking on the pool table.

I met Robby King this day, he’s Bob’s son – I did not hesitate to  get  every story I could….my favorite about Bob?

He told me of a man  coming in asking to buy the  floor, the entire floor… wanted to sell it to Elvis fans-  Bob told him no, but the fellow was persistent.  Bob told him if he asked again he’d throw him out.    Guy begged him, “I’ll give you 500 dollars for  just a  board from it”…

Bob finally  agreed this was  a deal and   reached into a tool bag and  came up with a big screwdriver and pried up a loose  board on the stage and said “I had to fix this loose one anyhow”  The man was ecstatic and headed home  with his prize.
Robbie said he asked his dad why he was so reluctant to sell the man a board… and Bob said

 “Son, do you have any idea how many stage floors I’ve put in the place the last 20 years?”

Another favorite was  about a time when Elvis was bugging Bob about hiring his ‘buddy’ for  the night- Bob said  he’d pay 10 dollars  for a guitar picker but Elvis insisted he’d need 25 and that he’d not  go on either unless he got it.

He got it, and his  ‘buddy’?  Johnny Cash played that night in Bob King’s.  Pretty soon all  kinds of artists were showing up  there.   And they had live music  for 60 years till it burned.

Every bit of this building went up  in flames- tons of  soot and ash –   glad I shot this piece in 2011- nearly too far gone to salvage anything, nearly.  Managed to  snag a bit from under this roadhouse.   Enough for a  few small reduction cuts… those  prints will be VERY limited edition

I started collecting timbers from old venues to make stuff to preserve the “legends” – this is the origin of Delta9 Studio- foundation from the foundations…

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Wanda is a pioneer of rock-a-billy she’s still going strong – Recently set the record for an artist to hit the billboard at her present age-

 managed to  snag some  charred but  usable  wood to  do reduction cut prints

(a multicolored print is made with the repeated use of a single block)

Rock ‘n’ Roll Highway 67

doing a “burn out” in front of the club last Summer

Robbie King (Bob’s son) waving to a guest pulling in last August just days before the 60th Anniversary party