My Run-in With Sleepy LaBeef

[gblowfish]

When I was feeding Meesh Meesh this morning, I brewed up a pot of coffee. I noticed in our kitchen cabinets we have over 20 coffee mugs up there, and Mrs B doesn't even drink coffee. So I have a wide variety of choices every morning. I have some choices I only use on special occasions, others I use often. This is one of my favorites. It's a very basic white ceramic mug, no branding on it. I like it because it's my "Sleepy LaBeef" mug. Back around 1989 I was making Jesus videos for Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I was in Atlanta. After our work gig, a co-worker and I got a cab and went to a blues club called Blind Willie's to throw down and party after our workday was done. We didn't even know who the headliner was. It was Sleepy LaBeef, legendary Rockabilly dude. The club was small an ancient. Rectangular like a shoebox; brick walls, wood slat floors, and the floor would bounce with the people rocking and dancing. It was a great time, and I got pretty lit up. So after the show, we call a cab, in the wee hours in Atlanta, it takes awhile for a cab to get there. So we're sitting at this table by the stage, and after the place clears out, who comes out but Sleepy himself. We're drinking coffee, and he orders up a cup too. We talked about the show, and why we were in Atlanta (working for Jesus), and Sleepy got real serious and basically gave us his testimony about how religion had saved his life and allowed him to stay on the planet doing what he does. He was really an intense dude, but like most southerners had that Bar on Friday, Church on Sunday vibe working. He shook hands with us and said he had to get back on the road; gig next night in Houston or somewhere. I was still pretty drunk, so I stole his coffee cup as a momento. It made it back to KC with me somehow, and I still have it to this day. I pulled it as my coffee mug of choice this AM, and then I see on Variety that Sleepy passed away around Christmas. So here's to Sleepy LaBeef. His bio is below, check it out, he was a bad mofo rockabilly, and a Hell of a nice guy. He gave me a promo card and signed it for me that night. On the back it says "Kansas City? I'd have said Joplin. Easy, SLB" RIP Sleepy.

https://variety.com/2019/music/news/...uwJ66kJ517E5wg

[Mennonite]

Sucks to hear that he died. His version of Ring of Fire is great.