THE HISTORY OF "The Last Kiss"

"The Last Kiss" was written by Wayne Cochran, born in 1939 in Thomaston, GA, about Jeanette Clark and J.L. Hancock, who were both 16 years old when their car hit a tractor-trailer, killing them both, on U.S. Highway 341 south of Barnesville, GA. They were on a date a few days before Christmas in 1962.

A local gas station attendant helping with the recovery of the bodies did not recognize his own daughter.

Cochran, who, at the time, lived near the road and was working on a song about all the accidents he saw on it. He finished it and dedicated it to Jeanette Clark.

WAYNE COCHRAN

The title came from both the dramatic high point of the song and Floyd Cramer's hit "Last Date."

Cochran's drummer had been dating Jeannette Clark's sister at the time of the wreck

Hancock and Clark's friend Wayne Cooper, who was riding with them, was killed instantly. Their two other friends, Jewel Emerson and Ed Shockley, survived with serious injuries.

Cochran's version was a local hit in Georgia and copies were sold out of the trunks of cars. Major Bill Smith (producer of "Hey Paula" by Paul and Paula) bought a copy and persuaded J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers to cover it. A Texas record company recorded it and release it nationally in 1964.

The band's producer, Son Roush, subsequently split the group to place lead singer J. Frank Wilson with better musicians.

Four months after the release of this song, the new band were touring in Ohio. At about 5:15 a.m., Roush apparently fell asleep at the wheel. The car drifted left of center and rammed head-on into a trailer truck. Roush was killed instantly.

J. FRANK WILSON

Wilson survived with a few broken ribs and a broken ankle, but went right on with the tour, taking only a week off. People still remember him coming out on the stage on crutches to sing "Last Kiss" and "Hey, Little One." The second accident is what pushed this to #2 on the national charts.

Wilson, with or without the Cavaliers, continued to tour and play and  release records until 1978 when retired from music and went to work in a nursing home.

Wilson died on October 4, 1991, at the age of 49, from alcoholism.

Cochran went on to have limited success in the Miami, FL area playing Rhythm & Blues with his band Wayne Cochran And The C.C. Riders.

He wrote "Going Back To Miami," which was featured on the Blues Brothers live album.

The bass player for Wayne Cochran and the C.C. Riders was Jaco Pastorius, who went on to revolutionize the electric bass.

Cochran, now over 70 years old, is currently a Minister in Miami.

In 1973, "The Last Kiss" was revived in Canada by the group Wednesday. Their version went to #1 there and earned several Juno nominations, and an RPM award for outstanding record sales in Canada.

It also was released in the US the same year, selling over 200,000 copies.

Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder came across this song when he found the record in an antique store in Seattle before a show. He bought it and stayed up all night listening to it.

EDDIE VEDDER

He took it to the band and they played it throughout the summer of their 1998 tour.

Pearl Jam recorded it at a sound check and released it as a single to their fan club, who often get songs that are unavailable to the public.

After a while, radio stations got copies and started playing it.

By the Spring of 1999, it was getting a lot of airplay and becoming a hit, even though it was not released as a single or available on an album.

Pearl Jam didn't release many singles, but when it was clear there was a great deal of demand for the song, they decided to put it out on the condition that the proceeds from the single go to benefit refugees in Kosovo.

This is the highest-charting Pearl Jam song in the US reaching #2 on the charts.





SUPER FLICKS

On this Super Bowl Sunday, I give you my top ten favorite football flicks of all time.

1.   REMEMBER THE TITANS (2000) starring Denzel Washington and Will Patton. Set in 1971, Coach Herman Boone is hired as head coach over a newly integrated high school football team. The struggle to build a successful team is intensified by the struggle to surpass racial tensions but the team unifies when the players realize they share a common goal and realize attitude is what separates people and not race. Most polls have The Blind Side as the best football movie but I like the purity of high school football over college and pro ball. Most of these kid will never play the game beyond high school level but they give it all they’ve got everyday to fulfill their dreams.

2. THE BLIND SIDE (2009) starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. The real life story of NFL player Micheal Oher who would come from the depths of despair in Memphis, Tennesee and become adopted by a rich white family, the Tuohy's. The story details Oher's rise in prep football and the investigation into whether they influenced him to go to Ole Miss and if their money had anything to do with it. The Tuohy's eventually adopt Oher who was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the  2009 NFL draft.

3. RUDY (1993) starring Sean Astin and Charles S. Dutton. An unforgettable, inspirational film based on the true story of a Notre Dame player’s journey to the team roster and playing field. Despite his small stature and weak athletic ability, Rudy’s will, perseverance, and determination fulfill his life’s dream and earn him the respect, affection, and admiration of his team and the community. When I coached at John Milledge Academy, the coaching staff watched this movie every game day.

4. BRIAN’S SONG (1971) starring James Caan and Billy Dee Williams. The real life story of Chicago Bears Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers. When cancer strikes an unlikely friendship, a bond is formed that surpasses football, race, and adversity. This unforgettable classic makes a positive impact on almost everyone who watches it. This is the first movie that ever made me cry.

5. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (2004) starring Billy Bob Thornton and Derek Luke. In a down and out town where the only way out is a football scholarship, the pressure to win is intense. High school Coach Gary Gaines carries the weight of that pressure squarely on his shoulders and sets out to show his players there is more to winning than the final score of the ball game. Good movie but I like the fictional TV series better.

6. WE ARE MARSHALL (2006) starrying Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox. Inspired by a true story, this film follows the fatal plane crash which killed members of the Marshall University football team and the aftermath of starting over. New Coach Jack Lengyel struggles to rebuild the team and honor the memory of the fallen players.

7. RADIO (2003) starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Ed Harris. Set in Greenville, South Carolina, this true story of a coach’s commitment to helping an underprivileged, mentally-challenged, young boy enjoy life and realize his potential is simply unforgettable. Radio made his way into the hearts of the football players, the school, and the town and formed an unbreakable bond. The relationship proved the heart of a person is more important than intellect or athletic ability.

8. THE JUNCTION BOYS (2002) starring Tom Berenger and Fletcher Humphrys. This movie shows the relentless, almost incomprehensible coaching methods of one of America’s winningest coaches, the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant, and the discipline, obedience and willingness of the team committed to following him. The results are unquestionable, but the methods provoke quite a bit of thought to the viewers.

9. FACING THE GIANTS (2006) starring James Blackwell and Bailey Cave. The thought-provoking tale of what truly drives people, athletes, and success. This story follows the struggle of a high school coach’s faith in God, his team, and himself and illustrates where to find real joy, victory, and peace. I have actually coached in the stadium in Albany where this movie was filmed.

10. ALL THE RIGHT MOVES (1983) starring Tom Cruise and Craig T. Nelson. A small town story about young kids with big dreams and the struggle to bring those dreams to life is well portrayed in this football classic.

HONORABLE MENTION -- The Longest Yard, The Express, Invincible, The Program, The Replacements, Varsity Blues, Knute Rockne All American, The Best Of Times, Wildcats, Heaven Can Wait, Lucas, Jim Thorpe: All American and Semi-Tough.

Seperated at Birth

I have always been of the opinion that everyone has a “twin”. A brother, or sister, if you will, from another mother. Following are 14 examples I have come up with to provide proof positive of my theory.

 



My friend Craig Johnson, who I coached in high school and coached with, and comedian/actor Adam Sandler. Craig even acts like Sandler.

My longtime friend Brock Lanier and Chumlee from The History Channel's "Pawn Stars."

My longtime friend Danny Turner and my new friend Clyde Dunn. Both of these guys are huge Trojan athletic supporters.

My friend and fellow blogger Stephanie Bonner Smith aka The Giggling Grasshopper and actress Kellie Martin.

Barnesville’s beloved street  person Luther and Dumb Donald from “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.”     

          

Actor John Travolta and Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler. I never really thought these two looked alike until I came across this picture of a younger Tyler.

Former Madame Speaker of the House Nancy Peelucy and, well, a horse’s arse.                           

                                                                

Former Commodores front man, now solo artist Lionel Richie and Thin Lizzy front man the late Phil Lynott.

                                                        

U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama and former homeless man, now celebrated Cleveland, Ohio radio personality, Ted Williams.

                                                             

 

Rock icon Meatloaf and food icon meatloaf.

                                                

  

My longtime friend, now pastor of The First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald, Georgia, Dr. Mike Ruffin (who also blogs) and Atlanta Braves broadcaster Ernie Johnson, Jr.

Lamar County High School football and wrestling coach Jason Wicker and actor Robert Barone of “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

                                                    

                                                           

Barnesville city police officer Chris Sears and Paul Blart, Mall Cop.

And last but not least, ME and my friend John Davis. John is a former All-American football player at Georgia Tech who also played in the NFL with the Houston Oilers and Buffalo Bills. He played in four Super Bowls with the Bills. When I coached at Barnesville Academy, his sister-in-law mistook me for him.

There are plenty of other separated at birth twins out there and I plan to uncover more of them. I will, of course, share them with you.

Stay tuned…

                                        

Mustard Burgers and the Great Outdoors

I’ve never really been the outdoors type. That’s to say, I’m not an outdoor sportsman. Now I like the outdoors and could play football and baseball the live long day. But I’m talking about hunting, fishing and camping. Never really been my bag.

Hunting is more like ambushing. You hide in a tree and wait on whatever it is you're “hunting” to walk by and you shoot at it. I don’t really see any game in that. Even things up a bit. Get on the ground and give the animal a weapon too.

I’ve never really cared to own a gun for recreational purposes. Now when I was a young boy, I had an air rifle like every other young boy did and I shot at my share at birds and squirrels but never actually hit one. I was pretty good at terrorizing the neighborhood cats with it though.

We even got the great idea to have “gang wars” with them. Yes, we actually shot at each other. I got hit in the chest once and the BB lodged under my skin. Of course, after a trip to the doctor to have it removed, I never participated the wars again.

My friends in high school would get up on Saturday mornings at dark thirty and sit in a stand in wait for ambushing Bambi. I was invited to partake a few times but, after playing four quarters of football and going to the victory dance after the game on Friday night, I only wanted to sleep til noon Saturday.

My one and only experience with hunting was an afternoon I spent in the woods with two friends who were tracking deer. We were all armed with shotguns, my borrowed. We, unbeknown to us, ended up on someone else’s property and came across said property’s owner who was armed as well.

He was a crotchety ole coot and threatened to shoot us if we didn’t get off his land immediately. One of my companions, feeling bold behind his own gun, told the man he couldn’t shoot but one of us. Of course, I, being the largest of the three, was the best target and my heart sunk.

The ole man, who had more sense than we gave him credit for, thought better of shooting any of us and taking the chance of the other two returning fire and just escorted us off the property.

Now fishing. Fishing is waiting. Waiting takes patience. I have more patience now that I’m a father but when I was younger I had none. I lived by the old creed “hurry up and wait.”

Needless to say, with my lack of patience, I didn’t care too much for fishing either. I did go a few times but became bored with it very easily. The one time I did enjoy going was to a friend’s granddaddy’s farm where he fed the fish off the dock right before we cast our lines and the fish virtually jumped onto the dock with us.

Camping. Another activity I took part in a few times but never really enjoyed. Why does a person sleep in a tent on the hard ground with bugs biting them all night when they can stay in a nice, climate controlled room and sleep in a soft bed and not worry about bugs?

We used to sleep out in the backyard quite a bit when I was a boy. But I couldn’t wait for the sun to come up so I could get inside and bathe and get in my own bed.

The summer after I graduated from high school, I got talked into going on a camping/fishing trip with a couple of buddies. We loaded for bear with fishing gear, camping gear and coolers full of cold beverages and food, including a couple of pounds of ground beef from Tommy’s, a corner store which, until it switched over to a clothing store, had “The Best Meats In Town.”

We arrived at West Point Lake over in Troup County, secured a campsite and set up our gear for the weekend. A group next to us was water skiing and invited my friends to join in. I was told that, because of my size, the boat was probably not powerful enough to pull me out of the water.

It was just a small craft. I probably needed a tug boat.

Anywho, the boys, who had never water skied before, had a good time while I sat back at the camp wondering what in the heck I was doing there.

By nightfall, I had convinced my pals that this was not a good idea and they gave in to my pleas and we broke camp and went and found a motel room but pledged to at least come back the next morning to do some fishing.

At the hotel room, we began to get hungry and, since we had all that meat from Tommy’s, decided to break out the Coleman stove and cook up some burgers and, for some reason, I was chosen to be the chef. I can’t cook a lick. The best thing I make is reservations.

But I did my best impression of Emeril and whipped up a dish often imitated but never duplicated…the mustard burger. Gonzo’s greasy mustard burger to be exact.

My buddies who partook of this culinary delight so named it because, in high school, my nickname was Captain Gonzo and it was greasy and full of mustard.

I put the ground beef in a pan, doused it with Worcestershire sauce and French’s yellow mustard, and scrambled it in butter. It was kind of like a Sloppy Joe but loaded with mustard.

I thought it was pretty tasty. Not sure about the boys though. But they were hungry and ate it.

After a night of consuming the burgers as well as all the beverages we brought, we didn't make it back to the lake the next morning, opting instead to head home.

I was never invited to hunt, camp, fish or cook ever again.

The Rest of The Best of...

Well January is about over so I guess I better finish my “Best of” statuses from 2010. Here we go…

I’m a little teapot short and stout. Here is my handle and here is my handle…OH SNAP!!! I’m a sugar bowl!

Why is abbreviation such a long word?

Why isn’t PHONETIC spelled the way it sounds?

If you believe in telekinesis raise my hand.

A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

If nothing sticks to Teflon, how do they get it to stick to the pan?

I’m so old everything hurts. And what doesn’t hurt doesn’t work.

Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?

I’m so old “getting a little action” means I don’t have to take any fiber today.

Don’t let good enough be good enough.

Just told a middle eastern sounding hospital bill collector to send mine to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20500 and Mr. Obama would take care of it.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

If you burn your neighbor’s house down it does not make your own house look any better.

I was watching NECKcar and a hockey fight broke out.

Having potential simply means you haven’t done it yet.

You have to have a party when you’re in a state like this.

I am human and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does.

What we want and what we need have been confused.

Of course men can multitask. We read on the toilet.

I don’t worry about what people think. They don’t do it very often.

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.

The trouble with life is there is no background music.

You never really learn to swear til you learn to drive.

If American mothers feed their infants with tiny spoons and forks, do Chinese mothers feed theirs with toothpicks?

Can you be a closet claustrophobic?

If you have a headache, do what the bottle says. Take two and Keep Away From Children.

I’m so old I went to the video to rent a porn movie and came home with Debbie Does Dialysis.

Shopping tip: you can get shoes at the bowling alley for 85 cents.

Do clowns taste funny to cannibals?

Why is there no mouse flavored cat food?

If you pamper a cow does it give spoiled milk?

My watch is three hours behind and I can’t get it fixed so I’m gonna move to L.A.

I’ve been doing some abstract painting. I mean REALLY abstract. No paint. No brush. No canvas. I just think about it.

Every now and then I like to look up in the sky and smile for a satellite picture.

The last time I went to the movie theater I was asked to leave for bringing my own food. My argument was that concessions were too expensive and it had been a while since I had fried rice and egg rolls.

It’s a good thing we have gravity because if we didn’t when birds die they’d just hang up there in the sky. Hunters would be all confused.

My kids were born by Cesarean section. Now when they leave the house they go out the window.

I dated a girl in college that read the entire dictionary. She thought it was a poem about everything.

Siamese twins are interesting. They are the only people who can write a biography and an autobiography at the same time.

This guy was waving at me and came right up and said, “I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.” To which I replied, “Well I am.”

I used to play sports. Then I realized you can buy trophies. Now I’m good at everything.

Is it just me or does anyone else find it coincidental that “cologne” rhymes with “alone”?

I was making pancakes for the kids and there was this fly buzzing around. That’s when I realized that a spatula is a lot like a fly swatter. And the kids are a lot like fly eaters.

In my haste to get my gift wrapping over with, I didn’t realize I was using birthday paper until  it was too late. So, instead of starting over, I just got out a Sharpie and wrote “Jesus” on each package.

When I was a boy, my parents gave me a walkie-talkie for Christmas. They told me if I was good they’d give me the other one next year.

I was the next door neighbor’s kid’s imaginary friend.

Christmas is the season when you buy this year’s gifts with next year’s money.

I broke a mirror and got seven years bad luck. But my lawyer says he can get it down to three to five.

Do you know why there has never been a dog on a space mission? They are afraid it would stick its head out the window on the way home and burn its face off.

Why do people who know the least know it the loudest?

My mother got morning sickness AFTER I was born.

Kids loved to be tricked. I told mine once we were going to Disney World. I took them to an old, burned out warehouse and said, “Oh no! Disney World burned down.” They cried but deep down I think they thought it was a pretty good trick.

I’m a heroine addict. I need to be with women who have saved someone’s life.

I have a decaffeinated coffee table. You’d never know just to look at it.

I met a nice woman in the generic aisle at the grocery store. Her name was “woman”.

Why is there no expiration date on sour cream?

Did you know seahorses are the only species of animal that the male carries the babies? I’m a bit miffed by this. Why don’t they just call that one the female?

I wonder if when gym teachers were younger they thought, I want to teach but I don’t want to read…maybe I’ll just supervise kickball for the next forty years.”

I want to put a map of the world up in my house and put pins in all the locations I’ve visited. But first I have to travel to the top two corners so the map won’t fall down.

When I’m feeling sick but sociable I drink Nyquil on the rocks.

When I was a boy I laid in my twin bed and wondered where my brother was.

If you give extra kisses you’ll get extra hugs.

The measure of a man is not in his accomplishments but rather in how he responds to his own failures.

Th Th Th That’s all folks!