July 21st, 1960 ---- That was the first time I ever "heard" Boots Randolph!

When I was younger, I spent some wondrous summers working in my uncle's factory in Evansville, Indiana. One hot day I met a 58 year old blind singer from Butler County, Kentucky named Lee O.B. Quiggins singing on main street in downtown Evansville about 3 blocks from the Ohio River. I thought he might have some good songs. Truth be told, Lee was not a great singer, and he played his old Martin D-18 in a strange staccato style. He picked out mostly the melody line of the song using a thumb pick that had a flat pick stuck between his thumb and the thumb pick. Very few chords were strummed. He also had a bad nervous twitch in his voice. But I was always looking for new songs---so that night I took my heavy old Webcor reel-to-reel tape recorder up to his room at the rather rundown transient serving Lincoln Hotel--on Fourth Street -- I think it was. My aunt and uncle had very little tolerance for my forays out to record people I found, and when they heard Lee Quiggins, well, they named him the Unwashed Baritone and laughed about it (and at me) the rest of that summer. I was pretty pissed off, to say the least. ------

-----I think that was the summer I tried to convince unc's factory workers to start a union---something Uncle Bud never really forgave me for. (Actually, I always thought he had moved from De Kalb, Illinois to southern Indiana to try to avoid the unions.
But I digress.

Now, BOOTS RANDOLPH was a local star back then in Evansville---at a real tough dive called the Blue Bar on the street level of that hotel. Lee's room was on the second floor---and the din from the bar during one of Boots' sets was unbelievable. Making any tapes of Lee was close to impossible---until Boots Randolph's set was over with. So we had to hurry to finish before the next set started...

When I heard Lee up close that night I realized that these tapes weren't going to live up to my expectations---so I cut the session short, gave Lee some cash, thanked him, and left.

Ever since that night Boots Randolph and his Yakety Sax have had a warm place in my heart. I hope he rests in peace.

Those tapes deteriorated over the years. I did manage to dub off a cassette sometime in the 1980s. With the help of the Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 that Jerry and Mudcatters sent me I was able to put Lee onto a CD----something that I'm sure would've boggled his mind. I know that because it does that to MY mind--and that's for sure.

Thanks so much to all you Mudcatters. And farewell to Boots!!

Art Thieme