The Beginning of the Endless Boogie

"The times I spent on Otha Turner's front porch playing the endless boogie with R.L.

are some of the happiest times in my life."

Remarks by Luther Dickinson read at R.L.'s funeral service November 18, 2023

For me, The Endless Boogie began on April 13, 2013.

That was the day I first heard R.L. Boyce. He was playing on the Hill Country Blues Stage in front of the Cat Head folk art and music store in Clarksdale, Mississippi, during Juke Joint Festival. I was immediately "hypmotized" by a throbbing, trance-like groove that enveloped and caused my body to uncontrollably sway and bounce. Listening to R.L. was like riding a wave that never crashed and took you places you'd never been. It's all I could think or talk about afterwards.

Juke Joint Festival April 13, 2013 | top and middle - R.L., bottom - R.L. and Duwayne Burnside

Photos © 2013 Steve W. Likens

On May 7, 2013, just a few weeks later, my wife Dawn and I agreed to meet our friend Michelle for dinner at the Mexican restaurant in Como, Missisippi. At the time, we lived in Senatobia, about seven miles north of Como, but I worked in Memphis. Dawn and Michelle met up early to secure an outside table and get a head start on their evening margaritas. While I finished up the day's work, Dawn called and sounded excited. "You need to hurry up and get down here. R.L. is playing on the sidewalk." Even if I left right then, Como was still over an hour away. "How long is he playing?" I nervously asked. An eternity later, Dawn came back on. "He said he'll wait for you."

When I arrived, R.L. was set up on the sidewalk with his now-familiar black Delta King, accompanied by the late Martin "Big Boy" Grant on harmonica and washboard. R.L., too, had come straight from work and was still wearing his green City of Senatobia Department of Public Works shirt. He and Big Boy then proceeded to make audible that sound that had been taking up all the space in my head since Juke Joint Festival. I was at home.

photo: Dawn Likens

Before he left, I asked R.L. where he was playing next, because I needed more. "Well, buddy. I'm playing at your surprise birthday party (in August)." He then looked sheepishly at Dawn and whispered, "Uh-oh. I don't think I was supposed to say anything about that."

Como, Mississippi May 7, 2013

l. -R.L. & Big Boy, upper r. - R.L., lower r. - Dawn and Michele groovin' to the endless boogie

Photos © 2013 Steve W. Likens

With the cat out of the bag, I began to learn a few more details. Our son had booked George McConnell (formerly of Widespread Panic and The Kudzu Kings) and his new band, The Nonchalents, to play the party and R.L. was to be the opener. In the interim, you would have thought I was a five year-old boy eagerly anticipating Christmas rather than a grown man waiting for his aproaching 50th birthday. On the big night, R.L. grabbed his guitar, sat down in a chair, and the magic started. Soon, George grabbed his and joined in. After a while, R.L. shouted, "I need a drummer. Where's me a drummer?" With a soft push from our son, I climbed behind the kit and played in public for the first time in many years.

Como, Mississippi August 17, 2013

Photo by Jim Natale

A few weeks later, R.L. called and asked me to help him. Dawn and I went over to his house and said, "Yes, of course." The rest, as they say, is history. The wave that was R.L. took me places I had never been. Over the next decade, we traveled the country and the world together. We went to the Grammy Awards when the Recording Academy nominated his Roll & Tumble for Best Traditional Blues Album. (You can read about that trip in the post R.L. Got Gramminated (Extended Play Edition).) I remember, he would always laugh and say "That's right, buddy," whenever I looked over at him in the passenger side of the car and made the oft-repeated comment, "Here it is again. It's 2 o'clock in the morning. Every time I'm up at 2 o'clock in the morning, I'm always with you. You know that." But most of all, I loved being with my friend because he, not just his music, gave me joy.

R.L. at home in Como | top - February 2016, middle - March 2023, bottom - April 2016

Photos © 2016, 2023 Steve W. Likens

The wave finally crashed on November 9, 2023. What a ride it was! We laid R.L. to rest in his hometown of Como, Mississppi, on November 18, 2023. The Endless Boogie, though, still lives in my head.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Steve

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text © 2023 Steve W. Likens