not long ago i got a call from a friend of mine i hadn’t heard from in over thirty years. he lives in opp, ala, a small town in the southeastern part of the state, out in the middle of nowhere. to get there you must travel two lane roads that can get very confusing at night. if you’ve ever traveled from tupelo to memphis on route 78 or highway 14 in arkansas that usually will get you to little rock, then you know the kind of road i was on. dale hawkins and i were traveling out of jonesboro to little rock one night and ended up on highway 14. the road runs between state road 63 and interstate 67 we spent the better part of a night in fog confusion trying to get to the end of that highway. sometimes back roads can lead to some strange places. such was the night trip to opp on highway 331 out of de funiak springs, fla. my ol’ friend at one time was the front man for hank williams jr., now somewhat retired and playing off and on when he feels like it in a nite club east of opp. when my friend fronted the show for hank jr., the original drifting cowboys were working with him (sammy pruitt, jerry rivers and don helms). so it was a while back since i last saw him. i packed a bag and headed out. when i got to de funiak springs the sun was setting and it looked like a great night to travel. i pointed by chevy pick up north on 331. i had plenty of time to get there no need to be in a hurry. the stars were out in all their splender as i rode through a fall night in the peaceful fla panhandle.i decieded to stop off at the hop in and hop out convience store for a pit stop and a cold one. i asked the man running the store how far it was to opp? he said about 55 miles up the road just stay on 331 the road is a little rough when you cross the state line, the (ala) road people don’t figure the road leading down to (fla) is worth fixing so it an’t been worked on in quite some time. i slipped into the front seat enjoying my ice cold brew and headed into the night. at some point one brew became three and i found my self listening to cd’s everything from ( thats all right mama ) to ( rocky top ) and ( alan jackson’s ) in the real world. i looked at the fuel gauge and realized i was not going to make it to the end of the race without a fuel stop. lo and behold there was another hop in and hop out right on schedule. i asked the woman behind counter how far it was to opp? she said about fifteen miles east of here. where is here i asked? this is sanford, ala, your fifteen miles west of opp ands it’s about fifteen miles west to andalusia. what road is this? highway 84, how can that be i was north on 331 out of fla to opp? well you went through opp made a left on 84 and here you are. i don’t believe it, i just don’t believe it. well she said, truckers get lost out here all the time, looking for petrey wholesale. where is that i asked? about 40 miles north of here. have you ever heard of the road house blues club? no never heard of it. it’s above opp, well your west of opp and i ain’t never heard of it and i go jukin’ in opp all the time. look go down the road about 12 miles and you’ll see the blue house blues it’s on the right side of the road just pass the hop in and hop out.wonder how i missed it getting to here? well you did and you better get on down there before they move it and you miss it again. i drove east on 84 toward opp and wondered what had happened to those beautiful stars that were sparkling down at me not an hour before, the weather was now cold and cloudy. the woman had asked me to play lc-21 on the juke box she said it was her favorite song and gave me a dollar to play it four times. well there it was the blue house blues. i eased on in and sat down at the bar and ordered another cool one. bartender you ever heard of the road house blues club? i got a buddy who play’s there. you do? i sure do, where is it? there ain’t no such place as that around here or around there or any place else around here or there, if there was i’d know about it cause i played music all my life from here to mobile to montgomery and back. there was talk some singer was gonna build one but never did. there just ain’t no nite club by that name. really? really, no such place i tell you. i walked over to the juke box and dropped a coin in the slot and had my finger on lc-21 beginning to push it down when i felt a hand on my shoulder and a voice i had heard somewhere before say hold on hoss better think that selection over? why? it’s a famous song by hank … hold on just a cotton pickin’ minute ain’t you him ? i was face to face with the most famous country music singer in the world, your him, your him, your hank ….. will, will, ums, tall, slinder, kinda tallow though, kinda pale, white suit with all them notes all over it. and that white hat. now look son i ain’t who you think i am? i’m not him. yes you are, yes you are. just hold your horse’s “pasqually” your about a mile off target on the wrong bomb run, flying an out of date airplane in a war that ain’t been fought yet. but if you press your finger down on that selection all hell’s about to pop lose.look around what do you see? i see all kinds of stuff. well name some of it? go ahead start naming stuff. look at the cars in the parking lot. what year are they? early fifties cars. how about the songs on the juke box? well their fifties songs. who’s that baseball team on the wall that won the national league pennant last year. it’s the 1950′s philadelphia phillies. this is the 50′s in here, this whole place is slap dab in the 50′s forever. what year did you walk in here from? 2000. you plan to stay here forever with us ? let me tell you something, this place runs from 1950 to 1959, you can hear elvis, conway, buddy, big bopper, ritchie, eddie, gene, and there will be others coming soon. chet, carl, roy and a whole bunch of people from the hayride and the opry and yes even the rock n roll hall of fame has one or two here. but you are before your time. we need you to tell the story about how great rockabilly music was in the 50′s. tell them to enjoy it now and keep it alive for generations to come, because when it dies it’s gone forever. i don’t want to go back this is what i always wanted, look an’t that gene setting up to play? yep that’s him and cliff, well i don’t wanna miss this show i’ve wanted to hear him play live and in person since i was a teenager. look, ain’t that the famous sam phillips. yep thats, him look he’s setting the studio up to do some recording i don’t want to miss out on this. well my friend some things are not always as you see them this is something you might call a rerun, it’s not in real time even though it looks like it is. it’s true everything recorded in the 50′s is here but it’s not for you yet, your to early if you stay now everything you see and hear will be out of meter and out of tune and not in real time because this is not your time yet.go back and tell other believers that rock a billy must be played and carefully persereved for as long as there are people who believe in it, then we will have a place for you here with us when it’s your time. i heard a thumping on my window and a voice saying hey buddy you ok ? it was a ala state trooper, you ok ? i’m alright, where are you headed? i’m going to opp how far is it? your about seventy miles east of opp on route 231 north of dothan. let me buy you a cup of coffee buddy you look like you need some. over a good cup of coffee in a waffle house in dothan i asked the trooper if he ever heard of the road house blues club in opp ? you mean the blue house blues, they tore that club down in 1959. what about the road house blues club? well i heard my dad talking about a singer that was gonna build a club by that name in the 50′s down on 331 heading into fla but never did because he thought people would get his club mixed up with the blue house blues club. but you ain’t the first one who thought he went there. so many people traveling north on 331 have got them two places mixed up they call it the ghost of the blue house blues club. you know there was a woman who worked at a hop in and hop out in sanford, ala who used to tell stories about folks getting lost looking for the road house blues club in opp ole crazy gladys gray she died about twelve years ago. have a nice trip home young fellow. i still haven’t seen my buddy in opp, i guess i’ll wait till he moves to another town. come to think about it this crazy ghost tale always sounds kinda spooky when it gets close to halloween, and don’t play lc-21 if it’s the combination to any song on any juke box. you might end up on a two lane road heading straight for the ghost of the blue house blues.

~ Widmarc Clark