Rambler Remembrance

I was raised in the commnuity of Boones Creek which was at that time on the outskirts of Johnson City, Tennessee. I used to perform with one of the only homegrown, original rock bands in the area. All of our bandmates used to hang out at Pickens Bridge and rehearsed at a place everyone called "The Barn", off of Carroll Creek Road.

We had some good times with the Rambler on those late summer nights. We would eventually land at the lake were we would hear the echo from the water of the Rambler focused on every FM car stereo in the vicinity. Windows down, trunks open and radio loud.

It was 1975 when I joined the military and was eventually sent to Germany. I made it home on leave about 1977 and decided to look up some of my old friends for a visit.

On that particular night, we decided to go to the station and say hi to the Rambler. We didn't have a problem getting in the door and it was the very first time that I saw him at the helm of the console at WJCW / WQUT (before it was located in Gray Station). Well told the Rambler that I was currently stationed overseas and he wanted to record him for me. The Rambler said that he would send out a tribute to my unit, the 123rd Signal Battalion in Wurzburg, Germany and that he realized the Europe was in the middle of a drought so he would mention that as well.

We stopped for some reel to reel tape earlier that day, picked up some sustenance (sic), stopped for some beer and landed at Chill's place where we loaded up his reel to reel to record the night. Make no mistake about it, it was a long night. I took that treasure with me back to Germany.

As fate would have it, the 6 hour tape was recorded and passed around hundreds of times between the troops and it wasn't long before you could walk through our military barracks and hear the Rambler blasted from all the high-tech sound systems that the military PX was famous for at that time. Many of the troops took these tapes home with them as they were re-recorded by everyone that heard it. I eventually left the service for the first time in 1979 and reentered in 1982. I hear from some of my military buddies this day from all over the United States and all wonder what happened to the Ramblin' Man from Tennessee.

Submitted by William R. Dewberry, September 2004

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