"Some people do anything they've a mind to
Some always do what they're told
Some want the gold at the end of the rainbow
I'd Rather Have The Rainbow than the gold"


- from I'd Rather Have The Rainbow
by Robert 'Leather' Greene



video


Loco Joe on YouTube
written & performed by Robert


audio

Lay Me Down (Sweet Jesus)
written by Robert Shelter, Bill DiLuigi, & Mike Ward

performed by Bill DiLuigi
The Steel Against The Stone
written & performed by Robert 'Leather' Greene
I'd Rather Have The Rainbow
written & performed by Robert 'Leather' Greene

"It's hard to make a living singing to the people you're writing against."

- Leather

"Some people think they're a little closer to the top if they're standing on someone else."

- Leather


From an email to Janet Evans -

March 14, 2007 - Thanks for the kind words, Janet. I'd like to think I have a decade or two left in me, but there are no guarantees. It's a safe bet I won't be hit by one of those high-speed Japanese trains, or get trampled to oblivion by stampeding sheep in Australia, or freeze my knickers off in Siberia, or... now that I think of it, there are a wealth of possible tragic fates I can be reasonably certain of avoiding. And, whether the glass is half full or half empty,
I plan to drain it before I go. :)

- Leather

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Excerpts from Leather's emails following the November 2008 gathering in New Orleans -

* * *

November 14, 2008 - Th
ose were several wonderful days, my friends. Of course, that's no surprise any more; I know well by now that time around any of you is well spent, rewarding and good for the heart, spirit and soul.

Memory Lane is but one of the paths we're walking. Something new is always being added to our experience of each other: new songs; first times going certain places together; stories we hadn't heard before; conversations long overdue; "new" faces and voices from the past, as more people from the Wrong Place days show up to join the celebration.

And then, there's the ever-present and well-shared feeling that even those of us who can't be at this or that particular gathering are with us nonetheless, and the ones not physically in attendance who still have mailing addresses or computer access will see the photos and hear the recordings and vicariously experience the reunions and take pleasure in them. The bonds of love and friendship between us are strengthened year by year.

Here I am telling you things you already know, but I'm confident that I'll be excused for it. We've long ago accepted each other for who we are, and that, my friends, is a great feeling.

- Leather

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November 16, 2008 - New Orleans is, of course, the best place for reminiscing about the early days, especially since most, if not all, of the places we were familiar with way back when are still there (the names of some have been changed, although somehow I doubt it was to protect the innocent). Katrina spared the Quarter and the business district.

Many of the reunioners had lunch together at a popular restaurant out Canal Street, in what used to be Smokey's living room. Kenny and I shared a muffelatta (sp?) sandwich on Decatur (warning: the ingredients are still the same, just not piled on as thickly as I remember them), sat in Jackson Square where Babe Stovall (and many of us) played for smiles and coins, then joined Walter and a friend of his for coffee and beignets at the Cafe du Monde... this after visiting several Quarter landmarks, such as the Head Inn and various addresses where some of us lived during the Wrong Place era. The ghosts or spirits of many we haven't seen in decades were walking those narrow streets or hanging around the Square that day: Bill Quade, Renee Harrod, J.B., Buster Holmes, Ruthie the duck lady, etc.
We gathered one afternoon in front of 1204 N. Rampart for the spreading of Charlie's ashes.

It took a long time, as I understand it, to construct the causeway across Lake Pontchartrain; but how easily and how quickly we fortunate few were able to span thirty-five years, during those few days in New Orleans! How vividly we recalled where and how each of us first met, and what we were all like back then. Reunions elsewhere are wonderful for those of us who can attend; but a reunion in New Orleans is wonderful for the people and the places, the sights and sounds and smells and tastes and feelings, the memories that come rushing and flooding in like water over the levees. Simple things like riding the trollies, hearing a jazz ensemble play When The Saints Go Marching In, strolling down Bourbon Street and seeing what has changed and what hasn't... Only in New Orleans, my friends. Only in New Orleans.

- Leather