separate the seeds and stems from the bud. All I could think was that I finally made it – I had a real rock 'n roll magazine if it was being used for that. Over the years I had so many great phone
conversations with Wyker, and the times that we got to hang out in person were as choice as the bud he had been rolling that day. I did several shows in Huntsville and all of them featured an all-star cast of Southern rockers and muscle Shoals heroes. Of course Johnny was there almost every time. One show that really stands out was the CD release party that I had for my southern life found. The special guest for the party was Bonnie Bram- lett and we had secured her the presidential suite at the Marriott. When she arrived at the hotel and checked in we discovered that Wyker had already moved all his stuff into the suite and taken it over. He thought we had booked it for him. He had CD replicators, cameras, video, CDs to sell, artwork, beads, and everything else but the kitchen sink set up in there. Somebody scrambled and got Bonnie a new room. That evening, when Johnny showed up for the event, it was wear- ing a top at that was covered in Eddie Hinton CDs. He had a huge button on his vest that read “Ask Me About Sales.” In the center of his top hat was a blinking red light. He was all about marketing the Eddie Hinton and Sailcat CDs. That was Wyker. When Ray Brand suggested that I record
one of Wyker’s songs on my album I jumped at the opportunity. I ended up recording a song that he wrote called “Hookers Boogie,” his tribute to John Lee Hooker. Of course I invited John to come in and sing on the song, which ended up being a duet of sorts between he and I. The only word I can use to describe it is “eclectic.” (That word gets tossed around like a baseball when discussing Wyker.) By the time the Crawlers and Tommy Crain laid the music down and Bonnie Bramlett did background vocals it turned into what may be
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one of the most artistic songs I have ever been involved in. When I was invited to open the Trail of
Tears show with Marshall Tucker and Step- penwolf down at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, I invited Johnny to join me for a live rendition of his song. I had seen him perform before, but seeing him in front of that huge audience, I just knew that he was in his ele- ment. Showing up with a helmet with a miner’s light on the front of it – illuminated, of course- and carrying his ever present cane he came onto the stage after my first song and took over. The powers that be had whit- tled my set down from 45 minutes to 30 min- utes, and then from 30 minutes to 15 minutes. Something about Steppenwolf want- ing to get on earlier. By the time we did one song and “Hooker’s Boogie” our time was up. Wyker kept that dang song going for nearly ten minutes! That's how much he loved the stage. It would take a book for me to share with
you all of the ideas that he and I talked about during our marathon phone calls. Some of them were totally outrageous. Some of them bordered on genius. All of them were drip- ping art all over the inside of my skull. Someone asked me once to describe
Johnny Wyker. Well, I didn’t know him for years and years like say, Dick Cooper and Pete Carr, but I did get to know him, and my description was – “Wyker is an enigma wrapped in a riddle.” All I know is that he was the one of the most interesting human beings I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. There's a big gaping hole in the music and art scene that only John Wyker could fill. One- of-a-kind doesn't even begin to tell the story. Like so many others I will miss John greatly, but I'll always be thankful for the years that I was able to call him friend. •
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