Today's entry into Danny's Diary represents the 350th time I've done so. While it will not cause a financial upswing on Wall Street, nor will it cause anyone to remember 20 years from now where they were on this day, I'll take a little satisfaction in knowing that the Diary has made it thus far.
(Danny Jones and Roger Bennett, October 1987. Gosh, we were young then!)
I've received a few e-mails asking if I was going to offer any personal reflections about Roger Bennett. I'll admit that I've been fairly quiet about Roger's death, providing only funeral details for the Singing News Web site, as well as getting together many quotes from the Southern Gospel community.
A brief aside here: My hat's off to Brett Kirksey and Brian Franklin (our new Web editor). It was a job that they didn't want to do (because of Roger), but they were able to redirect the heavy traffic in such a manner that people were able to get the information they desired, helped Brandon Abbott and the folks at Brentwood Baptist Church get the streaming of Roger's funeral out to the masses, and so much more. Though it's not ready for the rollout yet, they were able to use a little bit of the ideas and technology that will be utilized on the new Singing News Web site that's being prepared (more about that in the coming weeks).
To be honest, I don't know what I could add to the comments that have already been spoken about Roger. He was a good friend and we both had many laughs at each other's expense. For instance, if you were at the 2006 Fan Awards, you saw Roger on stage, whispering in my ear as I was about to introduce the pre-show winners. If you'll recall, I then told everyone that Roger was asking me to ask for prayer so that the preceeding all-star quartet would not get a bus and hit the road. Well, that wasn't just exactly what he said. What he DID say was extremely funny and attention-getting - and he did it just to see if he could wreck my train of thought on stage. Roger knew that it doesn't take much to cause a derailment for me!
Speaking of the Fan Awards, Roger loved Derrell Stewart of the Florida Boys. He credited Derrell as one of his biggest influences. But if you really wanted to make Roger a little nervous, just put those two on the same stage. As anyone will tell you, if you're trying to do comedy on stage with Derrell Stewart, you better have your best game and start warming up early - you just never know where Derrell might go with it.
Naturally, when I found out that Roger had that little bit of nervousness, I couldn't help myself. Every time I could make it work, I made sure I paired Roger and Derrell as presenters during the Fan Awards and any other occasion that I might have input to.
What did Roger think of this? Well, let's see... go back and look at the video footage of all those occasions. In every one of those, about halfway through their stint, you'll see Roger turn around and point at someone off stage. I was on the other end of that, and every single time, Roger would mouth, "I'm going to kill you!"
Legacy Five began touring in 2000 and the first time their bus rolled out, I was on it. Their first date was in Marietta, Ga., and then it was on to Florence, Ala., and then to Spartanburg, South Carolina. I mention that because Roger knew that one of the things I hate most in this entire world is to sleep in a top bus bunk. (In most tour buses, bunks are stacked three high and the person who sleeps there has to climb up there without stepping on anyone - and when they get there, there's just not that much room. And then, if you have to get up in the middle of the night, you have to climb back down without stepping on anyone's arm that might be hanging out through the bunk curtain. All of this is done while the bus is moving at 70 mph.)
Naturally, Roger made sure I had the top bunk.
He was in the bunk beneath me and he'd wait until I was just about completely asleep and then....WHAM! He'd hit the bottom of my bunk with a book, using all the strength he had. I'd whip the bunk curtain back, lean out and look down into his bunk and he'd give me his most innocent look and say, "Oh, did I wake you?"
I could give you hundreds of stories like this. But in the end, it doesn't change anything. Our friend is no longer with us, but we do have the assurance that we will see him again soon. Thank God for memories.
Before I sign off, if you've read any accounts of Roger's relationships with his friends in Southern Gospel music, you know that he very rarely had a serious conversation when it came to talking about himself. I can only recall three that he and I had. One took place when he was off the road, working for a record company. He was terribly unhappy because he missed being with the Cathedrals. The second came when he called me from Birmingham, Ala. in October 1999. The Cats were singing there that night and he had just received the phone call that Glen Payne had passed away.
The last of the three came in 2005 while we were in Louisville, Ky., for the National Quartet Convention. That particular day, we had a Singing News board meeting and for whatever reason, he and I showed up about an hour early. That day, Roger made me promise to do something on his behalf if he ever lost his battle with leukemia.
In the May issue of Singing News, you'll see the fulfillment of that promise.
