![]() ![]() I quit the band and I went back to playing rock and roll and blues and whatever genre was popular in ’84. Others were curious and they want to … I mean, they shook my hand and all that kind of stuff.Īnyway, this went on about every six weeks until the end of ’83, at which time I quit the Klan. They were kind of standoffish, just watch me from afar. There were some who didn’t want to meet me. They’d get out on the dance floor and dance. I’d call the guy like on a Wednesday or a Thursday and say, “Hey man, I’m going to be at The Silver Dollar, come on out.” He’d come and he’d bring his Klansmen and Klanswomen friends. We were on a rotation at that club every six weeks with other bands. He wanted me to call him anytime I was to come back to this bar with this band because he wanted to bring his buddies, right? His Klan buddies to see this black guy play piano like Jerry Lee Lewis. The hell am I doing sitting at a table with a Klansman? I gave him back his card and we talked about some other things. I stopped laughing because I recognize that stuff. It’s called a MIOAK or a blood drop emblem. His looked like it had a Klansman on horseback and then on the other side was this red circle with a white cross and a red blood drop in the center, which is the Ku Klux Klan insignia. While I’m laughing, he goes inside his pocket, pulls out his wallet and hands me his Klan card. ![]() This guy thinks I’m jerking him around about Jerry Lee Lewis so he’s going to jerk me around with the Klan. He stared at the tabletop and his buddy elbowed him in the ribs and said, “Tell him, tell him, tell him.” Then he says, “I’m a member of the Ku Klux Klan.” I asked him, I said, “Why?” He didn’t answer me. He says, “You know, this is the first time I ever sat down and had a drink with a black man.” This guy is really having a night of firsts. Now, I don’t drink, but I agreed to go back to his table and have a cranberry juice. Well, the guy didn’t buy it, but he was fascinated with me and he wanted to buy me a drink. He’s told me himself where he learned how to play.” I never heard no black man play like that until you.” “I know Jerry Lee Lewis personally. That’s where Rockabilly and rock and roll came from.” “Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. I naively and innocently asked him, “Where do you think Jerry Lee Lewis learned how to play?” “What are you talking about?” “Well, Jerry Lee learned how to play that style from black blues and boogie woogie piano players. I had no idea where this guy was coming from. This is the first time I ever heard a black man play piano like Jerry Lee Lewis.” He says, “I really like your all’s music. I stopped and turned around, look to see who was touching me. From behind, puts his arm around my shoulder. This white gentleman, probably in his mid to late 40s, gets up from his table and walks across the bandstand. I came off the bandstand after the first set and I was walking across the dance floor to sit with some of my band mates. Well, here I was in The Silver Dollar Lounge, and for a summer I played there. In the bottom of the motel was this lounge called The Silver Dollar Lounge. Truck stop had a restaurant and had a motel. Well, there was this truck stop at a place called Frederick, Maryland. I was the only black guy in the band and consequently, usually the only black guy in many of the places where we played. In 1983, country music had made a resurgence in this country, so I joined a country band. It changed my attitude towards that particular dog, but I still love dogs. That did not change my attitude towards dogs. I was warned and I did not heed the warning. The nanny and the cook had to come rushing out and pull the thing off me. I figure, “Well, the mom lied to me.” I open the door. The little girl and I are playing in the living room and I said, “Why will your doggy bite me? Why is your doggy so mean?” The little girl said, “My dog is not mean.” Of course, she goes out there and the dog’s licking all over her and all excited to see her because the dog wanted to come in. The lady specifically told me, “Do not go out there and play with the dog Daryl. The dog was locked outside on the balcony. My mom and her were going shopping and so I was taken over there to be babysat. Three or four years later, I’d gone over to this girl’s house, a friend of my mom’s. First thing I go to do is go see my puppy. The next morning when I woke up, my mom had gone to the hospital. She was in back pain from that day until she died in 1986. When the little puppy ran up to her, my mom jumped out of fear. Then the little dog came running out excited to see her and ran to sniff her ankles or whatever. My mom came to the door to call me to come in for dinner. I’m playing with my new dog on the porch. She locked him outside, et cetera, et cetera. My father says to me, “Come take a ride with me.” I get in the vehicle and we go and ride out to this person’s house that my father knows. Daryl Davis – Musician, Hate Group Connoisseur ![]()
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