He’S Got the Bass: My Life with Daddy

By Valarie Fringero

This is the story of a wonderful life lived by a wonderful man, a legend, a friend, a man that was as true to his music as he was to his family. There will never be another in the same capacity as the one and only Willie Kent.

When you open this book to start your journey, hold on to your hat. It might get a little bumpy, but you just might learn something as you take this blues cruise with WILLIE KENT.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524553333

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Valarie Fringero.

Library of Congress Control Number:         2016917668

ISBN:         Hardcover         978-1-5245-5335-7

         Softcover         978-1-5245-5334-0

         eBook         978-1-5245-5333-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/14/2016

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It’s late at night at least in the south. Mississippi in 1930’s and I was just walking down the old red dirt road thinking to myself where and how will I get money to help Momma and I want to get me an guitar I just left the juke joint over by the river up in the woods I like to go there and hear them play the delta blues.

I look in though the side window if I’m lucky I can sneak in and sit in the dark corner in the back of the old shack hummm, like tonight is a good night…., if momma knew I was here she tan my hide good, momma didn’t think anything good bout this here kind of music …… when just then a couple of fellas I knew came walking up they scared me …… you know walking down a lone sum road alone in the day wasn’t that safe for a black man, let lone in the night…. it wasn’t the animals you were afraid of you was more afraid of the white man!

Sad but true, for me anyway they the fellas started poking fun at me as usual, Dub what you doing walking down here by yourself? bet your momma don’t know you out here, (while laughing)… boy you so dark we almost didn’t see you ha ha, Yeah we almost walked over you said Sam un huh and ya’ll woulda felt all this here power in this right hand, you would have thought the power of God touched you himself …, well we don’t want that ….. but then the conversation changed look here Dub were you on your way too? Sam ask,

I’m just wondering round trying get my thoughts right, I guess I’ll walk on home now …why what ya’ll doing? We …well Roy Lee and I thought we would go by the general store and pay ole mister Tom a visit yeah yeah… and get us some of that sweet ole bologna ha ha ha before he close up aint that right Roy Lee …huh yeah but we aint got no money Roy Lee replied you just best not worried bout that just stick to the plan boy said Sam, now shut your mouth and com on …. Then Sam saying you should go with us Dub just in case we need help you know you are a big strong boy for your age and were older than you and look at us, come on with us it’s on your way home you be safer than walking by you self in these parts at night from the white man you know you don’t want them white men drive up on you in they truck you know what that mean ……well is you coming? Ok I said when they came up to the store there was ole mister Tom just about to close up but Sam persuaded him to let us buy some bologna so he let us in when mister Tom went over to cut the bologna Sam started to make threats to mister Tom I didn’t really know what was going on but learned real fast but the store was little and overfilled with big bags of wheat flour and stuff you could barley move around I got hung up in the back some kind of way just by wondering around next thing I knew Sam was wrestling with Mr. Tom and Roy lee was blocking the door and had a hatched in his hand Sam had hit Mr. Tom and knocked him down to the floor taken MR. Tom’s sack of money and ran for the door Roy Lee fast followed and I was stuck there in awe then I started to run to the door but Mr. Tom grab my leg and down I went just feet from the door but my hand found a stick and I lifted it so scare I begged him to let me go he did and when I stood up he lunged at me and I was afraid and came down with that stick cross his head and cracked him one good time and he fell back with blood running down his face and that’s when I noticed it was not just a stick it was the hatched that Roy Lee dropped before running out the door ……. I was stunned I think I just killed Mr. Tom I was so afraid I didn’t know what to do talking to myself oh lord what is I done help me Lord not knowing what to do so I ran from that store as fast as I could until I couldn’t run any more sweat running off my body like water had been poured on me my mind running I am scared I just killed a man, A white man!!

Now I’m thinking how they gonna kill me if they catch me, they gonna hang me if they find out it was me…. if they catch Roy Lee or Sam surely they will tell I was with them,and that I did it they not gonna tell on they self how they tricked me to go with them but I didn’t know what them there boys was up too! I am only 15 years old what they gonna do to my momma or my brothers I don’t know what to do but run, run I just have to keep running until I get far far away from here and I must change my name W.D. to