Rhythm Room, Smokin’ Joe’s Roadhouse and Mean Gene Kelton — Stardust of Yesterdays

Rhythm Room, Smokin’ Joe’s Roadhouse and Mean Gene Kelton — Stardust of Yesterdays 2 comments

Joe Montes of “Smokin’ Joe’s Roadhouse” and Mean Gene Kelton at Houston’s Rhythm Room, 2003 — Image by kenne

Throughout a good part of the last decade, the Saturday KPFT programing included Smokin’ Joe’s Roadhouse, which appropriately Joe would take on the road to the Rhythm Room, later Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar, once a month. In June 2003 Mean Gene Kelton was live from the Rhythm Room on Joe’s show. Sadly, Smokin’ Joe’s Roadhouse, the Rhythm Room and Mean Gene Kelton are no longer with us.

Today the Rhythm Room has been replaced by condos, Smokin’ Joe’s Roadhouse replaced by the program, “Deadbeat” and Gene, well you can’t replace Mean Gene Kelton. However, he will always be in the hearts of the “Die Hards.”

Today while looking for some of my Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club, I ran across some of my 2003 Rhythm Room photos, each causing a trip back in time. I thought about writing a new poem, then recalled my 2005 “Stardust Memories” poem, which I share again.

Stardust Memories

The past,
is not for replay,
only for the stardust of yesterdays

Yesterdays,
in a time and place,
gently massaging forgotten dreams

Dreams,
giving clues to
our stardust memories

Memories,
fading for now,
only reborn to our imagination

Imagination,
directing the soul to
reconstruct old moments

Moments,
experiencing rapture
in the joy of our love

Love,
is the stardust of yesterday,
the music of the years to come

May these words and images gently sprinkle down on our collective stardust memories.

kenne