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Well, here is my first "official" post in what has
to be the best fan club I've ever seen on the net! Thanks to all of you
for keeping me young at heart with a whole lot of "Doobie" trivia. I've
been out of town quite a bit recently and haven't had a chance to write, but
this evening I had a chance to read a lot of mail from new members and hoped I
could introduce myself.
My name is John Ritchie and I am a native Ohioan
from the football crazed town of Massillon. I now reside in McKinney,
Texas and work in nearby Richardson (suburb of Dallas). I have a wife (of 20
years this July) and two wonderful daughters (19 and 16), the oldest of which
will be marrying this summer (August). I've also lived in Warrenton,
Virginia previous to Dallas. I am the State Property Claims Director of
Texas for a very large, national insurance company. OK, now that we
have that out of the way........
My two greatest "Doobie Moments" have to
be:
1) The first time I heard the opening chords to
"Natural Thing" way back in the seventies. I have honestly got to say that
I was totally "hooked" the minute I heard it. Then when "Long Train
Runnin'" and the ultimate "China Grove" followed, well I think it's safe to say
that I became a fanatic. Over the years I have stuck with the band through
thick and thin, except I must admit I wasn't a big fan of the Mike McD.
The edge the band had for those early years was lost and I just couldn't get
into the mellow R&B action. But when "The Doctor" hit the airwaves all
I could think of was "I've heard him before". Well, when I heard it was
"Doobie Time" again, I was the first one at the door of Camelot Music the
morning it went on sale. Everyone thought I was crazy to be at a music
store at 8:00 AM waiting to get a Doobie Brothers CD. Oh well, what a few
treasure, many will miss.
2) My wife and I were on a camping trip when the
announcement was made that the Brothers were coming to Blossom Music Center in
Cuyahoga Falls, OH to promote "Brotherhood". Well, she slipped out of the
campground long enough to go to Sears and get tickets for the show.
Little did she (or I for that matter) know that the tickets she ended up getting
were front and center, at the stage, in front of Pat's microphone stand.
We waited through two opening acts and then finally.........the house lights go
down and the next thing we hear is the acoustic rhythms of "Dangerous" opening
the show. I still get chills thinking about it!!! Well, two high
fives from Pat, a shake from Tommy and a set of sticks from Keith (yes I'm a
drummer and those 2Bs will never get used) and I have to admit I will never be
the same again.
Well, thanks for letting me relive those
moments. To all of you that I've never met or mailed, I am truly looking
forward to a long and friendly relationship with the greatest fans in the
world. This is the greatest!
God bless you all and I'll talk with you
soon.
John
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- Re: Hello Everyone! John Ritchie
- Re: Hello Everyone! Kerry Krueger
