I started drinking around the age of 12. I remember my brother buying a bunch of beer, he was only 15 or 16. My grandmother’s were of the mind, let them drink at home so they can learn how to handle themselves. Mom was divorced and gone most weekends with her new boyfriends. So we were left alone to do what we wanted. And that usually meant drinking. My best friend Ronnie, and his brother William. We all grew up like brothers. Their mom and dad, were best friends with my mom and dad. Their dad and mine used to play guitars and write songs together. I think I started trying to learn how to play the guitar around 17 or 18. Ronnie had started playing about the same time. I just wanted to be able to write melodies for my songs, so I had no great drive to be a “Musician”. We started taking lessons together on Saturday mornings. To be honest, we were so hung over on Saturday mornings that it was hard to concentrate. Mostly, I learned to play by ear. I could hear a song a few times, and I could figure out how to play it. Lyrics were easy for me. I seemed to have a good memory for song lyrics. I loved learning new songs. Kris Kristofferson was my favorite, of all time. I tried to write songs like him but I could not even come close. Looking back at my first years of writing I was pretty bad. Ronnie and I continued to play together, and eventually started a band with Ronnies dad, Henry. Since we all played guitar players, I decided to learn Bass guitar. It was pretty easy since the top four strings on the guitar, are the same as the bass. We were pretty bad. We eventually found a drummer and a fiddle player. I had started college at A&M, with the intention of becoming a Veterinarian. We played on the weekends. In spite of my continued escalation in drinking, I was always an excellent student. I made straight A’s, in spite of not studying, till the last moment. In my late teens, I started having a lot of stomach problems. I got to the point where I could not eat without having severe pain in the stomach. I quickly learned that a drink before eating , would prevent the cramps. My mom took me on a round of doctors to find the problem. I was put through some brutal tests. At 16 or 17, I was bent over a table in the ER, and had what felt like, a 2 foot long pipe shoved up my ass. It was called a Rigid Sigmoidoscopy. They don’t do them anymore, I think they are against the Geneva Convention!! They ought to be!!! Back they they didn’t give sedation for such procedures, no dinner or dancing, not even a kiss behind the ear. Just bend over and here we come. I later had a Coloniscopy by Dr Walter Fagan. Again, no sedation back then, but once you’ve had a pipe shoved up your ass, a colonoscopy is no big thing. Dr Fagan discovered that I had Crohn’s disease, a little known inflammatory disease of the intestines. Remember, this was 40 years ago. I was treated with prednisone, the only real treatment they had back then. I would learn many years later the price I would pay, but it saved my life. Dr Fagan, if you are still alive, I think of you often. Thank you. In spite of all that, life and music went on. More to follow. Brian Lee Robinson
