BIG MAN ON CAMPUS (Or... F-IN’ LELLY: A BIG OL’ BLUESMAN)

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Back in the days when I worked at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), I had a number of co-worker/friends. For a place of “work”, we all actually had a pretty good time together and even met occasionally at various restaurants on the weekends for breakfast.

These breakfast gatherings were called “Bitter Meetings” because we’d all rant about what was going wrong at work and, of course, spread rumors about and talk behind the back of whoever failed to show up at the Bitter Meeting.

Well, through a mutual friend, I was just recently put back in touch with one of my old pals from those UCLA days: F#ckin’ Lelly.

Lelly’s real name is Larry but we all called him “Lelly” because our Asian boss, Suey, always called him “Lelly” as he couldn’t pronounce the R’s in Larry.

The “F#ckin’” part of “F#ckin’ Lelly” came from the fact that Lelly was so freakin’ big it seemed that he was always in our way. Whenever you tried to move, there was Lelly standing in your way, but because he occupied so much space, he really couldn’t help it. Our friendship with Larry was like having a friendship with a nice and gentle but big-footed dinosaur. But that’s how Larry became “F#ckin’ Lelly”, which was gradually shortened for decency’s sake to “F-in’ Lelly”.

A friend of mine recently Emailed me to say that he and some of the other guys had gotten together for a Bitter Meeting in Los Angeles. Below is a portion of what he wrote to me. This was part of a private correspondence, and since I have not sought permission to post it publicly, I don’t feel at liberty to state who wrote it. All I will say is that the four dudes who attended the Bitter Meeting were Lelly, Rick, Mike, and Lonnie. You might be able to figure out who wrote this if you’re willing to sit down with a calculator and spend the necessary time doing the math:

“FnLelly made an appearance at this Bitter along with Rick and Mike. Larry promptly bumped into 4 tables, knocking them and 12 patrons over as he sat down. (Kiddin', S.O.B.) But when he stood up he knocked over two pregnant women and stepped on a puppy.”

I’m STILL laughing! God bless F-in’ Lelly! He’s just like I remembered him!

[See, we dudes can call each other “S.O.B.” and “F-in’ Lelly” and stuffs like that because, in fact, we’re all old friends. Emphasis on the “old”.]

My old buddy F-in’ Lelly is a Blues guitarist. I went to see him play nightclubs back in the day, when he was the frontman for ‘The F#ckin’ Lelly Blues Band’.

OK, I confess, that band name is just a joke, but F-in’ Lelly’s gonna kill me if he ever reads this. He’s been axing me to send him a link to my blogs but I’ve withheld them so far and tried to discourage the idea. (I don’t want my best friends reading this crap I write, but I guess S.O.B. Lonnie - that fool! - must have mentioned my blogs to Lelly. Don’tcha hate it when that happens?!)

But seriously, Lelly’s been a professional Blues guitarist since I met him, and it was actually Lelly who turned me on to the legendary guitarist Danny Gatton approximately 147 years ago (that’s in “dog years”).

Well, I’ve learned that F-in’ Lelly’s still playing in local L.A. Blues bands. Two bands, actually. He’s a member of the band ‘Slavin’ David And Loose Gravel’ (I’m old enough to remember when Slavin’ David was playing acoustic guitar on the Venice Beach Boardwalk for spare change) and Lelly’s also a member of the band ‘Doc Rogers And The Roc Dodgers’. On the bio page for the latter group, it says that when Larry’s not playing guitar he “works as the bouncer at the local Christian Science reading room.”

Ha! Well, that’s a rough gig but Lelly’s probably big enough to handle it.

Below are some links to F-in’ Lelly’s band stuffs. I hope y’all check it out and dig it because F-in’ Lelly’s pretty f-in’ good.

SLAVIN’ DAVID AND LOOSE GRAVEL

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Black Jack 21
[Note: F-in’ Lelly’s the big dude with the guitar, wearing the glasses and the black cowboy “smile pocket” shirt. He stole the shirt from me and stretched it out by tying it to the asses of two asses and then making ‘em “Giddyyap!” Back in the 1890s, Lelly used to laugh at my Western wear, but now he’s wearin’ the Western wear hisself, and on stage no less. Ya see? I was a man both behind and ahead of my time.]

Promo Video
[Note: Lelly’s the big dude bumping into the other band members on stage.]

'Slavin' David And Loose Gravel' Website

DOC ROGERS AND THE ROC DODGERS
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'Doc Rogers' Website And Audio Links

Dudes and dudettes, I really dig this ‘Doc Rogers’ stuffs! Be sure to listen to the tunes ‘National Inquirer’, 'Seen It On TV', and especially 'Hey Doc'. Really good stuffs!

[* F-IN’ LELLY: I know I can only stall ‘n’ stonewall just so long, and you’re eventually bound to see this blog bit. Brother, all I can say is: “I love ya, man! And please don’t kill me, as I have a child and five wives to support!”] .
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy

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