His Spirit is Riding the Wind
by Joe Cook
A guitar riff breaks the still of the night
Like a windchime played by a breeze.
And I yearn to reach out and touch his hand
For I feel like he’s beckoning to me.
I remember his call from up in the sky,
“We’re passing over, just called to say Hi.”
Now it’s Chitlins [...]

OLE NUMBER ONE
by Joe Cook
This poem can be sung to the tune of “Wildwood Flower”
by the Carter Family, (recorded back in the late 1920’s,
There’s a story to be told
From the ole book of life
About a guitar he jokingly
called “his first wife.”
Now it hung on a hook
Down in Ray’s music store
An old antique, would it
play anymore?
“Hey [...]

A TEXAS RAY OF SUNSHINE
by Joe Cook
I hear a blues riff in the still of the night.
Is that you, Little Boy Blues?
Your cross was found on some faraway hill,
they say where wild flowers grow.
Are you up there somewhere playing your blues?
Oh, Lord, I think I know.
Guitar slingers, the best of blues singers
Came to Alpine Valley [...]

Ode to Stevie Ray
Legend in Bronze
by Joe Cook
I’m just sittin’ and reminiscin’
It’s got me real uptight.
‘Cause I’m in the presence of a legend
And there’s no sound stage in sight.
Just the image of a man in bronze,
A man I used to know.
Oh, Lord, what I wouldn’t give
To have seen his last show!
I have memories of [...]

A Shy Bashful Kid to Man
by Joe Cook
I wish I was a poet and words would flow
Like the music from the band
but sometimes I choke
For I was not dealt that hand
Sometimes I love to tell stories
About this shy and bashful man
When in a crowd he would panic if
He lost sight or grip of your hand
I [...]

MAMA V’s BOYS
by Joe Cook
Mama V is a lady,
With a heart of gold.
Taught her boys about Jesus
For they were her heart and soul.
She’s a little bit bashful,
But she’s also proud,
When asked the origin of their talents
Says, “Praise the Lord” out loud!
They were born and raised in Oak Cliff,
A part of ole “Big D,”
To their mama, [...]