Brian Hebron
and
The Crystal Blue Band
HebronMusic.com
Thursday March 8, 2007, our friend Billy Cole passed away at the age of
70.  This is such a loss not only to Billy's family and friends, but also to
country music and it's history.

My first memories of Billy was when he was a disc jockey for KSO in Des
Moines from 1981 to 1986.  I was still in high school in 1981.  When the
clock radio went off I remember waking to a deep baritone voice in
between real country music.  Even as a kid I was so impressed with his
voice.  There are other great disc jockeys around the country, but Billy is
just a little bit better in my personal opinion.  I remember KSO playing
Billy's song that he wrote and performed, "A Man Can Sure Get Lonely In
Des Moines".  What a great country song.  I remember the free KSO
concerts at Vet's Auditorium in Des Moines.  Billy's voice sounded great
through the little speaker in the clock radio, but when that big low voice
introduced an act for the concert it was truly awesome.

I started singing in public in 1982 and over the years several times I got to
be on the same live stage show around Iowa that Billy would also be
performing.  I thought it was really special to be introduced several times
by Billy.  He had introduced many of my country music heroes years ago
on the Grand Ole Opry when he worked with WSM in Nashville.  He
made me feel just as important as them when he introduced me here in
Iowa.

Billy won a CMA award in 1977 while on WHO in Des Moines.  In 2002
Billy was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame.

Over the years Billy has played two of my songs on the radio that I wrote
and performed.  One that I recorded in Nashville in 1990 and one from
2005 that I recorded with Brandon.

Our family took a vacation to Nashville in 2006 to enjoy the history of
country music.  We had a great time.  Brandon and I also had a couple of
"mini vacations" this fall right here in Des Moines that to us were equally
fascinating.  Billy called me on July 4, 2006 to see if Brandon and I would
appear on a show in Des Moines.  During a break the day of the show I
mentioned to Billy that I would really like to record one of his songs.  I was
thinking maybe, "A Man Can Sure Get Lonely In Des Moines".  He called
me a day or two later remembering what I had said to him.  He told me he
had a song that he and his wife, Lorraine, had written that he'd like for us
to hear.  He invited us to his home.  We visited for more than 2 hours.  
How the time flew by.  Brandon and I got to hold Billy's CMA award and
see his Hall of Fame award that hung on his wall.  We got to sit in his
home office where he did his live weekly classic country music show for
KMGO.  He showed what he had to do to start broadcasting the show,
how the equipment worked, his CD collection.  He talked about being
born in New York, his family of which pictures filled his office, some of the
many entertainers he knew (many of my musical heroes), and his career
as a disc jockey and entertainer.  Brandon was equally captivated as I.  
And yes, we discussed the song too.  We were invited over another time
to make sure we had the correct basic idea of how he envisioned the
song because we wanted to record it how he would like it.  Billy said he
really likes fiddles and steels.  Therefore, Brandon and I added a twin
fiddle intro and a steel guitar turn around with plenty of steel guitar on
each chorus.

Brandon and I believe we are done with the recording.  We now have to
begin the mixdown and finalized version of those sounds.  We have new
recording equipment we hope we will know how to operate to match or
exceed what we obtained with our last song.  Brandon and I went to visit
Billy in January.  We were able to visit one last time in February the night
Brandon and I made a rough mixdown of the song.  I asked Billy if he
would like to hear the song.  He listened to about half of it and looked at
me and said softly, "that's good".

I never thought back in 1981 that Billy Cole would ever know who I was or
like my country music.  I'm glad I got to tell him I'd been a fan of his since
1981.

It's easy to see why Billy had so many friends.  As you know Billy always
ended his broadcasts with, "The best way to have friends is to be one
yourself".  Please keep Lorraine and all of Billy's family in your prayers.

Brian
3/11/07