When I first came to this area, in 1978, I was playing a Lowrey Contempo 80 at a piano bar, six nights a week. I'd been there a couple of weeks when a young man came up and introduced himself to me.
He said his name was Bob Bryant and that he owned the piano and organ section of the local music store. He asked me to come by and see him when I got a chance.
A few days later, I did go see him. He told me he wanted me playing a Yamaha organ, and that he would sell me one below his cost so that people could see me playing it. He also said that he would pay a referral fee for anyone I sent to him that bought one. We struck a deal pretty quickly, as I had just about beaten that Lowrey to death anyway.
I later began working some during Christmas time and for a couple of months before, in the store, demonstrating and selling pianos and organs.
Bob was an excellent piano player, and even spent some time on the road with Ray Price many years later. He retired from the store about two years ago, when the owner sold it. We have been good friends all these years.
Today I got a call saying that Bob's body was found in his apartment. He apparently died from "natural causes". He had lost a lot of weight and had been having stomach problems for several months. I suspect it was cancer of some kind, but we'll never know for sure.
He was a great person and good friend. He was liked and respected by a large number of fellow musicians, but I was about his only real friend. He never married, although was close a couple of times that didn't work out. I just reached his sister, I think his only surviving relative an hour or so ago, to tell her the bad news.
I just needed to express my thoughts and I have a lot of friends here that perhaps won't mind.
Thanks for listening.

Sorry about the loss of your friend. He did make your life better and I'm sure you did the same for him.

Sorry to hear about your loss, Don. Another of your friends, one I will never forget, passed not too long ago, Hank Bowman. There's hardly a week that goes by when I don't think of Hank and the many hours we spent on the phone talking, and when I finally met him in person at your home. Hank came roaring in a a jet black Harley Hog with every other piece of metal on the bike chromed - it was awesome and so was Hank.

Keep in touch, old friend,

Gary

Don ... I think many of us here can feel your pain, even though that doesn't make it any easier for you ... when the bass player and best vocalist in our band died a number of years ago, that hit me as hard as when my parents passed ... Oft-times losing a friend is harder than losing family ...
And just this past week I got the news that the drummer from the band has been diagnosed with stage 4 Cancer ... as Gary says, getting old ain't for wimps ...
Our prayers are with you, Don ...

Don when people pass they take part of us with them. When we grieve over a lost friend we are showing how much we care. I bet that Bob Bryant is loving every minute of it.

Remembering him and all that he brought to you is the precious part of your life; no one can take those memories away.

John C.

PS, I have lost people I cared for – it’s so strange when they leave; one moment they are here and the next there’s nothing. Sometime reality is not easy. I guess that’s why we hold on so tight to our memeories

So sorry to hear this Don. But it sounds like you both had a great musical relationship which I am sure meant a lot to him.

Sorry Don.sounds like a great friend..remember the good times .....condolences buddy!!

Don, Sending my condolences to you! May he rest in peace! Death of friends and loved ones is never easy no matter what age.

Always sad to loose a friend, but we're blessed to have had their friendship. Thinkin' of ya, bud.

Don, I lost a very close friend last year, a fellow musician who
enjoyed music as much as I do. He suddenly became sick (Cancer)
and passed on in a few weeks. We played together many,many times
at each others house and it was so much fun.

We shared meals, traveled to organ shows and just enjoyed each
others company. Friends stay in your mind and you never forget
them. You just know that your blessed enough to have had the
honor of knowing them. Blesss them all. Lloyd

No matter how big the loss, they allways leave a lot of sweet memmories behind, cherishing those good memmories makes it much easier for me to get over the actuall loss...

Over the course of my live i lost a brother, a daughter, my father, my inlaws, and quite some friends.... i keep them all alive in my memmories... and by taking about them to others...

In the end, thats what our lives are, a collection of sweet memmories...

Thanks everyone. Bob will be missed for sure. They determined that he had been dead at least a week before he was found.
When it rains it pours, last night another friend, Henry Levy, was hit head-on in his car, by an illegal immigrant who was going the wrong way on a one-way bridge. The guy had no papers, no license, no insurance and was extremely drunk. Henry suffered broken arm, both broken hips, ruptured spleen and many cuts and bruises. They are probably going to have to remove his spleen. His life is still in danger.
Some of you may remember Henry because he was at the first Shreveport Arranger Jam. He played guitar and used a Ketron module for backing, changing chords with foot pedal.
Sorry to be so negative. I know we all have many such losses and experiences, especially the older ones of us!

Don the blessing of a longer life exposes us to loss of people who are dear to us. All but one of my musician friends are gone.

The good news is that I am filling the losses with new musician friends. I be one lucky guy. (My view)

John C.

DonM. That's a lovely story and not easy to write about your friend on the forum. You made a difference in his life also.

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Don, at least that "rarified" air you breath so high up off the ground will keep you healthy (and grumpy) for a long, long time.

Sure you were a great friend and supporter.


R.

Bob was not a religious person, but he sold a lot of pianos and organs to churches and church members. Often the pastors and church musicians would visit the store and he encouraged them to sit down and play the various instruments. They all loved him and his wry sense of humor.
When the circumstances were just right, he would ask them if they knew "Bringing in the Sheaves", and then he would start to play it for them. After he butchered it, they all wanted to play it for him! Sorry I don't know how to save it from Facebook, but if you are on FB you can see it here:
https://www.facebook.com/jim.sorensen.77/videos/1179108968876296/