Rock and Roll Never Forgets (The Rock and Roll Trilogy) Read online

  Rock and Roll Never Forgets

  Rock And Roll

  Never Forgets

  The Story of a Girl

  and a Rock Star

  A Fictional Memoir

  Book One of the Rock and Roll Trilogy

  Rock and Roll Never Forgets

  So you know…

  All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means, without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations represented in articles of review.

  Rock and Roll Never Forgets is a work of fiction, (part of my ‘rock and roll fantasy’). Any names, characters, places, and occurrences are purely a product of my creativity, or they’re used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, locales, companies, businesses, or events are coincidental.

  Unless otherwise noted, the song lyrics contained in the story are my words, poetry that ‘sings’ to me.

  Previous Publications

  Sweet Surrender – February 2012

  Available at Amazon.com/Kindle

  Rock and Roll Never Forgets cover designed by Jeff Robin Manalo

  Author photo by Dawn Zattau

  Divinity album cover created by Dylan Seaman

  Copyright © 2012 Barbara Stewart

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 978-1470059293

  ISBN-10: 1470059290

  Rock and Roll Never Forgets

  DEDICATION

  “One good thing about music, when it hits you,

  you feel no pain.” Bob Marley

  Music is entertainment, it’s art, it’s comfort, and for some it’s a living. For me… it’s an escape, sometimes a refuge. I love that music inspires me. It takes me places that I’m not sure the writers of the melody or lyrics ever dreamed, but it’s my ‘happy place’ and I hope some of my journeys become a happy place for you.

  I dedicate this book to all of us who let music take us away – wherever it takes us…

  A friend, who read Sweet Surrender, told me, “Keep listening to the music and keep the books coming.”

  Here you go, the next/first book from the “sound-track of my life”…

  Love, Barbara

  Rock and Roll Never Forgets

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This one is my heart… the one that started my journey.

  “Crazy legs” woke me the first time I started, followed by Andy Steven’s voice in my head with a story. Every time “crazy legs” woke me the story grew. I’m not really sure when I actually began, I just know that the first time I saved it to something other than the hard drive on the PC was in October 2003… and from there it evolved and almost ten years later here it is – a finished book… I’m ready to push this baby out of the nest.

  The title came when I was driving along one day and I heard Bob Seger singing, and the words ‘rock and roll never forgets’ stuck in my head – because they told me where the story would go…

  If you’ve traveled even part of this journey with me then you know this is really the first book – Sweet Surrender was the catapult that helped me answer ‘now what?’.

  My heart is full of gratitude. Thank you to my sweet husband, Gene. He’s lived through many sleepless nights (and leg bouncing) as I typed (possible upside to restless legs!). Thank you for reading the pages I gave you over and over. I know you were waiting for something to blow up or explode… they did, they just had a love story instead of murder or espionage. I love you for traveling this unknown path with me.

  To my encouragers, Geni, for reading the very first draft and telling me to ‘go on’, ‘Nurse’ Pink, thank you for loving Andy and Bethy and believing in my dream enough to push me forward when I told you about it. Thank you for reading and walking me through some of the ‘technical stuff’ in the story – helping me keep it real.

  My sweet Johannes family – what a blessing you are to me. I don’t say this lightly, but if someone in our lives hadn’t had cancer, I wonder if our paths would have ever crossed? I’m just glad they did. Thank you to ‘my JMac’ and our coffee dates at Panera – the sweetest gift of your time and heart. I am so glad, happy, and thankful, that over coffee I blurted out the words; ‘I wrote a book!’. You were the accelerant that set my fire ablaze! You helped me answer ‘now what?’ Thank you for believing in me enough to share your family with me, and encouraging me to do something with this little piece of my heart. Most of all, thank you for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Your words; ‘You can’t put it away again’, helped push me along when I doubted. Lynne and Jan, thank you for navigating me through how to get from where I was to where I am! Lynne, your time, patience and love mean so much to me. You helped me remember grammar that I didn’t know I forgot! Thank you for reading through this with me and helping me learn my way around. Thank you for sitting with me for hours and not just handing notes back with red marks on the pages, but talking to me about WHY. I’m saving all the pages we worked through together (‘Babs, this is so you!), they are a treasure to me!

  Really, Wendy? Really? Thank you for sharing this experience with me in the middle of your biggest production… Your time in the middle of planning a wedding was priceless! I loved every challenge you gave me… really! Thank you for helping me with design questions – who knew fonts were such a big deal? Thank you for helping me see a Rock and Roll font!

  Thank you to my readers, Judy, Jen, JMac, Dawn, and Cathy for the final read, to help find what might have slipped by. Thank you for showing me what worked and what needed a little tweak.

  Recently, I read that the cover of the book is the most important thing. The story might be the greatest ever written, but if the cover doesn’t grab a reader’s attention, they may never pick it up. Jeff, thank you for a new friendship, and for helping me ‘see’ my story.

  I have to thank my favorite singer for giving me a dream! You may never see these words, but thank you for keeping a song in my heart and lyrics in my head that helped me make up some of the stories in my writing, not just with Rock and Roll, but in the pages to follow in the next two books of the trilogy…

  And lastly… Thank you to every one of you who took a chance on me by reading Sweet Surrender. I hope you will read this book and say, ‘Wow, she’s come a long way!’. And I hope you’ll follow my journey through the Rock and Roll Trilogy and say the same thing after each book. The next dream is already alive… Thank you all for being part of my ‘rock and roll fantasy’!

  Rock and Roll Never Forgets

  Rock and Roll Never Forgets

  Preface

  Norton Edwards - My Look Back

  I’ve been writing for music publications like Billboard and Rolling Stone since the early 1970s, and love what I do. The opportunity this offers has led me to meet many intriguing people; musicians, celebrities, as well as music and movie executives over the years. Some I’m asked to interview, some I seek because of a personal interest. There’s always that one story, the one personality that sticks in your mind. It’s that story you just have to get. Sometimes the story goes away before the opportunity arises. Some that you think will go away, never do.

  Beth Morgan was that story for me; the one I had to have, the one that never went away. She lived life in a world of fame, in a spotlight she tried to avoid but couldn’t. The story took more than twenty years to get, but it’s the one that always stayed in my mind. I asked, more than once, for the opportunity.

  In the 1980s, Beth was everywhere; everyone wanted to know something about her. She was on the arm of one of the most famous rock and roll singers at the ti
me. People wanted to know anything they could learn about her. She attributed that to the man in her life. There were pictures and information that we had access to, but we wanted more.

  It was a very special, very exciting, thrilling time when life had her on a never-anticipated course. She was young, cute, protected, and very elusive. Who was she? What was it about her that made a ‘Rock God’ choose her as his partner?

  We first met in 1982, while I was doing an article on Andy Stevens, lead singer for the rock group Traveler. My first thought was that she was average. She was small, not strikingly beautiful, but pretty. Her hair was short, and a reddish color. Her skin was fair and smooth with youth. She had laughing eyes, an impish grin, complete with dimples, and a shy quietness about her that made her intriguing. But there was that understated look that sparked the imagination. Her laugh lit up everything and everyone around her.

  Beth and Andy Stevens were the hot ticket at the time. They had been together for a while when I got the chance to interview him. Beth joined us, but, Andy made a specific request before he agreed to talk to me that she would not be the focus of the interview. She wasn’t ready and he wanted to make sure she was, before she participated. I respected their wishes, but I must admit the time I spent with them only made me want to know more about her.

  Beth went along for a photo shoot for the spread, which only intrigued me more. There was just something about her. She was fun to watch, and it was a joy having her with us. She loved to laugh and even through the shyness, there was that spark. She was, as she has said, “just a girl.” But there was something more there.

  While I was working with the magazine on the layout, reviewing the pictures, choosing which would be used, Beth got in my soul and I couldn't put her away. I looked at the pictures again and again and realized that she was beautiful, but not in a stunning way that strikes you. I believe even she didn’t know it. Her beauty was subtle, like a double take. It was a look that came out through her smile; her eyes. It was pure charisma.

  Shortly after the article ran in Rolling Stone, I contacted her for the first time. I wanted her to share her thoughts. There was a lot going on in her life. She declined my request for reasons that will come out in her story to follow. Over the years I contacted her several more times. Always gracious, she wanted to stay out of the limelight as much as possible, and I respected that. But I also wanted to get her story.

  I’d kept tabs on her through the years. She’d been in the public eye, to some extent. She tried to lay low, but it wasn’t easy. She developed a passion for charity work and became very involved in the Cancer Foundation. Her fundraisers were the place to be. Everyone wanted to come, to be seen, to help out. She would laugh that the interest in her events was probably more in who might show up at the event than the cause itself. But that didn’t matter to her because they were successful. She has spoken in public about her passion for this work, but has never acknowledged her earlier life, the life she shared with Andy Stevens.

  Surprisingly, twenty years later, people still ask about Beth. They want to know her story. Where is she now? What happened to her? Due to changes taking place in her life, now was the right time. Beth sent word that she was ready to talk about “them”; her life with Andy, and her life without him. The opportunity thrilled me. She had been through so much that she was hesitant, knowing it would thrust her into that same spotlight again, but she had a story to tell. It amazed her that anyone really still cared about “that life” she led before.

  When I met with her, I found a woman in her forties, a mother, a wife, a friend. She still looked the same. A few lines graced her face in a way that Andy likened to a good bottle of wine; she just got better with age. There was poise, that while present before, only made her more appealing, now. The grin was still there, more wise, thoughtful and cautious though. There was still the sparkle in her eyes, but there was a different glow about her I hadn’t noticed on those occasions when I had seen her before. She finally seemed settled and peaceful.

  We met several days a week for a few months. Sharing coffee, dinners, and family occasions with those she loved. I asked questions, and she talked like I was an old friend. Beth allowed me to tape those conversations. I have played them back and listened more than I needed to for this story. I found something soothing and comforting about listening to her voice as she talked about her life.

  She had journals that she’d kept over the years. She shared them with me and I read them over and over. They helped tell the story, in her words. She referred to all those journal entries as the quilt she called her life. It was a glimpse into how she felt, thought, and dreamt during those times.

  I met with her friends and family, as well as Andy, to get their thoughts. I met with the two of them together on several occasions. It was an experience I’ll never forget. Even after all the time that had passed, there was still a great bond between them. It was love. He loved her - deeply. She loved him. They were soul mates. They finished each other’s sentences, laughed, cried, joked and shared. It was truly one of the most beautiful experiences of my career.

  Beth’s wish for this project was simple. She wanted a story that would be a celebration of her life and loves. I used her journals, the many conversations we shared, and conversations with her family and friends to pull together pieces from everything I learned, and piece together a quilt of my own. The journals were so full of heart, warmth, and passion. I used ‘pieces’ of them in the story that follows.

  She talked to me about how the journaling began.

  November 8, 2001 ~ I can thank my Pops for so many gifts over the years, but one of the best gifts he ever gave me was my first journal. He had written inside the front cover; ‘A place to keep your thoughts and your dreams. Dream big Baby Girl. Love Pops’ I still have that journal and all the others that followed it as each one was filled. It became my passion.

  ~ ~ ~

  Beth’s First Journal Entry, July 13, 1963 ~ Today is my 8th birthday and Pops gave me this book to write in. He said one day I could go back and read them and remember what I was doing when I was writing. It’s a pretty pink book with a yellow flower on the cover.

  I will tell you that I now know what it was about her; she was just special – period. Here is the story of ‘just a girl’ that rock and roll never forgot…

  3

  Rock and Roll Never Forgets

  Chapter One

  September 29, 2001

  Beth lay awake, alone in her thoughts, finally alone. She was on her side, looking around, not really seeing anything but the wall across the room. It was quiet except for the whir of the air conditioning.

  It was late afternoon and there was no light on to illuminate the room. From the window she could see outside. The late September sky was dusky, the sun was setting below the window level, and the room was gray. She thought about how appropriate the color gray was. There was no black and white now, there was just that place in between. ‘Gray,’ she thought.

  She closed her eyes for a moment, allowing her mind to drift away. As it did it took her a million different places; a lifetime of places. She had so much to think about, plans to make… details. She tried to focus, to make her mind think forward, but the past kept flashing in pictures, like fast-moving frames from a slide-show.

  She knew what she wanted, what she needed, she just needed a plan to make it happen. As she lay there waiting, thinking about what she needed to do, she remembered…

  ~ ~ ~

  Beth Morgan and Kimmy Jones were best friends. They’d known each other for sixteen years. Beth was a twenty-two year old working-girl and part-time student. The two were always looking for fun, and this night they were anxious, about to see their favorite band, ‘up close and personal’.

  June 24, 1978 ~ Back stage passes for Traveler! Somebody pinch me!

  The two young women stood at the Will-Call at the arena in Orlando waiting; giggling as they watched the crowd shuffling into the arena, excited to see their
favorite band, Traveler’s Timeless Tour. Kimmy’s cousin, Mark Jones, had taken over as drummer for the band a few months earlier after a shake-up in their roster. Together, they released their first album, Timeless, in March, and were touring. He’d left tickets and back-stage passes for them.

  “I can’t even believe we are here!” Beth said excitedly.

  “I can’t believe that Mark is in the band!” Kimmy yelled.

  Finally, a security guard arrived to escort them to a packed back-stage room; the area where Mark was waiting to introduce them to the band members. The whole idea of him being part of their favorite band was just thrilling. When they arrived, he greeted them with hugs and conversation as the other band members were making their way into the room. Mark introduced them to Nigel Rose, the bass guitarist, Nathan Perry, the keyboardist, and Dane Allen the guitar player. After a few minutes, Mark and Kimmy wandered off to mingle. Beth was talking and laughing with Nathan. She looked up when she saw him, and in a moment, her life was forever changed.

  ~ ~ ~

  Andy Stevens entered the room looking like the rock star he was. He wore tight white jeans and a black leather vest with no shirt. His brown hair was long, and hung straight down his back in a ponytail. He was walking with another man, and they were deep in conversation. Beth was watching him, she heard every word that Nathan was saying, but over his shoulder she was watching, intently. She noticed everything about him; the olive skin, the golden eyes, the width of his shoulders and muscular arms, the length of his legs. 6’4” she’d read somewhere…