I've always known that my father's half-brother, Larry Stock, was one of the writers of Blueberry Hill, among other hit songs. What I just learned through Wikipedia is that their grandmother's sister had a grandson named Jerry Wexler.....THE Jerry Wexler. Genes are amazing things.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Runs deep in the family Doc!!

So does that make Jerry your late great half cousin? Would have been nice to run into him at your family reunion...

My father's mother's name was Ella. According to Wikipedia, his mother's aunt's name was Bella. There was never an mention or discussion about Jerry Wexler in my early years. Families have a way of drifting into dis-union. My dad and his half-brother Larry were essentially estranged, though I did meet him on several occasions when I was very young. Their parents died in the late thirties. Given the veracity of the Wikipedia narrative, its very possible that neither Larry or Jerry, in the same industry, ever knew they were related. If you Google Larry Stock, you can pick up the link to his Songwriters Hall of Fame election. You'll note that his father, my grandmother's first husband, was also in music.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Doc: you've probably seen this but just in case, here's a link to an interesting bit of history.

A Jerry Wexler Interview.
http://youtu.be/hqjZk96vyHY

Very cool...nobody in my family is famous. There's a few locally infamous characters in the tree, but nobody famous.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Thanks for the link. By the time Jerry turns 17, my uncle is on his way to his first big hit, "The Umbrella Man' which was helped along by the events in Europe involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler. Theres a generation gap here. My uncle was born in 1896 which puts him a good 20 years ahead of Jerry who, if the truth be told, is the grandson of my uncle's aunt. That's quite a spread. I know that I have second and third cousins, many of whom I'll never meet. Coincidently, one of them was in my class in dental school. I've seen him accidently only once in the 37 years since graduation. Another, I know, is an endodontist, in NJ, whom I've not seen since a family reunion maybe 50 years ago. That these two men ultimately knew of each others work, oerhaps even met, but never learned that they were blood relatives is a fascinating possibility. I've met people, in my professional life, who knew/worked with my uncle. One, a pianist, did demos for him. Another, a vocalist, was managed by one of the co-writers my uncle worked with.
Life is freaky!!

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"Another day in paradise!"

No real famous people in my family except maybe my cousin Tanith Belbin who's a world champion ice dancer,one of my forebears was Tom Belbin,a pirate who was hanged beside Bluebeard and an Alexander? Belbin who was a govenor of Tasmania in the 19th century.It's been postulated that Auguste Balebain(spelling ?) the first grand knight of the Knights Templar was a forebear so if the Holy Grail is ever found I can lay claim to it lol.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

As kids our grandparents on my mothers side always told us there was a famous artist in the family but over the years that name was lost. I started doing research on it and after 2 years of solid digging I found out it was Donatello, the famous sculptor from the 1400`s from Florence Italy. Now I know where my artistic ability comes from. The family was also one of three that started the banking industry in Florence and at some point put music to Greek plays and started what is now known as opera.

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Those are impressive credentials. I certainly hope your abilities have also drawn from their other areas of achievement.

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"Another day in paradise!"

The last rock I turned over was harboring a snake. No one famous in my family. My dad's folks were Sharecroppers from Georgia. My Mothers family were Pennsylvania Dutch Farmers that settled in Idaho. I guess That makes me a Grass Roots American. My Grandfather in Idaho was reportadly a sort of Builder of Guitars, Mandolins And violins. Or so I was told. I was given one of his mandolins but it was lost somewhere along the way.
----Danny,

That's a great roots story. [Buddy Guy takes credit for being a sharecropper's son too.]
You bring a lot to the table with that history.

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"Another day in paradise!"

I am related to the infamous Jesse James. He used to hide out on a farm in southern Iowa that was owned by some of my forebears. We started out on the Iowa/Missouri border, then slowly worked our way north to better farmland.

I don't know where any of great-great-uncle Jesse's treasure is buried...

We named our son Jesse and I wanted his middle name to be James, but even though my wife believed I was related, she stuck to her guns, hence my son, Jesse Nathan...

P.S. There was a band in northern MN in the 90s who called themselves The James Gang. They thought they were the first to use that name. My son suggested they change their name to something better... like The Eagles.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

CR: Beware of turning your back to men named Bob.

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"Another day in paradise!"

I learned that a long time ago - my Dad's name is Bob. My backside still flares up now and then. Yikes!

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963