Page 120 - Been There… Done That!

Gary Graham
I often wondered if maybe that feeling is the reason some entertainers get on drugs, but when our contract expired at the end of the year, I opted not to extend it. Voss raised hell, but I knew I had to do it. Visiting with Clint Eastwood at the bar one night, he said, “do what you have to do.” He and Voss were good friends and golfed together and as pissed as Voss was, I was shocked to hear Clint say that.
One month after San Francisco I started another tour to the East Coast, thinking my head was clear and ready to be out there going for it. The tour was a huge success, but it was apparently taking its toll on the whole group and me. After Nashville, we went our separate ways. As a group we were damn good could bring the house down whether there were 200 or 2,000 people, but it was over. All good things come to an end.
The part that bothered me the most was the fact that Bob (Allen) Nigg and Keith Wagner had been with me through thick and thin and we were more than a tight group – we were the best of friends. They had been at my beck and call so many times, leaving each other was at the point of heartbreak. Bob started with me in the early 60s and had been drafted into the Army while we were in Las Vegas. After he was discharged, he came back to work with me. Bob was a guitar player who transitioned into one of the best bass players ever.
Back in Missouri, I occasionally worked with some groups and my love for horses found its way back in my life in the form of buying and selling. It was a great diversion and I was noticeably happier.
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