by: Marty Chrisman
Kelly examined the various clothes lying across her bed. She had to be at the Boars’ Nest in less than an hour and she still hadn’t decided what to wear. She was already wearing a pair of blue jeans and suede squaw boots, but couldn’t make up her mind on a shirt. Finally, she choose a white shirt with black stitching on the yoke and long black fringe on the sleeves. Slipping into the blouse, she quickly brushed out her hair, deciding to leave it loose tonight instead of pulling it back like she usually did.
Satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her guitar case and headed out the door.
Fifteen minutes later, she entered the Boar’s Nest through the back door, which led directly into Boss Hogg’s office. That was where the band was already gathered, tuning their instruments and waiting for her to arrive. Jake introduced her to the rest of the band members, a drummer, a fiddle player and a steel guitar player. Jake played lead guitar and was the lead singer for the group. The other men in the band eyed Kelly apprehensively, Jake had already told them about her but none of them were prepared for someone so beautiful.
“How about some Loretta Lynn, some Tammy Wynette, and maybe some Dolly.” Kelly suggested, naming her favorite singers. Jake agreed with her suggestions and they began picking the songs to do. The plan was for Jake and the band to go on first and sing for about half an hour before introducing Kelly to the audience. Since her appearance was a surprise, she would stay in the back room until she heard her cue. By the time the band was ready to go on, they had a forty five minute set worked out featuring Kelly.
As the band took the stage and started their first song, the door to the back room opened and Daisy came in. She left the door open a crack so they would be able to hear Kelly’s cue to go on stage. “You look fantastic!” Daisy said when she saw Kelly’s outfit.
“Thanks.” Kelly said with a smile, as she slowly strummed the strings on her black Gibson flat top with the silver lightening bolt on the pick guard. The guitar was in perfect tune.
“Nervous?”
“Maybe a little.” Kelly admitted. She usually didn’t get nervous before a show but this was different, this was Hazzard.
“Well the place is packed. Boss Hogg is already seeing dollar signs.” Every since he found out that Kelly was performing with the band, Boss had been advertising “The special guest” that would be appearing at the show tonight without mentioning Kelly by name. Boss was a shrewd businessman; it came from being an old ridge runner himself. He remembered how Kelly could pack in the crowds when she sang as a teenager and he knew that half of Hazzard would show up tonight just to find out who the mysterious special guest would turn out to be. Boss was well known for his infamous speed trap that often caught famous acts from Nashville as they were heading through the county. Instead of making them pay an outrageous fine on some trumped up charge, Boss would let them off if they agreed to sing a song at the Boar’s Nest instead.
Twenty minutes later, Kelly heard her cue and walked over to the door. Daisy stood in front of her, ready to open the door when Jake announced Kelly’s name.
“And now ladies and gentlemen, the moment I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for.” Jake said with a grin at the crowd. “We have a special guest with us tonight that I’m sure a lot of you will remember. A little lady that comes from these parts and who used to sing right around here when she was a teenager. “ he heard the buzz start in the crowd as people began trying to figure out who he was talking about. “So….here she is folks…..” he raised his voice slightly “Miss Kelly Dalton!”
The room exploded with applause and whistles as the regulars recognized Kelly’s name. When she appeared on stage, several wolf whistles filled the air, along with cheers and more applause. Kelly smiled and waited for the noise to die down a little , then she went into her first song, a Loretta Lynn favorite Fist City. Daisy stood behind the bar, grinning as Kelly captured the crowd, taking control the minute she hit the stage.
Uncle Jessie and the boys were sitting at a table at the front of the stage, along with Enos Strait, one of Roscoe’s deputys, and a close friend of the Dukes. Also sitting with them was Cooter Davenport, the owner of the local garage and the best mechanic in the state of Georgia. He was also a close friend of the Dukes. They were cheering and applauding along with the rest of the crowd as Kelly sang.
Kelly sang three more Loretta Lynn numbers, You ain’t woman enough, Country in my Genes, and Coal Miner’s Daughter. Then she did three Tammy Wynette numbers, D-I-V-O-R-C-E, Your good girl’s gonna go bad and Sally Trash. Between songs, she joked with the band and the audience. The crowd was going crazy and loving it. With twenty minutes left to go in her set, Jake stepped up the microphone and said “I’m glad to hear you folks enjoying Kelly’s singing so much. How about we get somebody up here to help her out on a couple of duets?” Kelly looked at Jake in surprise. This wasn’t part of the show. Grinning at her, Jake leaned into the mike and said, “Luke Duke, how about it? Come on up here and help the little lady out.”
Luke looked as surprised as Kelly and shook his head. He wasn’t prepared for this and wasn’t sure how comfortable he was getting on stage with Kelly. They hadn’t spoken in almost a week, not since that morning in the Café. “Come on, Luke.” Jake said, motioning for Luke to come up on the stage. When Luke still hesitated, Jake appealed to the audience “Come on, folks! Do ya’all wanna hear Luke and Kelly do a couple of numbers together or not?”
The audience burst into applause and began yelling for Luke to join Kelly on stage. Unable to refuse graciously, Luke relented and stood up, walking up the stage and taking his place at Kelly’s side. When she looked at him, Luke could see that she was as unsettled and uneasy about this as he was. It was an awkward situation to say the least.
Pleased that he had gotten Luke on stage with Kelly, Jake said “What are you two gonna sing for the folks?”
Kelly looked at Luke questioningly and said “Jackson?” Luke nodded absently. Jackson, a popular duet by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, had been one of the songs he and Kelly used to sing together on a regular basis. The band started the intro and Luke began to sing, Kelly jumping in with her sassy attitude. Their voices blended together perfectly as they sang the old familiar tune. Luke began to relax, even enjoy himself, as Kelly sassed her part of the song back at him. When they finished, Jake insisted that they do another song. Together, they ended up finishing up the show by doing three more duets, Sweet Thang a duet by Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn, Golden Rings a duet by Tammy Wynette and George Jones, and finishing up with another Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash song, Long legged guitar picking man.
As they took their final bows and accepted the rousing applause from the crowd, Luke glanced at Kelly and whispered “Why don’t we get out of here and go some place quiet where we can talk?”
“Okay.” Kelly whispered back “You’re not going to yell at me, are you?”
“No,” Luke reassured her with a soft chuckle “I promise I’m not going to yell at you.”
Kelly and Luke left the stage together, stepping into the back room as the band played their closing song. Kelly quickly stashed her guitar back in its case and followed Luke out the back door into the parking lot. She put the guitar in the truck of her car, then followed Luke through the crowded parking lot to where The General Lee was parked.