The weekend that I was to meet up with my Country Music friend, Laura, in
the city of Bath, where she lived was a very cold and treacherous one around 
the UK.

Already, on the Friday 6th March '87, there had been the tragedy in the 'frozen'
waters off Zeebrugge of the Cross-channel Ferry. Rather than take my car
(then the Talbot Horizon Special), I left it in the garage and went by public-
transport (trains in a non-direct-route) on the morning of 7th March. 
(The seas had apparently been at FOUR DEGREES CENTIGRADE which left
the survivors with many problems)

Charley's Show was  to be on 

8th March 1987.
 
and on this day, before the show, we had already booked our places for
the Easter Country Music festival at Bognor (the only one that I ever
attended at BUTLINS).

CHARLEY'S SHOW

My good friend Laura, having gathered up quite a few friends from around
Bath drove us all in one of her buses to the Bristol Hippodrome to meet
the Great Man. It was a tremendous show musically - and here's a 'shot' to be getting
on with!!



Charley's vocals were every bit a good as his recordings - but I had reservations
about his performance visually. Listening, in the comfort of my own home, I had 
built up a mental picture of a laid-back style, vocally and visually, which was not
totally true in reality!! 


Being the ex-athletic-guy that he was, his stage performance showed his athleticism
with continuous (a bit amateurish, I thought) movements around the stage. That
part of my image of Charley was then changed. Shame!!



After the show, four of us went to Charley's dressing room for a short chat
and exchanges of gifts. Here's a closer picture I took there.