Mary loved to be the star of the show and she was to me. She also got her chance in Knoxville Tennessee about 1974. We spent almost two years hitch-hiking around the country and one day a guy named Nick picked us up hitch-hiking and we stayed a while at his motel on Clinton Highway. One afternoon we went across the street to Mr. T's Lounge. We had come into a little money and were having drinks. Mary started bragging about what a great dancer she was and how she had taken lessons while she was in grade school for six years. After quite a few tequila sunrises we got her to get up on the stage and try a strip-tease. She was a beautiful, young red-head and she really could dance. I am sure that she had rarely, if at all, ever seen a girl do it, but she was great. It had gotten later into early evening and a lot of good-ole-boys had come in and were filling the tables and drinking beer. Remember, this is in Knoxville, Tennessee in the early 70’s so it was, maybe, a rough crowd. Anyway, She got up on the stage and the bartender put something on. I wish I could recall what it was. She started dancing and the boys got quiet. An old man was sitting in a wooden, straight-back chair right at the edge of the stage and he started grabbing at Mary’s ankles while she danced. He made contact once or twice and it was probably pissing her off, but she just grinned, spun around, kicked him right in the head. He went straight back into his chair, fell straight back to the floor, and everyone in the whole place jumped up and started yelling and screaming, some with their hands up, in approval. She was a hit. The rest of the time we were in Knoxville, she was the queen of the stage at three different places around town. Mr. T’s (across from the motel were at on Clinton Highway), B&J’s Lounge (Brenda and John) (near downtown), and the Continental Lounge (out on Knox Highway). I went with her every time and to every place and they even paid me to run the spotlights at the Continental Lounge… an illegal gambling club up top and a redneck beer bar downstairs… and that’s another story. We went on to live in our own room at a motel down the road I think was called Brown's Motel, then to rent a trailor back up the road a piece in a trailor park called Knox Trailor Park, and finally for a short time at another motel a little further up Clinton highway where we eventually left Knoxville from. There's more to tell about Knoxville.