TOM ELLIS (Boston-Newton, MA) Subject: ballad of Grover Sow. Did you know that two disc jockeys and a news reporter at KONO wrote and recorded a song about a pig? It's true, and here's the first-hand story as told by one of the culprits. It must have been somewhere along about 1960 that a story appeared on the wire services about a pig named Grover. Grover, the pig, lived in England and enjoyed eating slop (that's what pigs eat) that had stayed in the trough long enough to begin the fermentation process, thereby producing alcohol. Well now there was one smart pig, that Grover. She (despite her masculine name, Grover was a sow) had learned (pigs are very smart you know) to let her supper sit until it fermented, so that she could get a high on at suppertime, lunchtime, whenever. Like I say, she was one smart pig. On this particular occasion, Grover had eaten so much fermented slop that she got so high that she staggered around until she fell into a well there in the barnyard where she was living in England. This of course triggered a gigantic rescue operation, which of course triggered a huge media blitz, which of course attracted the attention of radio newsmen such as myself. The frequency of the Grover rescue stories on the KONO newscasts of course attracted the attention of disc jockeys Doug China and Jerry Miller (Mueller). They began using the story to their advantage on their prime time shows. (One can only imagine the many jokes they managed to come up with.) As a result, Grover Sow became somewhat of a San Antonio celebrity. Now here's the kicker. Doug and Jerry wrote the lyrics to a song they dubbed "The Ballad of Grover Sow." They came to me (I play a guitar) with the idea of recording it to the tune of "Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley", and one day we got together in a sound studio and recorded it. Doug was friends with a local record producer who agreed to put it on record. "The Ballad of Grover Sow" never made it to the top of the Billboard charts, but it sure got a lot of airplay on KONO in San Antonio. And somewhere (maybe Doug or Jerry still have a copy) "The Ballad of Grover Sow" lives in infamy.

WHERE DO YOU READ JRRR? Tell us how far away from Houston, TX that you read JRRR. Send your full name, city, state and country of residence to rosekkkj@earthlink.net.

JERRY MILLER [Mueller] (Houston, TX) Heey Jim!...Jerry Mueller here...Back at KILT when Owen Weber, one of the first 'bean counters' at KILT, took over...there was a saying going 'round the Big 610 and FM 100..."Never trust a leader/man whose name begins with "ZERO". I guess that goes for the current Presidency too, right!

DAN MCCURDY (Sherman, TX) You remember the times, not so many years ago, when people said, "HAH! We'll have a black president when pigs fly." Well...100 days into Obama's term...Swine Flu...your pal, Dan McCurdy, Sherman, TX, Texas Radio Hall of Fame inductee 2004, KLIF, KBOX-Dallas, WMEX-Boston

JOAN PATE-DAY (Cedar Creek Lake, TX) Subject: when pigs fly. People used to say that a black man would be elected President of the United States when pigs fly. Well, sure enough. Within 100 days of Obama’s election, Swine Flu.

BOB CROWLEY (D/FW-Arlington, TX) Well, Jim, Hope you are well and avoiding Swine Flu. I hear it's so bad that Winnie the Pooh dropped Piglet from his Facebook Friends list. They said an African American would become president when pigs fly, and sure enough, 100 days later, SWINE FLU! The media are all swine flu all the time, and even Cinco De Mayo is cancelled, along with Fort Worth MayFest. I wish I was working, but to tell you the truth, I'm glad to be sitting out this TRAVESTY. Bob Crowley

BARRY KILGORE (Houston-Conroe, TX) Subject: Gene Thomas. Jim: Over the past couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of exchanging messages with one of the most wonderful singer/songwriters I have known. His song "Last Song" propelled me into falling madly in love with Suzie Redmond at Huntsville State Park when I was a 10th grader. A story about which I liked to tell as I would intro that song on my various radio programs across the state. Often playing the song would break format (which I was inclined to do frequently) resulting in reprimands and sometimes dismissal. I didn't care. I loved that song and told that story to intro it for 30 years. I was doing just that at KQUE FM, Houston in the "90s, about 30 years after the fact of that wonderful romance from 1964, when the request line rings and the voice on the other end says, "Barry, this is Suzie Redmond." After 30 years we were reunited in the control room at KQUE. When I related this story to Gene we began our conversations and he told me that even though his songs were extremely popular, especially in Texas, with one of them hitting #17 on the Billboard Charts, he never got recognition. I just wanted to give him the recognition he so richly deserves and thank you Gene for some fantastic memories. Thank you. Barry Kilgore, Family Law Radio barry@familylawradio.org (www.familylawradio.org) On Am 700 KSEV - The Voice of Texas, Sunday 1:00PM to 2:00PM CDT, streamed globally at www.ksevradio.com, listener lines 281-558-5738, #ksev free on Verizon PS Jim, Below is the you tube link to listen to Gene Thomas sing "Last Song" and other greats. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH6uqJJ-DzY&feature=related

TRIVIA ANSWER: Merle Haggard is an inmate present at Johnny Cash's 1958 San Quentin concert. He becomes one of Country music's biggest stars. Merle's (My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers crashes Billboard's Country chart at #10 in 1965. Merle Haggard has 38 songs that hit #1 on Billboard's Country chart.

JOHN HALE (Austin-Cedar Park, TX) Hi Jim, I salute you! You did a masterful job of editing my take on smooth jazz. Thanks for getting it in...I just felt someone ought to speak up for that genre. Yours Truly, John Hale, Mobile Magic Music, "We're at the best parties!"

GEORGE CARLIN (May 12, 1937-June 22, 2008) Regarding jam sessions: Jazz musicians are the only workers I can think of who are willing to put in a full shift for pay and then go somewhere else and continue to work for free.

Jim Rose and Tejas
Houston, Texas - En Dieu nous croyons

JRRR ISSUES #1-#40 of the original first website that begin on May 24, 2004 are at: http://web.archive.org/web/20050320103555/home.earthlink.net/~rosekkkj/jimroseremembers/id5.html For column links, look to the far left side bar.

JRRR ISSUES #41-#70 of the original first website are at: http://home.earthlink.net/~rosekkkj/ For column links, look to the far left side bar.

To UNSUBSCRIBE click rosekkkj@earthlink.net and enter the word UNSUBSCRIBE