John Bartee - Music Notebook Found

A couple recently contacted me through this website after moving and finding a music notebook they were given on November 26th, 1983, for their kindness to John.  The story is that Janis crossed John's path while he hitchhiked on a Tennessee highway; something in her heart made her stop to help this long-bearded, disheveled man.  She took him home, where she and her husband, Rob, gave him food and shelter for the night. The next day, when they dropped John off further down the road, John handed them the notebook, saying one day it might be worth something.

I do find it a miracle that Rob came across a notebook he and his wife have held on to for 27 years and happened to do a Google search on John Lewis Bartee within a couple of weeks of this site coming online.

I recently spoke with Rob by phone, and they seem to be a couple with a nature of extending a hand to a fellow human in need.  Yes, it is nice to know that quality still exists in our world.  Rob will arrange to get me scanned images of the notebook's pages so I can see what they might hold.  I  will make them available to Kevin Pawlak at the University of Arizona School of Music so that they can compare them with  John's work in the Shaw Archive.  Hopefully, the actual notebook can be made available in the future as a remembrance of John in the proper setting; the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon, Ga, comes to mind.

The titles:        NB California   -         I am going to guess NB stands for Newport Beach.
                      

                       Brighter than Brite


                       Tic Tac Toe



It's too early to know whether there is anything new in the three compositions included in the notebook, but it would be great if John could share some Music with us from beyond.  If anything, the notebook may help identify previously uncredited works.

I do want to note the title of the blog, Serenading the Demons... because even my own Mother seems to have this look of terror on her face when she asks why I named it that.  I didn't name it;  John did... well, at least what I have come to understand about him influenced me. It is in no way based on anything evil.  It is more about how music can calm the most savage beast... If John did have any demons within his life, any hardships, sadness...   I feel he found solitude and love in the Music.  It was the one constant in his life; even when he was walking down a deserted highway with not a nickel to his name, his music was there for him, always a faithful friend.