Doc doesn't disclose very much about his past. He opens up to me more than he does to most people, and what I know is pretty sketchy. I know he's played music since he was 11 or 12, and played and traveled around the country a lot when he was a late teenager and through his early thirties and then some things happened and he quit - a whole lot of things. His friends talk about how he went through a rough time and wasn't very friendly.
He moved around the country frequently, and spent time trying to find himself. When he came to Maryland, he was back to his old self, and a bit more grounded and was taking the responsibility to raise his niece, Marilyn.
I've tried to talk with him about some of the events in his life, and the following conversation is VERY typical of how these attempts to get inside his head go.
Tondeleo: Doc, I've known you off and on for a few years now. You've come a long way. Your friends have told me stories about when you wore your hair kind of long and had a goatee for a while. You were also playing and performing under another name for a while...
Doc: So what? Ain't nothin' wrong with none of that. I needed a change and done it.
Tondeleo: The last few years, you are clean shaven and keep your hair short. I would barely recognize you - mostly your voice when we met again. What's up with that?
Doc: Yeah, I had my hair long for a while. Had a beard an mustache for a while. When I first met you, I had made a fair bit of money playin' music but not cause I was so good. They was some good people round me an' some not so good. I lost touch with myself an' all that. I lived over in Wyoming for a spell out in the middle of nowhere and got my life back.
At one point I had some money. Not for long. I did give away some money to people with sad stories an' problems an' used some of it to pay bills an' a lawyer. I ain't never been about the money , an' found it's easier to tell who people are if all you got is you an' you ain't got no money they know about.
For a while, I just din't have no money for a haircut an' didn't have a razor blade, only scissors for a while there. So I made a choice. Food or haircut. Food won.
That's when I was in Memphis workin' my way back to the east coast where I feel more at home. I went through some deep waters and didn't care 'bout myself or what happened to me. That was before my brother died an' afore I started takin' care of Marilyn. I cleaned myself up for that to set a example to her an' to not be attractin' the wrong kind of people around her. So now I look like a eagle scout boy scout.
Well, Tondy, we're bout done talkin' 'bout this here, anyway. Yeh, I had long hair but I ain't never had no ponytail. Never no ponytail, nope, no ponytail.
Tondeleo: And why is that, Doc? I know you're setting me up.
Doc: I ain't never wore no ponytail because you know what a pony's tail is attached to? Well, I ain't one of those. I'm outta here. Bye.
