Man, I have a GREAT story from Tulsa. I was headed to Ft Sill and had a whole day left of travel time, so rather than drive that last few hours and get there a day early, I stopped in Tulsa. I got a room at the Holiday Inn and was looking at a paper while eating my dinner in the restaurant and I noticed Chicago was playing. I asked the waitress where that arena was, and it turned out to be right across the street. I went to a phone and called the venue to see if there were tickets available. They told me it was totally sold out. That was early 1973 and they were up to album 5 then, the one with the wood grain cover.

So I went back to my table, and in a few minutes, in walked the guys from Chicago. That was back in the earlier days, still with Terry Kath. I walked over and said something like "Hey I know you guys! I am a big fan." They all shook hands with me and we chatted some. Bobby Lamm asked if I was going to the show. I told them no, that I was from Cleveland and had just come into town and had no idea they were playing, that it was completely sold out, that I had just come back from Vietnam and was on my way to Ft Sill to finish out my time, and that I had about 9 months left to serve.... all the yada yada. Pete Cetera made a joke about the GI haircut... nice guys. So I said "Have a good show" and went back to my table. Lamm gestured to a guy at the next table and they talked a few minutes, and the guy came over to me and said "There may not be tickets left for sale, but you are coming to the show anyway." And he handed me an all area access pass and told me to be across the street at a certain door right at 7pm. Someone met me and let me in and showed me what hallways went where and then I kind of wandered around. That was SO COOL. I was side stage left for a while, went back behind the curtain through the walkway to the other side and hung out on that side for a while. Hung out in the dressing rooms some after the show, drank some beer with them, ate some of the food spread.... quite a night. All they didn't do was pick up my dinner check.... Wish it had been in a time of today technology with cell phone cameras. That will remain one of my highlights of my life.

And that's my only fond memory of Oklahoma. Later that year I married a WAC that I met at Ft Sill. And again I say, that concert is my only fond memory of Oklahoma.....