It's Thursday morning, and I'm going through my modest record collection. I want to put my hands on the albums I bought from Bubba Sullivan at his store, Bubba's Blues Corner, on Cherry Street in downtown Helena.
I want to hold them and look at their covers, to read the liner notes and remember the days when I bought them, those days when I ducked into Bubba's to pick up the latest issue of Rolling Stone and look through his selection.
I grew up in Helena, and in the late '80s and early '90s Bubba's was a haven for a burgeoning record nerd. It was the place to learn about where the music I loved -- from rock to country to soul -- came from. It was a place to also learn about where I came from.
You went left after entering This Little Pig Antiques, the store owned by Bubba's wife, Kathy, and there was Blues Corner.
Bubba, with his horseshoe mustache and twinkly eyes, would often be seated behind a table covered in paperwork and CDs. There were rows of records and CDs, and shelves of blues-related books. The walls were covered with King Biscuit Blues Festival posters, photos of musicians and art.
It was a gateway to something mysterious and profound, where I found these things made by giants -- Lightnin' Hopkins, Mississippi John Hurt, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Robert Johnson, Frank Frost, Johnny Cash, Sonny Boy Williamson.
Bubba was always friendly, making suggestions or telling a story as I flipped through the bins. Dude knew everybody.
Just after we married, my wife was working at the antique store when Robert Plant of the mighty Led Zeppelin stopped by to peruse the records at Bubba's. It's what he did whenever he was in this part of the world. He knew what was up.
Bubba was among those who kick-started the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena in 1986. He was a fixture onstage ever since, introducing acts and revving up the crowd.
I spoke with him on Aug. 8. He called to tell me about how much fun he'd had a few days earlier at his 81st birthday party, where his friend Bobby Rush performed. The man knew how to have fun. I should have been there.
A couple of hours ago my wife told me Bubba had died. We talked about him and Blues Corner and Robert Plant and the blues festival and our memories.
And then I started digging through my records.
email: sclancy@adgnewsroom.com