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2017 Wall of Fame Ceremony

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1952 Porterville High School Alumni Larry Bastian is honored with a place on the Wall of Fame at PHS. Reserved for those that have made a significant contribution to the school or as have reached the pinnacle of their profession. As a songwriter, Mr. Bastian has written countless hits for country artists for the last 40 years. April 27, 2017

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I want you to know you babe definition man of the hour since you want to come up to set up there to all the family weather is it playing on there's always a rich in the matter of those are not here I'm sure they will be but  we'll go ahead and introduce the man who runs the place something about this one of my favorite guys and all the retired after 35 years taught here for $35 and I was Prisoner here for 4 years I was here Jose Valdez Bank thank you all very much we can yeah that brings back memories as well correct the problem is just Saturday by the way okay  good afternoon again my name is Jose Valdez and I am the very very proud principal of portable High School and on behalf of the entire portable High School faculty I want to welcome all of you to Portable high school thank you all for being here today we are going to recognize and honor very very very starving person into our wall of fame High School Community very proud with all of his accomplishments and on a side note I told you this privately mr. vacuum and and I'm saying this is serious and and I can tell you that I heard this song probably in my lifetime I probably heard it over 300 times can and just this morning and this rose right there and her husband works on this campus as well we were actually singing it together by the way I'm a much better singer than our special projects director truly love to this day and and it still makes me emotional in a positive way is unanswered prayer so thank you very much for getting that song it's such a beautiful song and it plays with my heartstrings every time I listen to it so thank you it is my pleasure to introduce the great and very verbal and very vocal Mr Rodger who is the president of the fetus Alumni Association movie today's MC thank you again for being there today Vanessa heard from my students or something at this time our wonderful mad sing the national anthem for sale at this time I would ask because of where we are that everybody is able please stand and take your hat off and put your hand over your heart if you have recognizing a proper hamster call Jose who's this okay let me see this I don't know if I've ever been awesome so many times  and I told Larry when I talked to him on the phone I said I feel like a little kid chords out of my mouth you know there's like to my mom's you didn't you know a some of the most beautiful words seven most beautiful songs we're here today to recognize someone reach the Pinnacle of their career which is what are wallet payments about someone that graduated from Porterville High School to this little town in the foothills of the Central Valley and or has contributed so much to the school Cheddar's the highest honor  I can't remember the highest civilian honor that you can receive it as a United States citizen but this is like the new Congressional Medal of Honor as far as work in Spanish so I want to listen that we are honoring today though I have a little bit of immortality up there on the plaque in front of the administration building  is a songwriter prolific songwriter with the number one piston I put on the black I know I'm going to have to add a 1/2 a Sunday 32 million album imagine that music one of those things one that's dedicated to your girlfriend in the cafeteria in the morning or whatever it was uzak is powerful leaders of the world that you know have used music as part of their grab for power and propaganda but there's also those that right for love and entertainment enjoy mr. Larry Bastion does that one  and so at this time Jim do you have another selection or okay the band honor us with another select at this time I'd like to interview as we talked to Chris and see if is daddy said that he has his dad had a very good friend is by the name of this package you'd like to talk and I said Chris won't you come up here and give him moral support you know you can stand by sign your other brother I know if you want to come up here and say a few words I haven't really rehearsed anything I didn't think I was going to say anything this  no I thought he was going to do it  have my alarm clock when I was growing up with music I woke up to Dad in the kitchen playing and singing his guitar most the time he would Jimmy Rogers song Sometimes Merle Travis said that was the alarm clock and I knew the dad was in the kitchen making coffee and I could stagger in and get a cup is dad later on when he started writing music it was kind of an interesting process I would bet money that if you put dad in a room I told him you cannot come out until you ride the song I don't think you could do it  creep his mind it's free if he's out doing something he enjoys it just comes Master lights and so my favorite story about Dad riding a song happened up on a Mountainside on White River Country Ann Arbor deer hunting for walks along side of the hill and all of a sudden I hear I'm looking around where's the deer your dad said you have say anything to write with  well I was getting kind of disappointed for deer hunting we're not writing and I said I don't have anything so I saw him Pat in his pockets and all the sudden the lights clicked on not so help me he reaches into his cartridge he pulls out at cartridge and he pulls out his deer tag and use it the lip tip of that bullet and he sits there for me 10 minutes and right and he's okay I got it we can go now  and I'm pretty sure that was Saturday Night Special  which went on to be a number 9 hit with Conway Twitty it's at some point so I just learned to get out of the way if we were King honey or anything if the inspiration hit I was going to step aside and let the creativity flow because really that's the way it happened play kids I think an inspirational thing I don't even know if you're aware of it some of the time it just it just happens but we're very notice you got to penncrest high do I carry went from now on and some papers so it's at all turn it over to our good friend Vince passion so I wrote a whole bunch of stuff and then on the way over here I thought I don't need that I just talked to my heart me and you been together for some 70 years  that's a long time to put anyway  I was going to roll on about all kinds of what I remember about Larry embarrassing things that he done but I'm not going to do that Ashley here you know High School 1952 Larry wasn't at the graduation by the way he was in bed  taxi can get the car so I couldn't make it but so my stories I'm going to limited but I'm going to do is I'm going to talk to you about writing Larry we've done together written a 1952 we wrote our first by easy easy memories Gonzalez anyway good for me to get over four famous all over town and Magic nice right now corny little song Panda and the result of that song I got my first wife but been paying attention play before that  anyway we've written some stuff together and Larry of course has gone on to just marvelous one thing that really struck me is Larry's unwillingness to go anywhere by Porterville or Just Energy they have big Jim to come back to Nashville many many times offered him all kinds of things come back to Nashville you know you can read it right Nashville and Larry said no he can't write Nashville because then he would be writing like everybody else in Nashville and of course he writes about things that he loved and one of the things you how about yourself background is family back on from Oklahoma now my mother is also from Oklahoma as with Cadillac handle his mother and so we're constantly reminded especially when you come here before 5 have spring to Oklahoma Texas or later people came out here  who wrote a song called watching Oklahoma blow away and I want to read it to you you hear about the river cold and clear and Crystal making good the promise of harvest like no other that's pills Lost Valley  you're about the car and smoke rustaveli you greet the morning knowing they'll be work and they'll be paid if I look the California I won't see the Oklahoma get over it  crawler Cry To Heaven begging for his Mercy feature what's the 10 more pain and more wind down from Alberta as I look around here this damn unchanging season has stolen every reason I ever had to stay but if I look to California I won't see Oklahoma Blow Away Family watching Family packing what the thing their goodbyes while those hell bent on staying wipes your tears and dust out of their eyes because almost hear them saying more than friends and family reasons we're watching Oklahoma go away that's where most of our citizens airport hotel anyway  hi but also pick out another song that I wanted to every site for you but it's going to be played to music there before long so I'll skip that set them by saying this  Larry and I have had a lot of fun together we've had some trials and tribulations we've had some greens with family we've had laughter didn't octopus on the floor that sometimes right in the middle of writing a song will get started laughing and then we can unfortunately when I laugh I hyperventilate so I pass out but anyway and all that I'm happy to say that in all that time Larry and I have never we never had a cross word between us and God knows he deserves it  Crispin Marvel's relationship and one that I will always always patient and I'm so glad to hear that you were honoring invented that's so surprised to hear that he was going to pull up  because he's been  what hoarded gold pants and platinum records that all kinds of awards back in Nashville that he knew are human Arias I hope you guys don't appreciate this I'm ugly set these showed up at Court Family Care Anza Boulevard Jerry Hall Peoria Porterville boy you might know him he's got a couple of songs that touched him and he wants to touch you right now before I start I just got the same with the Porterville High School madrigals but first time in 54 years what an honor thank you ladies again you guys are tremendous appreciate it I've been doing this a long time and I never get nervous I feel like I've got the shakes right now they don't want to screw it up so I'm at talk just for a little bit not long play a ticket much of your time with Larry Bastian has one of the best memories of anyone I know except for what was just talk about cuz he had to have the bullet in his pocket is my understanding the most of the songs he has written him other than his head he comes up with he thinks it he arranges it he worked it all out and it's in his head and then he'll have somebody else write them down for him  like I said Larry and has one of the best memories of anyone I've ever known we had a meeting one day at Starbucks that's not exactly a place where you expect to see a couple of cowboys show up though we are having a concert meeting with some non-believers so we had to go to Starbucks tried their coffee and that didn't work either but Larry got there before I where did I pulled into my truck and Larry sitting in his truck and he's on the phone  yeah okay okay yeah one more time yeah yeah  okay I got it  my understanding somebody was reading the lyrics to a song to Larry OG memorized  Larry Bosch and has one of the best memories of anyone I know  weave play each other for what 20 30 40 years it's been a while I'm 72 years old Larry Bastian calls me kid cuz he can't remember my name there was a rumor that Garth was going to be here today which that rumor Paul was Larry every place he goes but I'm not Garth and I don't pretend to be and I just pray that I don't screw this up but this is the one that they wanted to hear cold and Restless and she knows he's going to go play no woman play turnbuckle he'll win the next go-round Willis boots and cowboy hats call the thing Rodeo does Abyss to hold him, but his need for controls him better backs against the wall and it's time for him to go what a woman wants her cowboy and I give you on the road  dust in the mud the Roar of a Sunday crowd my name is Snuggles the gold in a buckle he'll win the next go-round hats arranging to join a painting a car thing Rodeo drive to gamble decrease driving me insane Salem Fair Daniel's just to pay to play their game at home and Broken Bones Show proud of you that he's been chasing this dream they call Rodeo what's the dust in the mud Roar of the Sunday crowd to widen the Snuggles the gold in the book of healing win the next go-around it's cast what's an arrangement John  tear somebody call the thing Rodeo set here what is that Larry Bastian has what are the best memories  most anyone I know I don't that's why I brought cheat sheets I know these songs and I just didn't want to take a chance on smell Larry obviously is a heck of the songwriter there's not a big difference between a songwriter and a poet other than a songwriter can usually carry a tune in a poet can most songs could be good poems but not many poems can be a good song pleasure probably most of you haven't heard of him but he wrote a poem that became one of the best-known songs and cowboy music strawberry roan and it worked out really good that he has been honored for Nashville he has a flag hanging on his wallet home and the poem just struck me  right right in the middle of my heart he writes about where he came from and that's where we are right here in the San Joaquin Valley he's a son of the San Joaquin Valley  I've had the pleasure of doing this  Kim Bum name of some of our people friends with past two years ago in Albuquerque New Mexico with the western music association at our annual Festival I had to bleach with Larry's permission to do this poem in front of a packed audience at the Hyatt Hotel and it was greeted with a standing ovation and it's not because of the way I recited the poem it's because of the way the poem was written and the words that were in it  today I made a canyon sing about Saddles creaking about Spurgeon about Shawn Hook making slate Rock rain today I made a canyon the same today I made a Bluegrass fly from the spruce tree down a Mountainside might have on my bay horse shied today I made a bluegrass today I'll wear what I've never been with a mountain stops in the sky begins with the trees are bent by the snow in the wind today I went where I never tonight I made a seed brush fire I put coffee on it punching power you know the man who says it's gone to liar mad at me to Sagebrush buyer will I'm a cowboy and dammit Allstate of course and as long as I can sit a horse I'll make a saddle Creek I make a spur Mojang and I'll find a canyon and I'll make it safe call  one more song and I'm out of here we've been doing this song for a few years now it's the song obviously Larry Road and because of Larry's origin and his background much to his Chagrin I change the first line you don't like it but that's the way I'm going to do it  San Juan talking Valley was a kid hair salon sunrise and sunset dust devil no bribe just race kiss send soldier ride over with my dust pretty good Cowboys and I know how it feels in my hands bro grab my paper at times are the one you can find little boys Minds just race counselors are gathering sod call me someday trust Bible tells me I'll turn in all right up to heaven it does doodles grateful and proud Golden Corral in Modesto me and my sister I love you more. congratulations my friend picture over here but he told her you had a mentor I hear mr. Foley that if that's your dream you want to do music or less doing you have to watch I'm lucky that I had a job like that too well that about me today is about Larry  hi I can stand here in and redo I got on reading about it I stopped at the 50th page on the internet it has probably hundred more to go I am in all of his accomplishments I'm in awe of this beautiful beautiful words and wonderful music our newest inductee to the Porterville High School wall of fame history about you plow that's pretty cool I'm kind of a bucket head people like and what I'm doing.  I'll try to make this short not too sweet I'd like to introduce the decided one my wife stand up Larry Gatlin want you told me to you ever married  and he was right I did I've had the honor to be in a lot of places and receive a lot of attention and accolades this tops or Mall sorry  fin honored by your high school man that's about as good as it gets so I just want to say thanks to everybody cancer man falling thank you brother. call Mama. Which is a facsimile of the bronze plaque up on the wall of fame and it read Porterville High School Wall of Fame 2017 Larry Dodson class of 1952 and capital song writer member of the international songwriters Hall of Fame 2003 multiple gold and platinum albums and of course this one looks down the list of all time I couldn't imagine my name is Larry. This is by Garth Brooks in 1995 we're honored for the Porterville High School for you guys because I know that those is a partnership thank you so much okay Madrigal here's another thing metal make them to Sebastian cry play Royals okay are you stupid go get a bite to eat James what is the better you will lose the world and everybody else will meet at the wall of fame for the presentation or the Hyundai turn off 10 afterwards in the patio here or snacks or Refreshments whatever you want

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2017 Wall of Fame Ceremony

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