"For some people, they were just ... always there.
And that was Rory."
Aurora "Rory" Marquez was a teenager with stars in her eyes and a book full of songs in her pocket when Graham Dunne approached her in 1968. He wanted to start a rock band and n...
┏━━━━ •❃°•°❀°•°❃• ━━━━┓ chapter thirteen " Lean on me when you're not strong And I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on For it won't be long 'Til I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on. " ┗━━━━ •❃°•°❀°•°❃• ━━━━┛
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
NOW PLAYING: "LEAN ON ME" by BILL WITHERS (1972)
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
_________
THE AUDITIONS FOR Billy's replacement do not go well. It seems that, while California is full of dreamers who have their eyes on the prize, yearning to see their name in lights, it doesn't mean they actually come with any talent.
The prospective lead singers range from young guys with questionable fashion choices to old men who never quite broke into the limelight during their prime. Some of them sing "Look Me In the Eye" exactly how it was intended to be sung, but some put their own spin on the tune. Some look too polished to be in a rock 'n' roll band. Some look like they haven't brushed their hair or teeth since the fifties.
Rory tries to be nice when she watches the auditions— she truly does. She welcomes each person into the garage and jots names onto a clipboard along with notes. Things like: "John Frederickson: Pitchy, seems to think this is musical theater and not a rock song, tries to dance despite not being able to" fill up the papers, and soon, they have pages of notes with occasional additions from the other band members. Eddie adds to one man's section, "Smells like cheese. Not good look for rock band."
Eventually, all of the names are crossed out and they don't have any more auditions lined up. Graham pats the last man on the shoulder and thanks him for his time. After the guy heads out of the garage and down the driveway, Graham turns to face the others and pulls a face. Apparently, something about "Look Me In the Eye" had struck a chord within that guy, because he had been stifling sobs the entire time he sang.
"I feel like we've seen every bloody frontman in the whole of California," Karen sighs.
Eddie turns around with raised eyebrows. "Not everyone."
