My Name Is: Be Be

Local songwriter, author, philosopher shares wisdom, life lessons

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Be Be is a local songwriter who was a longtime member of Moses Walker’s bands. After his passing, she is lling in for Walker at La Dolce Vita Co ee Shop on the fourth Sunday of every month.

I’m the second oldest of 10 children. I was always solution-oriented; I created a calendar for all the di erent activities that needed to occur in the upkeep of the family, such as vacuum, clean laundry, trash and all that.

I was born in Maryland, then went to Fort Collins, then up to Wyoming, and then when my dad joined the U.S. Forest Service, we got put in Fort Dodge. We stayed there a while and then we went to Santa Fe, then after Santa Fe, we went to Farmington and after Farmington, we went to Las Cruces. And then nally, in 1967, we came to Denver.

We lived in Park Hill at the time, and I needed some money, so I decided to throw papers. ere was a guy who was throwing papers next to me, whose name was Kelly Henry, and he told me about his band. I went over to his house and listened.

I was amazed there were three of them; one played drums, one played bass, one played guitar — I just thought it was the coolest thing. I said, ‘Would you teach me how to play?’ And he said sure, and he had a guitar that he was able to sell me for $25. So, I picked it up, and I took it home.

I started writing music and I was like 13, 14 years old at the time. I didn’t really wake up musically until 1969. at’s when the Moody Blues were out, Led Zeppelin, Credence Clearwater Revival, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell — all these great songwriters.

After high school, I went into the military. I said, ‘Well, I won’t join unless I get to bring my guitar.’ And they said, ‘Oh sure, bring a guitar.’ e rst concert I did at the Denver Folklore Center was in 1986; we had a New Age awareness concert.

I was in the Paci c eatre, and on the ship I met this one guy, and we wrote a song called “How Far Have You Gone,” and we were chosen out of the crew of 5,000 to play on stage for the Americans in Singapore for the Bicentennial Fourth of July.

When I came back, I just continued self-teaching myself. I started writing this musical and some of it is still with me today. I was in a creative mode, I was in an exploratory mode; I was learning stu .

I had a vision (around 1985) and made this poster called “ e Be Attitudes” because it gives people some positivity to concentrate on for a while. I had to come up with the words, then I took them to a typesetter and then I had to nd a background I liked. I ordered about 5,000 of these for 50 cents each, and I have probably less than 300 in existence. ey mostly sold at Tattered Cover, especially at the downtown store.

In the 2000s, Moses’s band the Clam Daddies had a Wednesday night jam that they hosted. And I had started playing the banjo, and I told him that, so he told me to bring my banjo. So, I did, and I just started learning their music.

My life is like a meal, and I’m preparing for the main course, and then side dishes and all this other stu at the same time. Music is one avenue of my world. en I have the books. en I have something else I invented; it’s called a Suspendulum, it’s a portable dance rig for aerial dancers. I’ve got a patent on it now.

Life can be so scary, you know, but for some reason, I get to stay on the planet. ere’s an in nite past, and there’s an in nite future, but there’s also an in nite present where your presence of mind is helpful. You’re under your sovereign control, you don’t have anyone micromanaging for you; you can make it beautiful.

My world right now is so beautiful. Whatever you concentrate on is what you’re going to attract. So, your mind is more important than you can imagine.

A couple of years ago, I was blessed by having taken Moses into the studio and recording 20 of the great songs that he does. I’m going to go back and do some banjo on top of them and then I’m going to release it to people. It sounds like he’s in the room with you. at’s how well it’s done.

In addition to her music, Be Be is also the author of a number of titles including “ e Great Urantia Agreement,” “ e Prophetess: A Woman’s View of e Prophet,” and “ e Be Attitudes.” Her work can be found at www.bebe.bz and she invites anyone interested to contact her via email to hear her recordings with Moses Walker at Be@BeBe.bz.

If you know someone we should cover in My Name Is …, or if you would like to be featured in the segment, contact Rylee Dunn at rdunn@ coloradocommunitymedia.com.

T is will not be easy. First you have to know which districts you pay taxes in. en you have to learn which of them is holding elections, who is running for board positions, where to go to vote, or how to request an absentee ballot. e elections are run by each district, not by Je erson County, and you might have to go to more than one location in order to cast your ballots. Learn-

If we care so much about taxes, why do so few of us pay attention to our property taxes? Possibly because we are often not aware of what they are. For renters and for people with a mortgage, the sum of those taxes is rolled into their monthly payment. ey seldom, if ever, see the list of all the entities their tax dollars support.

Many of our property taxes are levied by special districts, which are formed by law to provide speci c services like water and sewer, re protection or recreation. Elections for Directors of these districts will be held May 2. I urge you to get informed and to vote.

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