The Billy Bob Chronicles -- Café Specific

Introduction to a continuing series about our “dear friend” Billy Bob -- a Gruver native who later becomes a stockbroker, Dallas fixture and man-about-town.

In the last Episode I posted a picture of Larry Mahan with my Grandfather and my Great Aunt Willie sitting on a sofa.

Well, Aunt Willie had a son, (bam-ba-lam), the darn thing gone wild (bam-ba-lam), etc., etc. Folks called him “The Mover From Gruver”, “Mr. Dallas”, or just Billy Bob Harris, his legal birth certificate name. I recall my first lobbying job for the then mayor Gruver, J.C. Harris, who was Billy Bob’s Dad. Billy Bob was an only child, though he was such a handful it must have felt like they had a dozen kids.

I am related to Billy Bob through my Grandfather’s mom -- just known as Gramma -- who was a Harris.

Bill Bob DeVoe

My early childhood was not always about being thrown out of cars, witnessing grown up girl fights, or being generally sabotaged. There were fun times.

Like the time my Aunt Ju Ju took me to the Michael Jackson concert in 1984. Billy Bob got us tickets. That was the same trip we got lost going to visit South Fork. I’ll tell you what, it’s a lot smaller than it looks on TV. That is a story for another day.

The coolest, funnest and most exciting stories from my early childhood usually revolved around my “dear friend” Billy Bob. That was his actual birth certificate name, i.e., not a William Robert but a Billy Bob.

Sometime in the 1990s, I started calling him Bill Bob DeVoe for fun.

Listen with Bell Biv Devoe Poison

Billy Bob died on March 9, 2025. This is my tribute to Billy Bob.

Café Specific

The summer before mommy threw me out of a moving car, landing me on my slender butt cheeks, I was in Dallas, in a richly wood paneled room, with black and white checked marble floors. There were a handful of various sized dining tables and chairs in the middle and booths along wood paneled walls. We were at a booth of course

I quickly noticed I was the only kid, which was fine. Somehow most of my best friends were adults.

Here I am with Billy Bob, his girlfriend Julie and the mystery man at Café Specific in Dallas’s Highland Park Village. Aren’t I adorable?

Image courtesy of author’s archive

I have no idea who the man with the signet ring is. Up until Billy Bob’s death, we spoke regularly. I asked him who this could be and his reply was Craig Morton’s friend. Craig had been quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, NY Giants and Denver Broncos. I think his last season was 1982, so one year after this photo. Anyway, Craig could not confirm who this Mystery Man was.

I enhanced the picture and color corrected it, though. I am 90% sure Mystery Man is wearing a Harvard ring.

Here is a close up.

Image courtesy of author’s archive

So, that’s a clue.

Craig Morton died May 9, 2026, just last month.

The Gruver Express

Billy Bob would fly me from Gruver to Dallas on a private plane, the kind with two pilots. The runway at the Gruver airport is almost 5000 ft of asphalt, long enough for a 727 to land and takeoff.

I was only 4 at the time, so I thought this was normal. From an early age I flew alone either private or on Southwest. I don’t know who was paying for it.

Back to Café Specific, I was told I could have as many Shirley Temples as I wanted. The adults ordered drinks that also had people’s names assigned to them, e.g., Jack Daniels, Thomas Collins, Jim Beam, Mr. Bean, etc. My entrée was shrimp cocktail and strawberries with cream and brown sugar.

People were constantly dropping by his pool. He seemed to know everybody. If they weren’t visiting with Billy Bob in person, they were talking to him on the phone.

Image courtesy of author’s archive

This summer was great. I spent most afternoons with Billy Bob at his pool. We even had matching swimsuits.

Here I am under the glass from his desk. Aren’t I adorable? The top photo is me with Billy Bob’s girlfriend at the time. I think her name was Julie. She was always nice to me.

Image courtesy of author’s archive via Billy Bob

The photo below me is of Mike and Debra Montgomery. Mike also played for the Cowboys, and Billy Bob set them up, or so he said. I think that meant he “set them up” like on a date, and not the other way.

Every time someone showed up, famous or not (not that I would know, I was just a kid), I was asked, i.e., told to do a back flip off the side of the pool. When Billy Bob started a new phone call, I would say hello to the person on the other end. Those calls were anyone from Kenny Rogers to Joe Namath. Billy Bob put the phone in my hand and would say “say hello Kenny, have a great day.” He treated everyone with the same enthusiasm.

Billy Bob had most walls in his house covered with framed photos. He would often say everything I need is right here on these walls. Sometimes I wonder if he meant something other than “hey, I had a great life”. You know, like was there stuff written on the back of the photos?

Mornings I could sleep in, swim all day and then Café Specific in the evenings. He would let me go through his closet. His clothes were glamorous and his hunting outfits were couture. It was different than being out in the fields for harvest back in Gruverly.

A few summers later he got me tickets to Michael Jackson’s Victory concert in Dallas. Eddie Van Halen made an appearance. I didn’t know who that was. The concert was one of the highest-grossing concerts in music history. Michael did not Moonwalk and I was a little annoyed. I asked Billy Bob if he could call Michael and have him moonwalk next time.

What’s Up Doc

Here is another photo. I don’t remember anything about this. There are large gaps in my memory from this time and this place -- Dallas.

I’m sitting on a table, next to a kid in what looks like a rabbit outfit. I don’t know what I am wearing. I think I am looking back at the person taking the picture -- probably Hannibal Anne but I don’t remember. I look tired and it looks like I am thinking why didn’t you help me.

Author’s archive

Suddenly Next Summer

Listen with The Motels Suddenly Last Summer

A few summers later -- 1985 -- I didn’t go down to Dallas to spend time with my “dear friend” Billy Bob. I recall asking Hannibal and Fredo where Billy Bob was and why I couldn’t call him.

Fredo replied “because he is in Club Fed.” I didn’t know where that was.

Rip It Good

Here is a photo with Billy Bob and Craig Morton with my Aunt Ju Ju and my Aunt Mrs. Gomer as teenagers. They are about 1.5 miles West of Gruver.
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