"In Search of the Beat: Part 1" - A Jughead Tale

I want to apologize for not having a blog for yesterday.  My work schedule was crazy yesterday and I ended up taking a really long nap. 

That lasted thirteen hours!

Man, now I know how Jughead feels, right?  I guess it's a good thing that today's story features him, isn't it?  Truth be told, it's one of my favourite Jughead tales ever, and it is so good that I can't fit it into one blog entry.  I'm actually going to make this a two-parter.

This story originally appeared in "Jughead #2", and this was the second reboot of the Jughead title.  The original title debuted in 1949 and ended with issue #352 in mid-1987.  I don't know why they decided to reboot the title with a new #1 issue, but it was around that time that "Betty and Veronica" and "Laugh" received new #1 issues as well.  The only explanation I can think of was that they wanted to take the titles to a new lower number since they wanted to have just the "Archie" flagship title up in the 300s.  But, I'm really not sure.

The one thing that I liked about the new Jughead reboot was that the stories featuring Jughead had more depth to them.  I mean, yes, Jughead still ate burgers and slept a lot, but he also had more personality added to him, and he even experimented with dating girls like his childhood friend Joani, and new classmate Debbie.  Today's tale doesn't feature Joani or Debbie, but it does feature Jughead talking about one of his idols.

This is "In Search of the Beat: Part 1".

The story begins with Archie and Betty trying to get Jughead's attention, but Jughead has his earphones on and his music turned up to full blast.  It takes Archie screaming at the top of his lungs to get Jughead's attention.  Whatever he must be listening to has to be great.  And according to Jughead, it's the greatest thing he's ever heard.

The beauty of this story is that with vinyl records making a huge comeback in the last half of this decade, this story can be reprinted and not changed at all!  You see, Jughead's been doing some shopping at garage sales lately, and he purchased an album from the 1950s or 1960s that featured a drummer by the name of "Crazy Willie Jim".

Kind of looks like Smokey Robinson, don't you think?

Anyway, once Jughead heard the album, he was blown away by the talent of Crazy Willie Jim.  As a drummer for "The Archies", Jughead knows great drumming when he hears it.  To Jughead, Crazy Willie Jim is the Prince of Percussion Instruments, and he is determined to replicate his signature beat.  Even though it has been years since he has likely performed, Jughead finds his music enchanting, and wants to collect his entire discography.  Archie and Betty suggest that Jughead head downtown with them.  They can take a walk through the streets and stop in some record stores along the way so that Jughead can add to his Crazy Willie Jim collection.  Jughead agrees and joins both of them in their quest downtown.

Sadly, a lot of urban areas have to deal with poverty and homelessness, and Riverdale is no exception.  As Archie, Betty, and Jughead head towards the first store, they pass one of the seedier parts of town, and Betty comments on how many people are hard on their luck.  Jughead wonders why they can't get jobs (I know, the laziest man on the planet asking why people can't work).  But as Betty explains, it's not that simple.  Truth be told, with the economy being the way it is in 2019 and threats of recessions looming, all it takes is a couple of missed pay periods to cripple a person financially - as the poor federal workers in the United States know all too well.

They pause for a moment before entering the record store where Jughead has hit pay dirt.  There's a Crazy Willie Jim record for sale, and he wastes no time in buying it.  And we're treated to a panel montage of Jughead growing increasingly excited at each subsequent record store buying more and more Crazy Willie Jim albums - and Archie and Betty growing more and more bored as Jughead shops.

Eventually Archie and Betty are ready to call it a day, and Jughead says that he'll catch up with them later.  He just wants to check out a couple of other record stores before going home.  So Betty and Archie go one direction and Jughead goes another - where he passes a street band featuring a bassist, a trumpet player, and a drummer.  Clearly the band resides in the seedy part of town that Jughead was just in, and it appears as though they are playing for spare change.  I suppose a lot of buskers do that sort of thing in subway tunnels and bus stops, so it's not unheard of.

But as Jughead passes the drummer, he recognizes a familiar beat.  It sounds as though the beat he is playing matches the same beat as the songs heard on his beloved Crazy Willie Jim album.  And since he happens to have some albums on his person, he holds up the album cover to compare the two people.

Okay, so he's obviously a lot greyer and his smile's not quite so pearly white.  But it appears that the disheveled man on the drums is Crazy Willie Jim.  And it looks like since he was famous, his star has gotten tarnished and he has fallen on hard times.  Considering that this story was first published in 1987 - a year in which drum machines began to be used in almost every Top 40 hit that year, it isn't hard to see why Crazy Willie Jim might be struggling now.  But one thing you can't deny is that he still has that legendary talent of perfecting the perfect drum beat. 

Jughead tries to go over and introduce himself, and asks the man if he is Crazy Willie Jim.  The man pauses, coughs, and says that he's wrong and that he needs to be left alone.  He starts to leave the scene.  Jughead attempts to follow him, but his bandmates hold Jughead back long enough for the man to make his escape. 

Now we have a bit of a mystery on our hands.  Is this drummer really Crazy Willie Jim?  And if he is, why would he lie to Jughead about who he is, and why is he seemingly ashamed of his past?

Stay tuned for Part 2!