Rex "Wrecks" Bell Is Just Playing

"You know, I got drunk, I did some drugs and I didn't know she was a year underage, but that was when I was 21 myself," he said, referring to his current girlfriend, with whom he had long ago had an illegal relationship. "Now she tells me she was only 15. I coulda gone to jail for that, and if God's gonna punish me for that, I guess I'm in trouble."

"We're not gonna make it through this life, we know that," Bell continued, and thought for a second. He smiled as the words came to him.

Daniel Kramer

Pre-Ike, Rex "Wrecks" Bell sits onstage at Galveston's Old Quarter nightclub. Wrecks and the flags survived the hurricane.

Courtesy Rex Bell

Wrecks, far right, is the sole survivor of this crew of legendary troubadours.

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More About

• Townes Van Zandt
• J.T. Van Zandt
• Houston (Texas)
• Rex Bell
• Folk Music

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"So I just tell people that life is a nagging health problem that eventually cures itself."

Afterword: Bell, his brother and sister-in-law, and his two dogs evacuated Galveston Island before the storm struck and rode it out in a Motel 6 on Highway 290.

Reached at the end of one of many long days after the storm, Bell said that his house appears to be okay. "It's pretty far out west and right in the middle of the island," he says. "It's neither bay side nor beach side. Plus, I am insured to the hilt."

The Old Quarter, on the other hand, might be a total loss. "I wasn't insured at all," he says. "Unless I can get some help, we won't be reopening."

But there is that word: "unless." Bell's friends are already rallying. J.T. Van Zandt led a game if futile drive to move the September 16 Ramblin' Jack Elliott show to a Houston venue with power. J.T., Hayes Carll and Jesse Dayton are already planning Old Quarter benefits.

Once again, Bell's friends and fans will try to help him ride out even this bluest of winds and on past the misery.

john.lomax@houstonpress.com