Those White Boys That Drove Motor Scooters

I was in high school with a kid named David White. David died several years back. David was a bright kid. He was very calculating and seemed to always have a scheme going. One of the things he and his friend Cyril Bell had a one of a kind store. It was simple, you go to a clothing department store in downtown Marietta and try on a coat, jacket, pants, or whatever you wanted. Then, take it off and put it back on the rack. You make notes of whatever you tried on you would like to have… telling color, brand name, and any other particulars about it and in a day or so it would be yours for maybe 25% of the price tag. They were expert shoplifters or midnight wholesale businessmen – very few people knew the details. But, in a short time they were caught up. And as suddenly as they were in trouble they were out of trouble. They were smooth talkers too.

One time I was hitchhiking on Roswell Street and Cyril Bell drove by and stopped and picked me up. He was driving and his mother was in the car. I sat in the back seat. He and his mother told me he had a job for the summer at the Etowah Indians mounds in Cartersville. I wondered if in September we were going to see a big sale on Indian artifacts presented by the Midnight Supply Company. His mother told him to get closer behind the car in front of him. Cyril said it was against the law to get less than a car length behind the car in front of you. I chuckled to myself and thought, “Cyril is a very law abiding citizen isn’t he?” About 20 years ago I read that Cyril was running for public office in Decatur, Georgia. He didn’t get it. He died within the past ten years.

In 1965, in the Grants Park neighborhood of Atlanta, I walked into a convenience store and there was David White straightening out the merchandize on the counter. He told me he was assistant manager. That was the last time I saw him.

David White drove a Cushman Motor Scooter.

Eddie White also drove a motor scooter, which I think was a Cushman. David also had a different drummer he marched to. I remember Eddie got some fights as a teenager but finally joined the Army and left Marietta. After his Army tour and after his brief employment as a manager of a Holiday Inn in Nashville, Tennessee, he made a name for himself in the country music world.

Eddie White was a tall kid. I remember one time jumping up and ramming a handkerchief in his mouth as some kind of joke and he started chasing me and we both broke down laughing. I forgot the details

I knew Eddie White made it in the music world and even had a few hits. But I also heard he changed his name.
Thanks to Paul Roper, a researcher in his own right, found out more about Eddie.
Eddie literally made a name for himself. The name he made for himself is Johnny Darrell. I Googled Johnny Darrell and this what Wikapedia had to say:

Johnny Darrell (born July 23, 1940 - died October 7, 1997) was an American country music artist. Darrell was born in Hopewell, Alabama but grew up in Marietta, Georgia.[1] After a stint in the army, he moved to Nashville and began managing a Holiday Inn near Music Row when he was discovered by Kelso Herstin, a producer working for United Artists, on the recommendation of Bobby Bare. In his recording career, Darrell established a trend of introducing "lyrically adventurous" songs that would later become major hits for other artists.[2]
His first single, a version of Curly Putman's "Green Green Grass of Home" was issued in 1965, to be followed by "As Long as the Wind Blows" in 1966. He was the first to record the Mel Tillis song "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town", which became a top ten hit for him in 1967 and later a hit for Kenny Rogers.[1] This was followed by his performance of Dallas Frazier's "the Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp" in 1968, and the crossover hit "With Pen in Hand", which would later became a hit for Vikki Carr. In the 1970s, Darrell was associated with the Outlaw country movement. Darrell suffered from diabetes, a disease which would impair his health and ability to perform. Darrell died from the disease at age 57 in Kennesaw, Georgia, and was survived by his wife Jody.[2]
Kris Kristofferson in a public interview once stated: "If ever there's a movie to be made, it should be made about Johnny Darrell". Many of music's great artists revered and befriended Johnny. May his memory live on.

Have you ever noticed all the singers and writers that once called Marietta or Cobb County home? Don’t try to count them with your fingers and toes, you don’t have enough digits. Even Troy Donahue lived in Marietta once.