Loved Mel----I'll miss him. We saw Mel & the Statesiders in 1981 in Marysville WA at the Strawberry Festival, just down the street from where Joe lives. I think it was at a high school.
He was on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson quite a bit. I know it was part of the routine, but got a kick out of the way Mel would tell a joke. He could tell the joke, but when it came to the punch line, Mel had trouble getting it out. I think he was in a movie with Tim Conway. I can picture him riding a stage coach with him. It could have been Don Knots with Tim.
RIP Mel!
Tom