Peace, Love, & Romance by Jennifer Theriot

The confidence to ask Al Freeman to sing backup for his mid-1960s Greenville-based band alongside The Upsetters, who later helped Bryson buy instruments and music equipment. He attributes three moves for helping him to get started: As an underclassman around the mid-1960s at the now defunct Washington High School on Betty Spencer Drive, that book helped a 14-year-old Bryson come to the realization that 'love's only desire is to fulfill itself.'Ĭombining his understanding of love, alongside his natural singing ability and an interest to pursue music professionally, led Bryson to pursue his dream. What to Eat: Downtown dining at Greenville restaurants: Newest, best entrées on the menu for spring How Greenville helped shape Peabo's passion to write, perform love songsīryson attributes 'The Prophet,' a 1923 poetry book by Khalil Gilbran, as the literature responsible for shaping both his infatuation and respect for love. In this file photo from 2018, Peabo Bryson performs in concert. And although the boarding house his parents owned within the city limits and his grandfather's farm in Mauldin no longer exists - Peapo is Greenville. The scars on his knees from playing football near Goodwin Street on Greenville's Northwest side as a child or being hit by a black 1957 Chevrolet which fractured several of his ribs in a Cash & Carry parking lot still remain. The adversities I faced (in Greenville) gave me a humbling, and I had the humility to embrace the rest of the world when I found myself.' 'Greenville prepared me for the world,' Bryson said.

Now, four years later and fully recovered, the Greenville native is back to entertain and give advice on love in the place that helped define his talents. But a month prior, he suffered a heart attack, halting his much-anticipated return home. Peapo, or 'Peabo' as most know him was scheduled to perform at the Peace Center back in May 2019. I've got real blood in the soil of Greenville.' 'I don't agree that you can never go home, it's just been a while for me.

'There are all kinds of theories about going home,' Bryson said.

Peace, Love, & Romance by Jennifer Theriot