My heart is broken. Bootleg and I were good friends during our high school years. A dear friend, that would come and listen to his Bob Dylan albums on our stereo.  So very sad. Johnny and I will miss you until we meet again in heaven. 


Eulogy For James Patrick “Bootleg” Dolan Jr.
March 17, 2023. Nashville, Tennessee.

Over the past few days as we’ve remembered Dad together, everyone who knew him remarked on how much he loved music, and it’s true. Dad was especially fond of southern rock and the blues, but he had a wide-ranging, sophisticated ear and really loved all kinds of music. I couldn’t have been more than three or four years old when Dad got out the Lynyrd Skynyrd album, "Street Survivor", the one with the band in flames on the cover. He played the album while he told me about the plane crash they’d been in. While we listened, he pointed out each member on the cover and told me about them. A few years later, Mom and Dad bought me a small plastic record player with some little white speakers. Dad would often bring his albums in my room and play them for me. While we sat on the floor listening, he told me about the artists and guided me through the music. He introduced me not just to Luther Allison or Buddy Guy, but also to Beethoven and Stravinsky, to Miles Davis and John Coltrane, to Tom Waits and Willie Nelson, and on and on. He could even dig on the weird experimental music that I shared with him. I just learned recently that an old friend of mine, John, who also loves music, kept in touch with Dad all these years and they would share stories and music from time to time. Music brought my father immense joy, and he wanted to share that joy with everyone.

It makes sense that Dad’s favorite musician was Bob Dylan, the first songwriter to win the Nobel Prize in literature, because Dad also had a love for language. Bob took his moniker from the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Dad hipped me to this Dylan Thomas poem that some of you may have learned from Rodney Dangerfield:

Do not go gentle into that good night. Old age should burn and rave at close of day: Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words have forked no lightning, they 

This is a big loss. Bootleg was a good man and loved by many. He will be missed but his memory is a blessing. Deepest sympathies to Patrick and Chris. 

Prayers for family and friends! James was a wonderful man 

James was a dear, kind person. He loved to laugh and tell stories. He took such good care of Teresa over the years. He is loved and will be missed.
Wally and Denise Colon
March 16, 2023

Though we may not have be related, Bootleg was definitely like an uncle to my siblings and me growing up! He will forever be loved and missed! 

I’m saddened by the passing of Bootleg. 
To Patrick and Chris, I’m so sorry for your loss as your dad was such a special man. Rest easy, Boots!
 I love you forever

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James Patrick Dolan Jr.

May 28, 1948 – March 13, 2023

Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home

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