Daryl Watson was raised in Dublin, Texas, on what he calls “Texas’ elixir,” – the now defunct Dublin Dr Pepper.
“Dublin Dr Pepper was actually the original Dr Pepper. What happened to call it Dublin Dr Pepper -– what made it so special -– was the Imperial Pure Cane Sugar,” Watson says.
Growing up in Dublin, he got to see the way Dr Pepper was made first-hand.
“I was a dirty, barefoot child and running around. I had a brother older than me and a brother younger than me, and we were pressing our noses up in the window and watching Mr. Dr Pepper, Bill Kloster, and watching him work that machine all by himself,” Watson says of his childhood in Dublin.
But when Dr Pepper switched to production with high-fructose corn syrup, Dublin was left behind.
“[Bill Kloster] was met by the corporate Dr Pepper folks and they were turning to high-fructose corn syrup,” Watson says. “[He] put his foot down and he said ‘no,’ ended up being sued by Snapple, they went to court, thought they had a good chance… but all of a sudden, Dublin Dr Pepper was dead.”
Watson’s experience growing up in Dublin inspired him to write a song.
“I love to write songs. And the best way to write a song if you’re from Texas is to write about Texas,” he says. “I had written the song just as paying homage to Bill Kloster. That kindness… is hard to see sometimes. Everybody says ‘the world’s changing, you don’t see people like that anymore,’ well I say malarky.’”
To Daryl Watson, Dublin Dr Pepper’s legacy still lives in his song and in the hearts of folks in Dublin, Texas.
