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Next Sunday is Valentine’s Day. While not paying much attention to that Hallmark holiday I have pondered about couples’ relationships in movies.  Everyone has their favorites; ranging from Bogart and Bacall in “Key Largo” to Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in “Sleepless in Seattle” to Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in “Brokeback Mountain” or any other loved up pairs.  

Some of my favorite onscreen romances are a little offbeat, some may be right in your wheelhouse.  No matter, here’s Round One of my picks.

BILL MURRAY & OLIVIA WILLIAMS IN “RUSHMORE.”  Murray plays a soon to be divorced restless millionaire who isn’t the most surefooted Romeo.  Olivia Williams plays a widowed prep school teacher who’s also a little slow on the love uptake.  It’s a shy and awkward pairing as seen in this clip.

KEVIN COSTNER & SUSAN SARANDON IN “BULL DURHAM.”  Well traveled minor league ballplayer goes to bat with baseball fanatic/groupie.  The classic scene is when Costner’s ‘Crash Davis’ states his beliefs to Sarandon’s Annie Wilkes, including appreciation for “Long slow, deep, soft wet kisses that last 3 days.” However, I prefer the cat and mouse play these two characters have a couple of days after that scene.

JON FAVREAU & HEATHER GRAHAM IN “SWINGERS.”  Another awkward relationship picks up a bit after Mike, an aspiring comedian, swing dances in a club with Lorraine then makes a play with self-deprecating style. 

DEMETRI MARTIN & GILLIAN JACOBS IN “DEAN.” Dean is a cartoonist on a trip to L.A.  He’s coping with the passing of his mother, a broken engagement and a strained relationship with his father and Nicky is cute enough to peak Dean’s interest.  The only clip I could land was the movie’s trailer.  Nicky is the blonde who calls Dean out on his awkward fall at a party.  There’s also a slow growing love thing happening between Dean’s widower father played by Kevin Kline and his realtor. (Mary Steenburgen) 

If you haven’t seen this low-key film, check it out on demand, it’s worth your 4 dollars.

SALLY FIELD & JAMES GARNER IN “MURPHY’S ROMANCE.”  James Garner earned an Oscar nomination as the quietly wise widower Murphy who guides Field’s ‘Emma’ through the changes she’s made in her life but doesn’t press harder than he needs to.  Here’s the trailer to the 80’s romantic comedy.

NEXT BLOG– One more round of on screen romances.

It’s all subjective to personal tastes and interpretations but here are some more fine versions of songs first done by other artists.

MARY CHAPIIN CARPENTER- “The Bug”- In 1991 Dire Straits’ leader Mark Knopfler wrote and recorded this song for the band’s last studio effort “On Every Street.”  A year later, Mary Chapin Carpenter covered the track for her fine “Come On, Come On” album as she even scored a top 20 hit on the country charts with it.  Knopfler and his band creep and hop through this one just fine but forgive my sexism here, I think this song sounds better when a woman is telling us “Sometimes you’re the Louisville Slugger sometimes you’re the ball.”  

BRUCE HORNSBY- “Jack Straw”- Grateful Dead members Bob Weir & Robert Hunter put this one to vinyl in 1972, and semi-based it on John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.”  Bruce Hornsby and his band The Range recorded the adventures of Mr. Straw for a Grateful Dead tribute album titled “Deadicated.  The Dead’s track is so sparse and bleak and that’s why I prefer Hornsby’s rendition which I first heard him play live in the summer of 1991. It takes a minute to chug out of the rail yard and then you’re locked into the story.  Funny enough, for years Bruce was a guest keyboard player at numerous Grateful Dead concerts.  

MARIAH CAREY- “I’ll be There.”   The Jackson Five’s original 1970 recording of this classic is high in tone and sweet in spirit.  Mariah Carey equals Michael Jackson on the lead by adding soul to this love song and Trey Lorenz takes over brother Jermaine’s part in it.  This was from a 1992 MTV Unplugged special.  Just the “woo woos” in Carey’s playing of this gives me chills.

TRAVIS TRITT- “Sometimes She Forgets.”  Originally written and recorded by the great Steve Earle, Travis Tritt does this heart tugging cut supreme justice. Tritt said he put this song to a rhythm similar to the Eagles “Tequila Sunrise.”

I’ve seen him cover this tune and Earle’s “Copperhead Road” in concert.  Back in my country radio days I hung with the Georgia born Tritt a couple of times and got to tell him he’s the only person outside of Steve Earle who should be allowed to sing Steve Earle songs.  Travis laughed and liked that. 

NEXT BLOG- Favorite on screen romances, Part 1.

I’ve always enjoyed listening to singers’ and band recordings of songs that were established hits for other artists.  Known as ‘Cover Songs,’ sometimes they’re awful, sometimes they’re pretty good and every once in awhile a they can be better than the original.  This is all subjective and I know some people feel the ‘original’ is always the best and no other version of a song should be given any credence.  I think that’s closed mind thinking but then again what do I know?

Anyway, here’s a first sampling of cover songs that I appreciate at least as much as the original and maybe even more.  Again, everyone hears things differently but here’s my take.

ROLLING STONES- “Just My Imagination.”  Covering a classic Temptations hit takes some real ‘stones’ and while this may sound blasphemous, I actually like the Stones’ version better.  The Temptations’ recording of it was sad and self-pitying. But Mick Jagger and company sped this one up a bit and put more soul into the song about longing for that special girl. 

MILEY CYRUS- “Jolene.”  So many singers have covered this Dolly Parton written standard both in concert and in recording studios.  Dolly’s version still ranks as the best one but Miley, who is Dolly’s real-life goddaughter, does a damn good stab at this one.  When you take away her goofy ways with the body filled with tattoos, the bawdy talk about sex and drugs and her tongue always hanging out of her mouth like a dog waiting for its supper, Miley Cyrus is a really good singer.  While she may fight it, I think Miley’s true forte is in singing country classics like “Jolene.”

THE SEARCHERS- “Switchboard Susan.”  Pub rocker Mickey Jupp wrote and recorded this as a gritty country roadhouse hop.  It’s not what you’d call a “hit” but the track earned more attention when Nick Lowe recorded a punkier styled take for his “Labor of Lust” album. Yet my favorite version of “Switchboard Susan” was done by The Searchers. They recorded it as a harmonized and folksy unplugged rendition.  I’ve often said some younger artist should take a stab at recording this 70’s tune but in our modern times I’m betting many listeners would ask “What the hell is a switchboard operator?”

TOM PETTY- “Feel a Whole Lot Better”-   Tom Petty grew up idolizing the recordings of The Byrds.  Years later he even went on to produce solo work for Byrd man Roger McGuinn.  However, when Petty released his own solo effort, “Full Moon Fever” he tossed in a great cover of this Byrds song.  Side by side, Tom’s version has a brighter and much fuller sound to it.   And yes, I dare say it’s better than the original record.

NEXT BLOG– Appreciation for an under-appreciated singer.

It’s good to be back from my blogging break.

January 18^th, 2021.  That date marks the fifth anniversary since Eagles founder Glenn Frey died at the way too young age of 67. He passed after being hospitalized for months with a myriad of health issues.  As Frey’s longtime friend and fellow Detroit native Bob Seger said, the doctors “fought like hell” to save him.  Eagles manager Irving Azoff had eight of the best physicians in their fields of expertise working to help Glenn but he couldn’t survive the triple threat of rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.

I learned of Frey’s passing as a late breaking item on Lester Holt’s NBC Nightly News program.  The music world had just lost David Bowie at age sixty-nine ten days before and now this.  Three months later Prince would also succumb.  What a crap year that was!

I’m a lifetime Eagles fan (with apologies to The Dude from “The Big Lebowski”) and this was one of those celebrity deaths that hit me pretty hard.  Glenn was a very funny guy with a dry wit, saying lines like “I’m from Detroit, where ‘mother’ is half a word.”  Ha!  Glenn used to refer to his first wife, then his ex, as “Plaintiff.’ 

When recording with the Eagles, Glenn Frey was known as “The Lone Arranger” since he would spend long hours in the studio working by himself to set music parts and tracks up just right. I love his line that, “Perfection is not an accident” and often quote it myself.  Looking back on my twenty years as a radio producer, I was a bit of a lone arranger myself.  Working most pre-show hours alone at the station looking for and setting up bits, highlighting news clippings for my co-workers and coming up with ideas for the show.  Glenn Frey and I were kindred spirits in that way.  Add to that, Glenn often said his favorite Eagles song was also my personal favorite, “One of These Nights.”

Here’s an excerpt from my still in the works memoir “Raised on the Radio” as I fondly remember Glenn Frey.  This goes back to 1992 when I was working for Q-101 and the Murphy in the Morning Show.

 Glenn Frey came to the station when in town to play in a charity golf outing and promote his “Strange Weather” album. I grew up on Eagles music and was cautiously eager to meet him. I knew of all the strife within the band before they stopped working together in 1980 and wasn’t sure how he’d be with us. In the past, all members of the Eagles were very leery of and hesitant to talk to the media. It turns out Glenn was an excellent guest with us; maybe no longer being in the band put him in a good mood.  One caller asked about the intestinal health struggles Frey dealt for years with and he openly talked about those problems. 

One thing I noticed was the cadence in which Glenn spoke during his interview with Murphy. He was clear and deliberate in his conversation but with an engaging style.  I tend to talk in a similar manner so I identified with and liked the former Eagle from the start.

When it came time to record a couple of promos for the show, Glenn carefully looked over my typed lines in the production room. I asked if there were any problems and was told no, it was good copy.  He was just measuring everything out to make sure he gave good reads.   So yes, I’ve recorded in a studio with an Eagle.

Months after visiting us at Q-101, I saw Glenn and his touring band play a concert at the Vic Theater. He did his solo hits and Eagles classics. Backstage after the show, again he was affable and a pleasure to spend a few minutes with. I also made points with my date as he gladly took pictures and signed an autograph for her. 

The intestinal problems Glenn Frey was so open to discuss on the air ended up being part of what ended his life in January of 2016. Those issues along with rheumatoid arthritis and pneumonia did him in at the young age of sixty-seven.  A number of celebrities I met over the years have since died but Glenn’s passing was a tough one to take in. He was great with me in 1992 and I was thrilled to have seen the Eagles in concert a couple years later. 

I also admired Glenn Frey’s solo music. From the Chuck Berry styled rock and roll of “Party Town” (a song that never got its proper due) to the sax and horns Memphis sound of “The One You Love” and the Al Green influenced “True Love.” The acting he did in “Wiseguy” and “Miami Vice” along with soundtrack work for those shows was aces as was his role as the tough negotiating Arizona Cardinals general manager in “Jerry Maguire.”  

Over the years the Eagles have had their share of detractors; many citing Frey and Don Henley for being difficult and greedy rock stars. Still, I choose to look past those stories and appreciate the music they brought us. Glenn’s hassles within the band be damned, he was first rate in my book and always will be. Rest in peace, Glenn Lewis Frey.

NEXT BLOG- Good re-makes of popular songs.

What can be said about the year 2020 that hasn’t already been covered, righteously bemoaned and suffered through a billion times over?  Let’s just say nobody will ever forget this long hard trip around the sun.  

While we all look to a better year in 2021 there’s a long road to hoe with avoiding that bastard virus, treating those stricken by it and awaiting the mass distribution of the vaccines.  Plus, there’s the hope of many more businesses re—opening and jobs recovered.    Everyone still needs to be vigilant & patient; that’s a tough to do combination.

For me, as much as missing the 2020 swim season at East End Pool really hurt, I knew it was for the best.  Ditto with the lack of movies in theaters and just being out with friends in ‘normal’ ways.  I’ve always been a very patient person (a trait inherited from my father) but this year dipped deep into that well of putting up with things. I got even stronger in my will to ‘calmly hang in there.’

There are other positives gleaned from 2020.  The remote teaching of students was a major adjustment but I grew from it, developing technical skills I used to resist. In my end of school year employee evaluation, I got high marks for joining the 21^st century with Google Slides, Google Docs, Google Meets, Google Classroom and other platforms that make me a better teacher.

In October when our class assignments were changed, I had to say a temporary ‘goodbye’ to several students in exchange for other pupils.  On our last day together one of my more distant and harder to teach kids asked in a hopeful tone, “Mr. Mick, will you be my teacher again someday?”  That got me.         

FOR A SONG- Just before the Pandemic kicked in, me and my parody partner Al Flash came up with a music video focused on south side girls.  The WGN Morning News show liked it so much they asked us to sing it live at their annual St. Patrick’s Day remote broadcast.  A few days later that event got scotched thanks to the virus.

The COVID virus greased up the creative juices in me and Al.  We had several Pandemic related music videos aired on the WGN Morning News. And late in the year we added Al’s lovely and much more talented daughter Michelle to our production of parodies.  She makes Al & I look like the ham & egg singers we are.

Writing wise I worked to be shorter with my blog lengths, keeping most posts under a thousand words. Offering my ideas and thoughts at mickkahler.com is something I do for myself but some others seem to like what I have to say.  I appreciate all the kind words and the constructive criticisms too.

I’m going to take a few weeks writing break and get back to posting new blogs in mid-January.  Until then, I hope you all have as good a holiday season as you can, given the current state of our world.  Make good choices, stay strong & safe and a year from now we’ll hopefully have a better year to reflect on.

I doubt anyone captured the mood and winsome hopes of us all in the Pandemic era better than Luke Combs in this song.

Finally, I’ll close off with timely dialog from Tom Hanks.

It’s time for one more round of re-living certain moments I’ve experienced while watching movies. 

“American Pie” 1999- I saw this bawdy comedy the first weekend it was in theaters.  While it certainly earned its R rating, I found the teen sex movie to also be sweet, poignant and relatable to my own high school days of lust and wanting.  And yes, Jim’s date Michelle sharing her post prom party revelation was a total surprise and a great belly laugh.  A friend of a friend made custom T-shirts and I came up with an idea and he delivered.  I asked for a white T-shirt with a drawing of a flute and under it the words, “And this one time at band camp…”  I still have that shirt.

“Eyes Wide Shut” 1999-  I heard plenty about director Stanley Kubrick and the making of this psycho-sexual thriller starring Tom Cruise and his then wife Nicole Kidman.  I saw this one alone and remember it being one of the most disappointing movies I ever paid to check out.  This film was not erotic, it was not enticing or exciting and the high pitched monotonous one note piano key playing used throughout it was annoying.  Before seeing this flick but after reading Roger Ebert’s review of “Eyes Wide Shut” I easily predicted Nicole Kidman’s last two words that ended the movie.  What a dull thud. 

“The Blair Witch Project” 1999- As if seeing “Eyes Wide Shut” wasn’t bad enough, later that very same day I took a date to see this shaky camera mess.  Two totally overhyped and under delivered movies in one day. And to make things worse, these two films were seen on the next to last day of my weeklong vacation.

“Winter’s Bone” 2010- I like how I fell into seeing the movie that made Jennifer Lawrence an actress to watch. I was on summer break and at the Landmark Theater in Highland Park to see an early afternoon showing of the charming film “Please Give.” While in line for my ticket I saw the poster for “Winter’s Bone” which was also playing there.  I had not yet read any reviews but the movie’s display piqued my interest.  I checked the show times and learned when my movie ended I’d have a half hour to kill before the next showing of “Winter’s Bone.”  “Please Give” was a solid three star film and when it ended I went across the street to Michael’s Deli for a quick hot dog. I then came back to the Landmark, bought a ticket for “Winter’s Bone” and fell hard for such a realistic drama about the struggles of Rhee Dolly in the middle of rural meth land. This was not your typical Hollywood movie with its feel being like a documentary of poor white folks. My mother passed away the previous fall and driving home late that afternoon I thought of how much she would have loved the bravery young Rhee Dolly showed in “Winter’s Bone.”  

“Uncut Gems” 2019- I knew very little about this movie before going to see it. All I heard was that this was a major breakout role for Adam Sandler as he played a fast talking degenerate gambler/jewelry dealer.  Put it this way. The frenetic pace and intensity of this drama left me physically spent!

“Parasite” 2019- All I knew about this Academy Award winning movie was it involved a poor Korean family trying to get into the lives of a rich Korean family. It was crazy, with all the twists and turns this subtitled film took. I was engrossed with the characters and the whole story. This was another one of those movies where when it ended, people in the theater were talking to each other and remarking about how special and different this drama was.

NEXT BLOG- Wrapping up 2020.

“AIN’T IT FUNNY HOW A MELODY CAN BRING BACK THE MEMORY, TAKE YOU TO ANOTHER PLACE IN TIME, COMPLETELY CHANGE YOUR STATE OF MIND.” (CLINT BLACK)

At this time forty-five years ago, C.W. McCalll’s “Convoy” was climbing the charts to become a number one hit on pop radio.  The track about toll busting lead truckers Pig Pen and the Rubber Duck introduced the rest of the world to CB radio talk.  It also inspired the CB fad among non-truckers and even brought us a bad movie starring Kris Kristofferson and Ali MC Graw.

As schlocky as “Convoy” was, the song brings back great memories to me.  Ones that make me smile and laugh to this day.

First memory– The fall of 1975. I was a high school freshman and the main focus in my life was playing pinball. Several pals of mine and I would often get our parents to drive us to The Game Room in Lombard which housed half a dozen pinball machines and an air hockey table.  No other nearby towns had pinball.

However, the BEST place to play the silver ball was at a huge arcade in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin called “Game Land.”  They had more new and old school pinball games and attractions than you could play in a weekend.  

That fall and winter, my older  sister Marianne was the good sport who drove me and my close pal Mark Fredriksen up to Lake Geneva to flip our flippers and aim for high scores on the Gameland pinball machines.  This was heaven to us and Mary even played a few games herself.  She was in nursing school at the time and the Saturday rides 90 minutes north for gaming, fudge and other eats were a welcome break for her. 

Mary drove a ’73 Plymouth Duster with an AM radio and a cassette deck under the dash. The big song blasting on that radio during every trip to Lake Geneva and back was, you guessed it, “Convoy.” WLS and WCFL seemed to spin that hit every damn hour and while in the car on our trips, we caught every play of it. I think I knew that song backwards as well as forwards.

My sister and I had many other adventures over the years; Movies, concerts ballgames, beach trips and of course loads of fun at home too.  She passed away in November of 2014, but the fun we had on those gaming trips to Lake Geneva as we rocked out to “Convoy” will never be forgotten. 

2^nd Memory– The summer of 1981- I was at a college classmate’s raging beer bash in Carol Stream the night before I was to host an all day 4^th of July barbecue at my parents’ house.  With me at this party was my longtime buddy Willie Costello. Will and I had comparable tastes in music and similar twisted ideas on how to liven up social gatherings.  (There was the time at a party when someone left a disposable camera laying around and Will & I covertly took photos in a bathroom documenting a pissing contest, but I better not say any more about that one)

Anyway, the host of this Third of July wingding had a killer stereo sound system in his basement rec room with speakers set up in the backyard where most of the partygoers were tapping a keg.  The guy had a giant collection of vinyl discs. 

The party was packed guts to butts with college kids as they rocked to music by The Police, Clash and Rolling Stones.  So late in the evening before leaving the party, we took one last look at this guy’s record collection. There in the stacks of wax was C.W. McCall’s album. We snickered at the discovery of this novelty gold. Nobody else was manning the stereo so Will and I decided to play impromptu dee-jays and switched out the Jimmy Buffett disc on the turntable for, you guessed it, “Convoy.”

The song started up with the opening CB radio talk among truckers as Willie and I prepared to dash out of the house to his car.  For good measure I pushed the lock button on the rec room doorknob behind us so it would take a couple of minutes for someone to bust in and dump the corny “Convoy” cut.   As we zipped out the front door and McCall’s hit was pumping though the speakers, I could hear the groans and some “What the hell is this?” complaints from the party crowd.   Willie and I laughed our asses off the whole way back home to Elmhurst!  

HERE’S THE LINK TO C.W. MC CALL’S MID 70’S NOVELTY HIT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqYTX7parRw

So whenever I think about C.W. McCall’s “Convoy’, I get taken back to good time trips with my late sister. And I also get taken back to that basement rec room when Willie and I schooled some hipsters on what fun a schlocky novelty song can be.

NEXT BLOG– One more round of movie memories.    

I’m sharing some more of my favorite opening lines to songs from all genres. 

ODE TO BILLY JOE/Bobbie Gentry-“It was the third of June another sleepy dusty delta day. I was out chopping cotton and my brother was bailing hay.” 

A southern gothic tale about indifference and a mystery still unsolved.  I can easily picture the characters in this one and that’s thanks to the framing of that opening line.

SATURDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT FOR FIGHTING–Elton John w/lyrics by Bernie Taupin– “It’s getting late have you seen my mates, ma tell me when the boys get here.”  

This one also has the best line about going out to get drunk. “Get about as oiled as a diesel train.”  Whoa!

LYIN’ EYES/Eagles– “City girls just seem to find out early, how to open doors with just a smile.”

I could go on to the rest of that lyric about the ‘Rich old man’ but this notation does just fine on its own. 

THREE CHORDS AND THE TRUTH/Sara Evans– “On a highway bound for nowhere, I ran my fingers through my tangled hair as I pulled in for another tank of freedom.”

If you want a great example of how country music affects people, this is your song. (One of the most underrated songs in that genre) One time during a radio interview at US*99 John Howell and I had to convince Sara to put this song back in her set for an upcoming Chicago concert.  And she did!  I still can’t believe Sara Evans doesn’t play this one at every show she does.

GIRLS TALK/Elvis Costello- “There are some things you can’t cover up with lipstick and powder, thought I heard you mention my name can’t you talk any louder?”

Elvis done well with these words, who can resist thinking of an interpretation of this line?

NEXT BLOG– A novelty song that brings back great memories.

My annual Thanksgiving Break started on Friday November 20th at 3 pm. And I did a few things.

Home work– I continued the purging of things I no longer need or use, lots of junk being wheeled out on garbage day. I filled in a couple of small basement wall holes thanks to Flex Paste and my snow blower is now prepped for the impending winter weather.  Finally, when cleaning a closet I found a pair of slippers I thought were lost. This, two weeks after I started wearing my newly bought Ugg slippers.

Meals– I’ve been on a salmon eating kick of late.  One good hunk of that fish and some vegetables and I’m stuffed for the day.  For Thanksgiving, I enjoyed ham from Honey Baked Ham along with loaded smashed potatoes, corn and Hawaiian brand rolls. Dessert was chocolate chip cheese cake from Elmhurst’s Lezza Bakery.

TV Watching– I was locked in to several NFL games for two weekends plus the two games played on Thanksgiving. (Sad that the Steelers-Ravens game had to be postponed due to COVID 19) Here’s hoping the Bears can eke out a win against the Packers to close out the weekend.

You Tube brought me an hourlong interview Bob Costas did with Glen Campbell back in the 90’s.  The late Rhinestone Cowboy s told great stories about working with artists from all musical genres.  You Tube was also where I caught the documentary “Desert One” which tells the whole story of the 1980 attempt to send in special forces to rescue U.S. hostages held in Iran. 

On Netflix I liked the creepy mystery/thriller “His House” giving it a “B” grade.  Then there was “Hillbilly Elegy” a film based on the bestselling 2016 novel by J.D. Vance.  Reviews for this movie were not great but I gave it a C grade.

Netflix also premiered the ageless Sophia Loren in “The Life Ahead” which was a well done B+.

The new edition of HBO’s “Real Sports” had a wild feature on how hallucinogenic drugs have been curing former pro athletes of their depression and other post career emotional issues. Former Blackhawks star Daniel Carcillo was one of the athletes who turned to this method and he no longer has suicidal thoughts.

HBO also ran the interesting documentary “The Mystery of D.B. Cooper.”  It’s the tale of the famed sky-jacker who in 1971 parachuted out of a passenger jet with a paid ransom of two hundred thousand dollars.  Four different suspected “D.B. Coopers” stories are examined.  If one of them was the stunt pulling Cooper, then the other three tried to ‘hi-jack’ that American folklore story as their own.  

Finally, I did an On Demand viewing of “The Last Movie Star” with Burt Reynolds pretty much playing himself as an aging former box office movie king.  Interspliced in the movie were real clips from old Reynolds’ movies and it was a decent B- watch.

Writing– In between meals and TV watching, I wrote and edited what will be my final blogs for 2020.  The last one should be posted around December 20^th before I take a holiday break.  Al Flash and I worked on a couple of song parodies plus I outlined the first of a trilogy of short stories that are Pandemic related.

Black Friday- As I do each year, I celebrated the day after Thanksgiving as “Clint Black Friday” which meant only listening to Clint’s music all day.  The real Clint Black ‘liked’ the meme I tweeted him, he does that every year.

Most Important- Finally, I gave thanks for the overload of good things in my life.  I do this every day, not just on Thanksgiving.   Forget playing the lottery, I’ve hit the jackpot and hope you have too!

NEXT BLOG:  More opening lyrics to songs.

As a lifelong music fan, I’m always interested to learn the inspirations and process in the writing of well known songs in pop, rock and country.  If you don’t already know the stories behind these songs, you will now. 

“WITCHY WOMAN”- The Eagles- It’s no secret I’m a lifelong Eagles fan and this 1972 hit single has a fun story behind it.  Guitarist Bernie Leadon came to band mate Don Henley with a low key music riff that had a tribal feel to it.  Henley penned the words ‘witchy woman’ not as a nod to the occult but to a woman who is enchanting and seductive.  At the time, the Eagles drummer was reading a biography of Zelda Fitzgerald and pictured her to be a muse in his writing.  It’s been speculated the lyric, “She drove herself to madness with the silver spoon” was a reference to Zelda’s time in a mental institution. The ‘silver spoon’ was used to dissolve sugar cubes with absinthe, a popular 1920s alcoholic drink distilled from the wormwood tree and called “the green fairy” for sometimes inducing hallucinations. Pretty heady stuff for 1920’s Hollywood.  

One more note on “Witchy Woman”, it was featured on an episode of ‘Seinfeld’ as Elaine tried to get her boyfriend to adopt that tune as their song. She tried to do the same with “Desperado” but that song was his own.  That song was also on an episode of ‘Dharma & Greg” as Dharma’s mother noted she once dated Don Henley and was certain she was the inspiration for “Witchy Woman.” 

“LYIN’ EYES”- The Eagles- The story behind writing this 1975 hit is documented in “The History of the Eagles” documentary.  Glenn Frey and Don Henley were hanging at the L.A. restaurant Dan Tana’s. The place was a hub for lots of beautiful women and the two Eagles talked about the stunning lasses who were out cheating on their husbands.  They spotted one very hot young woman with a fat, wealthy man who was much older than her.  Frey commented, “She can’t even hide her lyin’ eyes.” There was the groundwork for a great song. Glenn and Don were living together at the time and put the words and music together in pretty quick order with Frey carrying most of the freight.

One side story on Glenn Frey; he was a slob when living with Henley. Glenn would take the butts of burned out cigarettes and leave hundreds of them standing on end all over the house.  Don Henley said the leftover butts looked like little buildings in a city.   Frey also earned the nickname ‘Roach’ for leaving the tiny remnants of smoked marijuana joints all over the same house.

“THE VALLEY ROAD”- Bruce Hornsby- This brightly played track came out in 1988 off Hornsby’s sophomore album “Songs from the Southside.” The original music video showed a bunch of local folks marching around playing instruments; but this belies the real message of the song.  It’s about the daughter of a wealthy land owner. The girl takes up with a poor country boy working on the farm. That country boy shows her what they do down the long valley road and a pregnancy happens. The song’s story unfolds with the lyrics; “Out in the holler they were talking in a whisper, everybody noticed she was gone awhile. Somebody said she’s gone to her sister’s. Everybody knew what they were talking about.”  Yes, this young girl got an abortion then came back around “like nothing really happened.”  As for the poor country boy he was “Good enough to hire, not good enough to marry, when it all happens nobody wins.” 

A quick side note on Bruce Hornsby— In my radio days I had the opportunity to hang with the piano playing song man on three different occasions, once as his personal escort/tour guide when he came to Chicago for a radio station event. I’m happy to report Bruce Hornsby was one of the most affable, normal acting music stars I’ve ever met and a total class act!

NEXT WEEK’S BLOG-  Some more great opening song lyrics.