Tag Archives: Music

Listeria – Guitar Gods Edition

23 Aug

As you know from previous posts about important people in history and great places in New Mexico, I am a sucker for lists. Whenever I see a book of lists, an irresistible force draws me toward it. The other day I was killing time at the bookstore when a list jumped out at me. It was Rolling Stone: 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. To paraphrase Julius Caesar – I grabbed. I scanned. I bought.

It is an interesting list and begins with Jimi Hendrix, who most people consider the greatest guitarist of them all. Everyone knows how great he is, but few may know that Hendrix honed his craft in the clubs along Jefferson Street in Nashville. There are a lot of great guitarists, at least 100 according to Rolling Stone, but he is the one that I would have headlining my personal music festival.

As I looked through the list, I realized that I have seen several of them in person, and that gave me an idea for the Listeria series. Of the 100 greatest guitarists of Rolling Stone, these are the ones that I have seen perform live. The number is where they are ranked on the list.

2. Eric Clapton – I saw Clapton a few years ago. Granted, these aren’t his best years, but he can still play better than anyone I have ever seen. Plus, I had awesome seats.

4. Keith Richards – The Rolling Stones concert was where I learned that seats far away may not be a bad thing when seeing older acts.

6. B.B. King – I have seen “Blues Boy” several times. The first time I took a stripper as my date. Don’t ask. The last time he told stories more than he played.

10. Pete Townshend – Actually, I am fudging a bit on this one. The Who are coming to Nashville in December, and the tickets have already been purchased.

14. David Gilmour – I saw Pink Floyd in the 1990s, and the concert remains fresh in my mind. That’s despite the fact that my mind was kind of cloudy that night.

16. Derek Trucks – This one was an accident. A friend and I were trying to find something to do and decided to check out the Exit/In, a music hall in Nashville. Derek Trucks was playing. It was like a spiritual experience.

19. James Burton – He played at the concert honoring the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. The old band played as Elvis sang on-screen. A concert by a dead man was better than most concerts I have seen by living people. I don’t remember it, but I also saw Burton when I saw Elvis as a kid.

23. Buddy Guy – He performed at the Ryman Auditorium and cussed a woman on the front row for requesting a song. He said that he was playing for everyone and not just her. Afterwards, he gave her an autograph and a guitar pick.

24. Angus Young – AC/DC is one of my all time favorite bands, and I have seen them more times than I can remember. Young is what makes them go, and the crowd goes wild when he struts across the stage.

27. Bo Diddley – There used to be a music festival in Nashville called River Stages. Diddley played in front of the courthouse as we sat in the parking lot.

32. Billy Gibbons – How genius are the beards of ZZ Top? It’s just like the makeup of KISS. No one ever sees them age.

33. Prince – When he brought out the purple guitar and played “Purple Rain”, the crowd went bananas.

38. The Edge – U2 played in Nashville last summer. Bono ran around in a leather suit in sweltering heat, but I sensed that The Edge was the heartbeat of the band.

54. Joe Walsh – He has had success with The James Gang and on his own, but I saw him with The Eagles. The dueling guitars of “Hotel California” may be the best thing I have ever heard.

65. Slash – I wish I could see him with Guns n’ Roses, but, apparently, that is never going to happen. Instead, I have seen him with Velvet Revolver and on his own. I keep hearing that his mom is from Tennessee, but I am not certain about that.

77. Willie Nelson – He is one of the greats of country music. Ironically, he had to leave Nashville to make it.

84. Joe Perry – Aerosmith puts on a great show. When thinking about rock pairings, not many rank higher than Perry and Steven Tyler.

87. James Hetfield – Once, I was in front of the stage at a Metallica concert and was ready to rock. Then, one of my students came out to work security and stood right in front of me. I didn’t get to do much, but I got a bunch of guitar picks.

93. Paul Simon – Luckily, Simon and Garfunkel was not a wild concert. Before it started, the new president of our university came in and sat right behind me. It was the calmest I have ever been at a concert, and he is still our president.

100. Lindsey Buckingham – Seeing Fleetwood Mac was on the list of things I needed to do. I was disappointed in Stevie Nicks, who I have always had a crush on, because she was wearing orthopedic shoes. However, Buckingham seemed like he hadn’t missed a beat.

Guitar Gods – I have seen several of them, but I really wish I could play like them.

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My iPod Has Issues – The Name Game

16 Jul

It’s been a while since I delved into the psyche of my iPod. For those who don’t know, my iPod has no direction and is misunderstood by a lot of people. It is filled with music from different genres and time periods. It has been told that it contains nothing less than 20 years old. I’m not sure that is true, but it definitely has an old soul. Most people who listen to my iPod have a difficult time understanding how such a collection could have come together in the first place.

This blog is littered with posts about my iPod, and you can psychoanalyze it yourself here, here, and here. In these couch sessions, I simply hit shuffle and list the songs that pop up. Indeed, it is a wide variety, but I still can’t see why people say “can we please listen to something else?” when my iPod is trying to entertain them.

In this post, I am looking at my iPod from an altered perspective by focusing on one of its playlists. This one is called “What’s In a Name?” and contains selections that have the names of people in their titles. Clever, huh? So, a dosey-doe and here we go.

1. “All About Clovis Ledbetter” by Jerry Clower

2. “Rocky’s Reward” by Bill Conti

3. “Rhiannon” by Stevie Nicks

4. “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” by The Ramones

5. “Ziggy Stardust” by David Bowie

6. “William, It Was Really Nothing” by The Smiths

7. “Jack & Coke” by Lynda Kay

8. “Truck Turner” by Isaac Hayes

9. “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John

10. “Sonny Got Caught in the Moonlight” by Robbie Robertson

11. “Jack & Diana” by John Mellencamp

12. “Willie, Waylon and Me” by David Allan Coe

13. “Marriage of Dale and Ming” by Queen

14. “Death of Floyd Collins” by John Prine and Mac Wiseman

15. “Jolene” by Dolly Parton

16. “Father Ramirez” by Ennio Morricone

17. “Ruby Tuesday” by The Rolling Stones

18. “The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde” by Merle Haggard

19. “Caroline No” by The Beach Boys

20. “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” by Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs & The Foggy Mountain Boys

I really don’t think my iPod is all that strange.

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Aimless Wanderings of the Mind

9 Jul

Yesterday, some friends invited me to spend the night on a houseboat. Figuring that there would be a lot of late night commotion on the boat, I took my iPod in case I needed some solitude for sleep. As it turned out, everyone conked out fast from a day filled with activity, but I plugged the iPod into my ears anyway. The Guns n’ Roses version of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” came on and the following took place in my mind.

I immediately thought of the original Bob Dylan version as it played over the death scene of Slim Pickens in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, one of my favorite westerns.

From there, I thought about one of the times I saw Bob Dylan in concert. He and Willie Nelson had a tour where they played in minor league baseball stadiums. As I watched them from the infield, I kept wondering what the backstage party must have been like.

Then, I started thinking about a local legend involving Willie Nelson. Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge is a famous honky-tonk in Nashville where singers and players would congregate between sets of the Grand Ole Opry.

It seems that one night Willie was in Tootsie’s drowning his sorrows at the bar. He wasn’t making it in Nashville, and, in a moment of depression, he walked outside and sprawled in the middle of Broadway. His intent was to be run over by a car. Fortunately, they got him out of the street; he went to Texas; grew out his hair; and became a legend.

When this entered my mind, I started thinking about the time I saw Willie with Ray Price and Merle Haggard. Price’s biggest hit was “For the Good Times“, which happened to be written by Kris Kristofferson, the one who played Billy the Kid in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

The other person on the bill, Merle Haggard, is one of my all-time favorites. He performed a song in a movie I recently watched, and I started thinking about a song that appeared in a John Wayne movie called Chisum, an inaccurate retelling of the story of Billy the Kid.

As you can see, Billy the Kid and a bunch of connections to his pop cultural self kept entering my mind. That’s when I started thinking about the last time I visited his grave.At least, that’s his headstone. Some people claim that Billy the Kid got away and lived to be an old man. That’s doubtful. Without a doubt, a flood swept through the cemetery and washed away all of the markers. It may have even carried off a few bodies. So, Billy is probably not anywhere near this piece of rock. However, I started thinking, “What if they had buried him above ground like they do in New Orleans?”

Obviously, this started me down another tread of thought. Earlier this year, we took some students on a field trip to the French Quarter (I know. Cool teacher.), and we toured the City of the Dead, one of their above ground cemeteries. One of the most interesting graves was that of Marie Laveau, voodoo queen of New Orleans.

The grave has offerings left behind by people searching for a blessing. I thought about that, but I also thought about a song by Redbone called “The Witch Queen of New Orleans“.

New Orleans. It’s a cool city, and a lot of movies have been made there. They started running through my mind, but one that I saw the other day stuck out. It was Live and Let Die, the James Bond film that has the scene with an agent watching a funeral parade in the French Quarter. When he asks whose funeral it, he is stabbed and placed in the coffin. That’s when the parade really cranks up. Then, the theme song by Paul McCartney and Wings entered my brain.

That’s when it hit me. Holy crap. “Live and Let Die” was another movie song that was covered by Guns n’ Roses.

By this time, my mind was mush, and I mercifully faded out.

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Badge of Imagery

2 Jul

One of my favorite songs is Badge by Cream. When I saw Eric Clapton in concert, this was the song I most wanted him to play. Luckily, he played it before bringing his special guest, Vince Gill, on stage. Vince is the Nashville equivalent of bird shit. You see him everywhere. Anyway, Clapton played Badge, and I was lost in the guitars riffs and the words.

I was so inspired by Clapton’s performance that I wrote a short story based on the words. I’ve thought about posting excerpts from the story, but it is kind of dark. All of this is weird because I have no idea what the song is about. The lyrics sound nonsensical, but I reckon a lot of songs do. No matter. I know what I visualize when I hear the song. As I did with Somewhere Down the Crazy River, I have decided to visualize Badge in blogosphere form.

Thinkin’ ’bout the times you drove in my car.

Thinkin’ that I might have drove you too far.

And, I’m thinkin’ ’bout the love that you laid on my table.

I told you not to wander ’round in the dark.

I told you ’bout the swans, that they live in the park.

Then, I told you ’bout our kid, now he’s married to Mabel.

Yes, I told you that the light goes up and down.

Don’t you notice how the wheel goes ’round?

And, you better pick yourself up from the ground

Before they bring the curtain down.

Yes, before they bring the curtain down.

Talkin’ ’bout a girl that looks quite like you.

She didn’t have time to wait in the queue.

She cried away her life since she fell off the cradle.

Guess what. After all of that, the song still doesn’t make any sense.

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Completing the Pink Circle

24 Jun

In 1994, I saw Pink Floyd at the football stadium of Vanderbilt University. I had been to concerts before, but this was an entirely new experience. Hours before the concert, people tailgated with buffets of food, drink and an assortment of hallucinogenics. It was a circus that my friend and I bounced through like kids in a candy store.

Once we entered the stadium, we found our seats in front of the stage. It was during the time that you actually had to go to the music store and stand in line for tickets. Luckily, we were able to be at the front of the line. The crowd buzzed as the stage towered in front of us. It was my first stadium concert, and I could not believe the enormity of it all. Then, the show started.

I am not sure if it was the music, the lights or the libations, but the show was magical. All of the great songs were played as giant pigs danced over the stage and the huge disco ball made the stadium sparkle. We were emersed in the guitar solos and the enigmatic lyrics. I don’t have the vocabulary to describe the evening, but I walked out of the stadium having seen the best concert of my life.

Since 1994, I have been to more concerts than I can remember. It is hard to describe my musical tastes, so I will do it this way. I once saw Luciano Pavarotti and AC/DC in the same building during the same week. In short, I will go to any concert (including last night’s performance by Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw). I am a concert junkie. Each time, I get the same feelings – the anticipating the concert as it grows closer; the drive to the venue; merging with the crowd as people walk in the same direction; standing in line to enter the building; feeling the buzz of the crowd as people walk through the concourse; seeing the stage for the first time as I find my seats; standing as the lights go down and the show is about to begin. The entire experience gets me jazzed up.

However, my feelings do not stay that way. While performances have their high points, it does not sustain me for the entire show. There becomes a lull when I wind down and begin to wonder when it will be over. I have seen legends and people who have been forgotten, but not one of them has provided me with the feeling I got from Pink Floyd. Each time I leave a concert, I am glad that I went but am unfulfilled just the same.

However, this week something strange happened. I went to a concert that I was truly excited to see. I felt all of the things that I describe above. Except, this time the feeling did not go away, and the concert lived up to everything that I hoped.

Roger Waters performed The Wall, a concert that I have always wanted to see. For those who do not know, Rogers Waters was an original member of Pink Floyd, and The Wall was one of their landmark albums. He had split from them by the time the 1994 concert took place but has continued to perform some of the same music.

The concert was an orgy of sound, lights and imagery as the crew built the giant wall across the stage to have it collapse at the end. Songs like “Comfortably Numb” and “Another Brick in the Wall” had me on my feet the entire time. Once again, I do not have the vocabulary to describe the show, but I left the arena realizing that I had been to the best concert of my life. After 18 years, I completed the Pink circle and saw all of the surviving members of the band.

As we walked out, I replayed the concert in my mind before a quick reminder brought me back to earth. The concert was very political, and, while I usually don’t like politics mixed with my entertainment, I knew going in that would be the case. Waters created an entire concert around the fact that money should be spent to fight hunger rather than fight armies. It is a noble sentiment.

However, as we walked out, a handicapped man had a cooler and was yelling, “Water and cold drinks for a dollar.” For those in other parts of the world, “cold drinks” is the southern term for pop or soda. When we declined, he said, “Remember what you paid inside.”

That’s when my buzz went away. How can a performer denounce wasted money that could go for hunger when tickets to his show cost $250 a piece and a beer cost $7? I wasn’t sure, so I went back and bought a dollar water but paid $5. That’s when the buzz returned.

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You Sank My Battleship

20 Jun

This morning I had an appointment to get waxed (don’t ask) and found myself in an interesting conversation with my waxer. For me, talking during a waxing is essential because it gets my mind off of the feeling that I am being flayed alive. Anyway, we talked about all kinds of things, including the Roger Waters concert I attended last night. I will blog about it later, but he performed The Wall album in its entirety.

The conversation then ventured into her recent trip to Hawaii. She told me all about it. How she didn’t eat poi at the luau because it looked gross. How people looked at her funny when she ordered sweet tea. It all sounded bad, so I asked her what she liked about the trip. I smiled through the pain as she said that the best part was going to Pearl Harbor and touring the USS Missouri.

I couldn’t believe she said this because Pearl Harbor is one of my favorite historic sites. Everyone should visit it if they get the chance. The USS Missouri, while not at the base during the attack, is docked as a museum because of its role in World War II. Upon its decks, representatives of the Empire of Japan officially surrendered and ended World War II.

The last battleship to be built by the United States, the USS Missouri also saw action in the Korean War and after being recommissioned and modernized saw action in the Gulf War of the 1990s.

All of this was running through my mind when I asked my waxer what she liked about touring the ship. She stated excitedly:

“The most interesting thing was that was where Cher filmed the video of “If I Could Turn Back Time”. They even showed us which gun she sat on. The tour guide said that everybody wants to see that gun.”

The historian side of me wept.

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Deadaroo

18 Jun

Last weekend, my state hosted Bonnaro, the music festival that has become a destination for those looking for a good time and good music. They have a wide variety of acts, and I have often said that I would like to go if I could fly in on a helicopter for a few hours. Listening to music would be awesome, but I am too well into my years to be hanging out in a field without a hot shower.

After reading a lot of blogs and tweets about Bonaroo, I began to think about what performers I would like to see at a festival. Then, I took it a little further. What performers have I never seen live but would like to see? Then, with an idea string going, I began to think about the performers I would like to see live but never will because they are, well, not live. They are dead.

After coming up with a list of dead performers that I wished I had seen, I came up with my own music festival fantasy -Deadaroo. These are not zombie versions of famous people. This is a collection of people in their primes. This is a music festival of some of my favorites at the top of their game.

The following is a list of acts; the stage where they will perform; and, the thing I would most want to see them do (with links).

Appearing on the “Knockin’ ‘Em Dead” Comedy Stage:

Jerry Clower, the Mouth of the South, telling his greatest stories, including A Coon Huntin’ Story.

Rodney Dangerfield with his self-deprecating routine and trademark line, “I get no respect.”

Jackie Gleason, famous for television and movies, was also great at stand up comedy and was known for the signature line,”How sweet it is.” The video is from The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (begin watching at 5:03).

The Rat Pack, consisting of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and others, brings their Vegas act to the stage.

Scheduled for the “Dead Zone” Music Stage:

Big Joe Turner, early R&B and Rock and Roll pioneer, performing his hits, including “Shake, Rattle and Roll“.

Jim Croce, folk singer extraordinaire, singing “I Got a Name” and the rest of his classics.

Waylon Jennings, one of the original Outlaws of country music, with a passel of hits including “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys“.

Johnny Cash – the Man in Black, the legend, and someone I actually met – singing songs that span decades but ending with one of the early ones, “Folsom Prison Blues“.

Sam Cooke, paragon of R&B and Soul, bringing his best and “Bring It On Home to Me“.

As the finale, THE country legend known to many as Luke the Drifter, Hank Williams singing “Hey Good Lookin’” and many more classic songs.

At “Rock in Pieces”, the main stage, Deadaroo brings you:

Isaac Hayes, Black Moses of 70s Soul, with his Academy Award winning theme, “Shaft“.

James Brown, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, performs all of his hits, including “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag“.

Stevie Ray Vaughan, one of the greatest bluesmen ever, breaks out his guitar and plays “Mary Had a Little Lamb“.

The Reggae man himself, Bob Marley, straight from Jamaica with songs such as “No Woman No Cry“.

Ray Charles, genius and master of all musical genres, performs songs known to all and promises to stoke the crowd with “What’d I Say“.

Who could top those legends? Who is worthy to close the show of such greatness? Jimi Hendrix, the greatest guitar player of them all, as he electrifies Deadaroo with “Purple Haze” and other songs of psychedelic form.

That’s Deadaroo. The End

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Birthday Celebration

9 Jun

Tonight, we belated celebrated my youngest nephew’s 15th birthday. It was actually on June 6, which most of the world knows as D-Day. Our family also knows it as B-Day, Bronson’s Day. To honor his day of birth in the blogging world, here is a list of events from the year he was born.

On the big screen:

– Titanic made a triumphant return from the depths and dominated the film industry.

– Val Kilmer and Elisabeth Shue starred in The Saint.

– James Stewart passed away.

– Robin Williams won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Good Will Hunting.

In the athletic arena:

– the Green Bay Packers defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI.

– Tennessee beat Old Dominion to win the NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship.

– Mike Tyson bit a piece off of the ear of Evander Holyfield.

– Tiger Woods won the Masters for his first win in a major.

On the boob tube:

– The Crocodile Hunter debuted on Animal Planet.

– South Park first aired on Comedy Central.

– Jacques Cousteau, famous for marine documentaries, passed away.

– The Simpsons passed The Flintstones as the longest running prime-time animated series.

In the music world:

– Elton John re-recorded Candle in the Wind to honor Princess Diana.

– Paul McCartney became Sir Paul McCartney.

– Colonel Tom Parker, the manager of Elvis Presley, passed away.

– The Bee Gees, the Jackson 5 and others were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

For the literate people:

– Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays With Morrie was published.

– Harry Potter looked for the Philosopher’s Stone.

– James Michener, writer of sweeping epics, passed away.

– I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was removed from the English curriculum in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Scientifically:

– the Pathfinder landed on Mars.

– the United States barred federal funding for research on human cloning.

– Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov in a chess match, the first time a computer defeated a grand master.

– the domain name Google was registered.

A lot of other stuff happened in 1997. Perhaps, you can list a few in the comments.

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No Idea Whatsoever

4 Jun

I have no idea what to blog about this evening. Nothing funny has happened over the weekend. I have no profound thoughts to expound to the world. There is not a list that I find fascinating enough to create. It seems that I have come to a stumbling block in my blogging path. I have noticed while perusing WordPress that a lot of people write about absolutely nothing, but I determined a long time ago that I would not resort to that. I want this space to have meaning, or at least have meaning to me.

However, here I sit writing about absolutely nothing, and I am not happy about it. So, here are a few things.

I just watched the season finale of Game of Thrones. It was pretty awesome, In fact, I liked it better than last week’s episode that everyone said was the episode-to-end-all-episodes. Now, I am watching Devil in a Blue Dress, a Denzel Washington movie from 1995 that has a great soundtrack. A few of the cuts from the album are:

“West Side Baby” by T-Bone Walker

“Good Rockin’ Tonight” by Wynonie Harris

“Chica Boo” by Lloyd Glenn

You may recognize “Good Rockin’ Tonight” because it was covered by Elvis. No last name needed. Wouldn’t it be cool to be famous enough to be known by one name? Elvis. Madonna. Fabio. You can’t put a price on that kind of fame. I saw on a site dedicated to blog tips that a picture should always be included. It makes the page look better and breaks up the reading. I will type in one-named celebrities and see what comes up.

Now, there is a real threesome. Takes me back to the glory days of the 80s, the days of parachute pants and my Camaro Z-28. Man, those were the days. I would cruise the Main and make my turns at Kroger and Sonic. Speaking of Sonic, I wrote a post about that place a long time ago, and I still haven’t gotten a good answer to my question.

There are other questions that I would like to know the answer to. For instance,

What was in the case in Ronin?

What was in the case in Pulp Fiction?

You know what? I know what was in them. They were filled with McGuffin’s, something used to drive a plot. That shouldn’t be confused with McGuffey’s Readers, books used for almost 100 years to teach kids how to read. The stories usually had a Biblical theme which kind of blew the old separation of church and state thing out the window.

Speaking of windows, I believe that I am reaching my window of opportunity to end this rambling post about nothing. If you made it this far, then I congratulate you. Next time, I will write a post about something.

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Seeing Stars

25 May

Last night, I was having dinner at a local Mexican restaurant when I looked across the patio and saw someone who I recognized. It wasn’t an old friend or acquaintance. It was Gretchen Wilson, a singer who has gained a modicum of fame. I didn’t think much about it, and it seemed that the other diners didn’t think much about it either. However, it gave me an idea for a blog post.

One of the great aspects of Nashville is that you can see someone famous almost anywhere you go. A greater aspect is that those famous people do not get harassed by fans or paparazzi. They do their thing while non-famous Nashvillians do theirs. For example, if you want to see Vince Gill, then all you have to do is go to a Belmont University basketball game. Kenny Chesney shows up each time the University of Tennessee has a game in town. Once, I sat in front of Reba McEntire at a Nashville Predators game, and, last summer, I sat behind Wynonna Judd at a U2 concert. Although I haven’t seen her, I understand that Carrie Underwood and her fantastic legs spend a lot of time at Whole Foods.

Never fear, country stars are not the only people seen in these parts. Once, I played pool at a table next to Nicole Kidman and her husband, Keith Urban. Also, Reese Witherspoon is a native of Nashville. It seems that artists from all genres and endeavors are attracted to our fair city. Nashville isn’t Los Angeles or New York (thank goodness), but it has its fair share of famous people.

As I chewed my enchiladas, I began to think about this part of the Nashville experience and thought about a couple of encounters of my youth.

When I was a kid, my mom and I spent a lot of time at Opryland, a theme park that used to be here and still should be. One afternoon, we were leaving, and my mom needed to go to the restroom. Being the days when parents could leave children for a few minutes without worrying, my mom left me sitting on a bench and eating an ice cream cone. As I sat, an elderly man perched down beside me with an ice cream cone of his own. He asked a few questions but only got one word answers in reply. It was typical nice old man questions, but I was too shy to say too much.

My mom returned and spoke with him for a few minutes before we went on our way. Once we left hearing range, she asked if I knew who that was. I said that I didn’t, and she told me that it was Roy Acuff. Don’t know who that was? He was known as the “King of Country Music” and was the genre’s first superstar. I had been eating ice cream with a legend.

As a teenager I, like a lot of teenagers in the 80s, hung out at the mall. Unlike  a lot of teenagers in the 80s, I hung out at the bookstore in the mall. One day, I stood in front of a bookshelf, the history section I guess, with my head buried in a book. In the midst of reading, I felt someone walk up behind me and just stand there. It was like they were reading the same book over my shoulder. Honestly, it wasn’t comfortable. I kept reading and hoping they would move when the man behind me yelled for his son. I knew immediately who it was.

I turned my head to say hello, and he replied, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.” Well, he didn’t actually say that. He said something along the lines of how are you. The most interesting thing was that the “Man in Black” was wearing black sweatpants, a black sweatshirt and white tennis shoes.

So, if you are ever in Nashville keep an eye open. You might see a star. Just remember to act like a Nashvillian and not bother them. That’s one of reasons Nashville is great. Although, it’ll probably be alright to say hello or stare at Carrie’s legs.

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