"Life Is A Little Nuts"
Life is a little nuts.
You never know what it's up to.
After knocking around every bar in the Miami area,
from luxury hotels to creepy back street dumps,
Misty and I lucked into a pretty good job
at El Bolero Steak House.
El Bolero was a Coral Gables supper club,
and our band played dance music for the classy clientele...
me in black mohair suit and silver tie,
and Misty in evening gowns.
Larry King, some movie actors,
and big time politicians were regulars.
Richard Nixon came in and played the piano.
It was that kind of a joint.
We stayed there about three years,
which beat our previous record of three weeks.
But, we were going nowhere, careerwise.
I wrote and directed the music
for a short movie about the Everglades.
As a result, artists started asking me to produce for them.
I commuted to Nashville for two or three years,
as a producer for other artists,
before Misty and I ever got to record.
We still needed a big change, and soon,
so we decided to take a chance.
We worked out a new image for ourselves,
which was the exact opposite of the old suit and gown.
I stopped getting haircuts,
got some radical sunglasses,
bought a bunch of wild clothes,
and a pair of English riding boots
which I wore outside the tight pants.
I looked a like a hippie Captain America.
Misty went with micro-mini skirts and boots
which got us tossed out of a couple of snooty restaurants.
She changed her name from Maryanne to Misty,
and I wrote some new songs for duets.
The first one was "Bethlehem Steel",
a composite of the Buffalo factories where I'd worked.
We booked a gig at the Gold Coast Lounge in Key West.
and thought everybody would laugh at the way we looked,
but they didn't.
They ate it up.
I sang in my new rough voice,
which is now the only one I have,
and we opened with "Bethlehem Steel".
The crowd, mostly sailors, went wild,
and the place became packed every night.
This was a huge surprise to us.
We were doing almost all original songs,
we sang country with a touch of rock and blues,
which was a new thing in those days.
Misty sang her strange harmony,
and everything seemed to be working.
In just a couple of weeks we were offered a recording contract,
and went to make our first Jack and Misty recording in Nashville.
Our first single release "Bethlehem Steel",
got a "Pick" in Billboard,
and went about half way up the chart.
There were two more singles,
and then "Tennessee Birdwalk".
Things moved fast after that.
I wonder if my old Captain America suit still fits?
You can read the lyrics here.
You can hear our 1967 recording at this website:
http://www.kokosuniverse.com/avi/jm/wma/bethlehem_steel.htm
Copyright © March 28, 2007 Jack Blanchard. All rights reserved.
Reprinted by permission.
