Country Music Broke My Brain by Gerry House

Author:Gerry House
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781939529916
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
Published: 2014-04-29T14:11:49.231000+00:00

Don Light, Mark Collie, and Jimmy Buffett

DON LIGHT WAS A MANAGER, and his firm, the Don Light Agency, helped the careers of several artists. I can still see Don, slightly bent over, with his silver hair, walking into a room and taking a Heineken out of his ever-present sport coat.

I met Don through his brother, Joe. Joe Light and I once tried to do a TV pilot. Joe rented some god-awful studio and hired a camera guy, and we tried to make history on television. It was gonna be a talk show, and Don persuaded Faron Young to be our “special” guest, along with a couple of other folks nobody had ever heard of, to round out this fabulous production.

A major star in the ’50s through the late ’70s, Faron Young was once known as the “Hillbilly Heartthrob.” One of his biggest hits, “Hello Walls,” which was written by Willie and was No. 1 for nine weeks, was one of my mom’s all-time favorites. Faron had racked up a lot of hits next to his name before he died tragically in 1996. He had been despondent and committed suicide. But while he was with us, he was one of the funniest, most vibrant entertainers that country music ever had.

The opening guest was an old songwriter named Preacher Bobby. I’d never heard of him or his songs, but I welcomed him like he was in the Hall of Fame. Preacher Bobby only wanted to announce one thing. He wanted the world to know he’d sell all of his songs for fifty dollars apiece. I was shocked and asked him, “Preacher, don’t you realize how much money you could be losing?” He shot back, “Sonny, you don’t know how many songs I got. I got 10,000! That’s a lotta money.” His logic stopped me cold.

Our second guest, Faron Young, once known as the “Hillbilly Heartthrob” and later as “The Young Sheriff,” was now sitting on our rented couch in a warehouse in East Nashville, under lights barely bright enough to make out our faces and one camera. The director/pizza-delivery guy shouted, “OK, we’re recording!” and I turned to interview Faron. There is no record of this magnificent moment in showbiz history because the camera guy didn’t know how to actually turn the camera on. I do remember, however, in spite of all the lame conditions and my amateurish hosting and the nonexistent pay, that Faron Young was a star. He didn’t know the camera wasn’t on, I didn’t know it, and neither did the dumbass running the camera, but we did a show. Great stories, laughter, and a little a cappella singing, and I was on top of the world.

After that, I didn’t see Faron much, nor Joe or the camera guy, but I did see Don Light and told him how wonderful and generous Faron Young had been. Don agreed and said perhaps I should write a tune with his newest singer, Mark Collie. Since Don was Jimmy Buffett’s first manager, I made a date with Mark.

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