Big Life

Rainy days make me happy. Thunder scares the dog. I've ruined shoes in the mud in Scotland and I'm happy as a pig in chutney. Keep an eye on me. I have trouble keeping my pants on.

Little Green Men, Little Purple Women

What do you think about the arrogance of the folks who disavow all thoughts of alien culture? I mean, let's face it; what do we know about anything? We have neighbors all around us who "believe" in the miracles of their own church but recognize the idiocy of all the other guys. We call it faith. I'm pretty sure that means just ignore all science that would seem to point in another direction.

I don't know if there's anybody else out there or not. If there is, I have no idea if they look like us or bear any resemblance to the space people that we've come up with over the ages. I would be willing to bet that they would like our rock'n'roll and dancing around in their underwear.

Love is our currency. Use it.

Positive Spin

Thank goodness I was born male. I would have been a shameless trollop. Proud of it, too.

All the world's my artichoke. This rock'n'roll is here to stay and I'm not gonna miss a thing. I mean it. I'm off to Memphis and Okemah in a week or two. As I said before, "I've got strings to break and friends I haven't even used yet."

Preach truth and love. You'll be glad you did.

Let The Good Love Flow

Physics! I shoulda' taken physics. Everything seems to be making sense to me. Suddenly. Don't force anything. Ever. Boy, it has taken me a long time to see that it all works just like it's supposed to work.

My mission is love.

Money Cravin' Folks

There will always be distractions to keep us from enjoying this garden that we live in. If you're not out chasing the almighty peso, you're scrounging to put a few together to pay the dastardly landlord who is.

Clearly we're meant to be hanging around naked, listening to rock'n'roll and loving all the other creatures.

Somewhere along the line we allowed some phony to make it more complicated than that. Fear is usually the tyrant's tool. He'll use God, with a capital G, money, power, and shame to keep us focused on his goals. 

Science and knowledge should be our way out. Love is the ultimate weapon. We'll inch ahead but it's a long journey. Those idiots on the supreme court and their nitwit pals in the congress are using every trick in the book to move us backwards.

Get your love out.

Sing High

Thinking back to when I was a kid I remember reading about this singer or that who was losing power to age. You know the stuff: "Sinatra's good, don't get me wrong. He just doesn't have the pipes anymore."

What crap.

Young Jimmy Durante was fine but the old Schnozzola would wrap your heart around his finger. Ray Charles was christened "Genius" during the junk years but that later stuff burned, maybe even brighter.

Unfortunately most of our rock'n'roll stars don't live to get old. We were lucky enough to share those last Roy Orbison records but we'll never know what an old Buddy Holly would have given us. The power to bring us to tears or fill our hearts with joy and lust is in the music. Experience counts.

Unknown Worlds

So, if I have failed this many times how do I know that it's out there? What makes a fool like me hold on to the romantic notion that love conquers all? I just know, that's all. I'm not waiting for anything and I have no expectations. That is not to say, though, that I am anything but optimistic. We all deserve unlimited love, unconditional love. I have read that we can only accept the love that we think we deserve. I should be really lucky then.

Driveway Drama In F#

Diamond dust blowing in my eyes and me without my sunglasses. Seems I have to dodge good fortune from all directions. I smell love and I smell rain. Keep an eye on me.

Ray Charles knew that there were not different kinds of music. The thing that separated him from the rest of us and made him a genius was that he understood the faulty thinking on the part of the rest of us. He could sing a line, any line, and break your heart. He could put joy in your bones and lust in your heart, too.

Never had any ambition to be a singer but I would love to be able to break your heart. I'm willing to work hard to make you happy, too. Don't waste your time or energy on anything without love.

Big Moon Tonight

Maybe it's my simple golly gee attitude that keeps me happy. I'll never be described as sophisticated. The mysteries of the universe are all around me and I love it.

Why do Arthur Alexander songs thrill me? What is it about certain shades of blue that fascinate me? What is it about sex, certainly the most holy of endeavors, that makes us feel guilty? Are birds happy? I mean really happy?

John Sebastian wrote, "The magic's in the music and the music's in me." I believe in magic. I believe in love and rock'n'roll, too. You can't stop growing old but they can't make you grow up. The key to all of the mysteries is surely in the rock'n'roll. That's the magic.

Drink The Rain

Oh, I love the lightning. I remember being terrified of the wild electrical storms when we moved to Florida from Alabama. Now Jamaica worries when the afternoon storms roll in. She has a "thunder coat" but it seems so undignified.

Let's all dance naked in the rain. Really.

No Such Thing As Too Blue

Maybe I've never seen the bottom but I've felt it under my feet. What if I could drag love, kicking and screaming, of course, over to happy. Rock'n'roll, on a good day pegs the meter on one end of the scale with Chuck Willis singing "What Am I Living For?" Of course the flip side was "Hang Up My Rock'n'Roll Shoes." Do I have to mention that he died while it was moving up the charts? The other end of the spectrum might lead us to Little Richard wailing "Oh My Soul."

I've been blessed with seeing it all. I've watched Ray Charles break a few hundred hearts at once while he was still the original heroin poster boy and I've watched Hank Ballard and the Midnighters dare a room to stay in their seats, joy pouring out of every one of them.

Folks ask me about my dark songs, the sad ones. Yeah, well what about my happy ones? I've got joy for ya'. I've got all the love you want. Oh, happy day, indeed.

One For The Guys

It's not 7:00 am yet and I'm off to the radio station to help celebrate ten years of Duncan Strauss' show, Talking Animals. My furry friends have gotten me through plenty of hard times. They never ask for anything. Well, they beg for a little love and affection from time to time but, then, who don't? Rock'n'roll is my business. Romance is not. I'll leave that to the professionals.

No Women In Combat

No men, either. When all the soldiers lay down their weapons and refuse to kill won't we have a fine time. Now that's a party that I don't want to miss. The day's coming. When we get the heart and the mind synchronized, we'll dance and we'll sing like we're meant to do.

When we get rid of the defense budget, we're gonna need new industry and work for all those folks displaced. I'm thinking we'll put them all to work fixing the planet and helping folks who need it. Maybe we can feed the hungry and take care of the sick ones who can't afford today's healthcare costs.

Maybe I'm naive. I prefer to believe that they're dumb. I love you.

Tinfoil Hats And Turtlenecks

If you don't walk close to the edge, you'll miss plenty. If you get too close, though, you'll fall over. It seems to me that the only smart ones who come along are the ones who remain aware of the mystery, the ones in awe of all that they don't know.

Love is the best and I suppose that there's only one real rule. Don't withhold it as a tactic. It's okay to love and not get it back. That's where the blues comes from.

Talk to your dog and your cat. They don't mind.

Alive

Has it been a year? Well, I don't know if he's dead or alive. My mom died just over a year ago and she was ninety. He would be older. I saw him once when I was three or four years old. It was in downtown Birmingham and my Aunt Jo pointed him out.

"That's your daddy," she said and motioned towards a stranger getting into his car parked on the street.

I tracked him down and talked to him on the phone for a few minutes twelve or fifteen years ago. We didn't have much to say. He seemed nice.

Uncle Reid and Uncle Morgan and Uncle Murray and Uncle Moss took up the slack. I never lacked a good male role model or a ride to the fair.

Happy father's day, pops, if you're out there.

Life's Work

Maybe the only lesson is to make sure that you don't take any of it seriously. Ever notice that those enlightened teachers are always giggling? It's all funny. Oh, you need to fix things and take care of the ones who can't, but don't forget to laugh. Oh yeah, and love. Don't forget to laugh and to love.

Life's Easy

These songs will write themselves if I just stay out of the way. Easier said than done. I had the sad honor of playing a couple for my friend, Larry's, memorial service. When I was asked I immediately knew that I had to do "Goodnight Captain." It was on the newest record and I had always wondered just what I was writing about. Larry was an airline pilot for American. A captain.

Don't Shine The Light In The Mirror

Oh, the power of the rock'n'roll. You need meditation? Try rock'n'roll. Medication? Don't make me repeat myself.

I've been looking into the eyes of the people that I have chosen to be around and I've been accused of looking into a mirror. Maybe.

Me? I know where the treasure's buried, where the joy hides. Sadness is contagious but so is laughter. Bring it on, boys. Bring it on.

Luck Of The Draw

Sometimes I just have to stand and wonder. How have I had the fortune to work with these people. It's enough of a miracle that folks with this much talent come into my life. I'm the type who doesn't use the term, genius, often. They seem to pass through my life on a nearly daily basis. All that I have ever figured out is that something fascinates these folks when they are confronted with a true primitive. I can't sing, I can't play much and my songs don't always rhyme. I do it with all my heart, though.

Okay, let's forget the talent for a minute here. The sweetest, kindest folks in the world have worked with me. They've never been paid enough. I've never made any proper money. The way that I measure success, I'm a big deal. I hope these folks all know how much I love them and how much I have appreciated their company.

Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.

Me And The Church

Preacher. That's what the aptitude tests all said. I was born to preach. I think it disgusted the teachers and the counselors as much as it surprised me. It's really not that I don't believe in anything; I believe in everything. 

If you can help someone see the beauty and the grace in this world and if you can help folks see the pure love all around us, then how can you not preach. It's all about the love.

Rock'n'roll has been my denomination and the stage has been my church. I send my word out through my recordings. We're all special. Use your love. Let's rock.

Every Other Day

You don't mind if I ramble to you to save a few bucks on a trip to the therapist, do you? I seem to have pulled myself up by my jockstrap and the cobwebs are thinning.

Pardon me for straying but, jockstrap... Jockstrap? What the heck are those things? The only thing I can figure is that it was some weird, erotic device designed to embarrass adolescent boys and their moms. What was tight underwear without a butt flap supposed to do to protect your ding dong? Do they still make those things? Have they changed the design?

These are the things that keep me up at night.

The Heroes

The best part of the blessing of working with most of my heroes is that very few of them have ever let me down. The rock'n'roll stars lived up to their images: bigger than life; kind; fascinating.

Bo Diddley never ran out of stories. The Jimmy Reed adventures were a whole category. He ranted about child rearing, junkyards, drug abuse. He complained about the music business and his spot in history. He was obsessed with law enforcement. He wanted to produce a record with us.

First time that I had seen him I was nine years old and my mom had taken me to the armory in Tampa for "The Biggest Rock'n'Roll Show Of '56." He almost blew the walls down. Best part- he wore glasses. Eyeglasses! I had just started wearing them and it gave me the signal that I could still grow up to rock'n'roll. I did. Bo Diddley Is A Lover came out in 1961. Boy, I wish I had the nerve to call a record Ronny Elliott Is A Lover.

Young Love

What's the point in any of it if you're not gonna fall in love? Aren't we just going through the motions if we're not moving towards romance and true love? Everything else is just decoration.

Smells Like A Hurricane

Funny how your sense of smell is most connected to your memory. I go outside during this tropical storm and hurricane stories flow. Mostly I remember school days cancelled. Makes me miss my mother and my grandmother and all of the pets that I felt responsible for. The women and the kids in my life, too. 

Looks like it may be a wild storm season. I could use some new memories.

Love Roller Coaster

There are junkyards out there that specialize in Pinto parts and there are Lebanese markets in cities where there are no Lebanese. I search for true love. I have a stronger heart than most and I am the eternal optimist. How many materials did that guy, Edison, try for the filament for the light bulb? Sissy.

My search is my life. My best laid plans are shaky but they're true. The world needs more love. Lots more. Do your part. I love you.

Getting By

Peanut butter spread on a banana is breakfast and carrot/jalapeño/watermelon juice will be lunch. Who says I'm no good in the kitchen. I got good at being lonely so I'm working on getting good at being alone.

I'll betcha' I can finish a few new songs today and I'm pretty sure that I can keep my mind off her. I'm looking for peace of mind and, of course, we all are. First though, you have to make sure that you have a mind. I had one around here somewhere.