"Here I Am"

When they asked Chuck Prophet to write about me for the liner notes in the British version of my record, Hep, he put down something like, "If Ronny Elliott got any more underground, they'd have to dig him up with a shovel."

Suited me fine. I like being in the shadows. It's been reported that when George Bernard Shaw first set foot on American soil, coming down the gangplank, he asked the throngs of journalists, "Here I am. How do you like me?"

That's my worst nightmare: taking myself seriously and looking for others to do the same.

Now, they're not making many big movies out of George's plays these days but we all know his name and some heir, somewhere, keeps raking in the dough whenever My Fair Lady plays on Turner Classic Movies.

Luckily, I suppose, I don't have any heirs. Folks like me, if there are folks like me, have to wonder if they've worked all their lives for nothing. Oh, I'm not whining. I would do it this way again. You do it because you have to, right?