IMAGES.




I'm getting to know people I could have been friends with years ago.


I think we've been carrying false images of each other since we met.




I know a lot of folks will go to their graves thinking of me as the guy with the long hair and weird clothes who


wrote that bird song, if they think of me at all. Misty Morgan's husband. That's it. But, we set it up that way to


attract attention to our musical abilities,. We did our best to stand out from the crowd. I've been known to go


on-stage in motorcycle cop boots and britches, big chrome sunglasses, and a leather cape. So I can't complain


if that's all they saw.




We were leaving our Milwaukee hotel, on the way to do an all-star show in front of an audience of almost


50,000, mostly teens. We were the only country act, in with a bunch of pop and rock legends. We stepped off


the elevator, Misty in red sequins from head to to, with a red sequin top hat, and me in my Captain America


suit. In the group waiting to get on the elevator was a very dignified elderly couple. I heard him say: "Somebody


wants to be noticed". We sure hoped we would be.




And we were. It seemed like they had as many cops as kids in the stadium, and some great acts like Chicago


and The Mamas and Papas were being ignored, while the teens jumped around, screamed at each other, and


threw toilet paper. It was like singing into a bucket of live bait.




When Misty and I walked out there was a hush. The first of the day. We were like an auto accident. They just


had to stop and look. And that's the memory we left, even with people in the business. It worked for us, and


against us.




It got us noticed, and helped make us well known. But it also limited the world's opinion of who and what we


really were. I like Tennessee Birdwalk, but we've done things I consider to have more depth, which I'd rather


have in my obituary than Birdwalk.


We're still working on that.




We've crossed paths with about every star and dignitary in the entertainment industry, but we saw mostly each


other's public face. Think of the ideas we could have traded, the conversations, the friendships. But things were


moving fast, and we were all busy surviving in a rough trade. I've spent some time, but not enough, talking to


Tom T. Hall, Dick Clark, Merle Haggard, Don Gibson, George Jones, Conway Twitty, Jackie Gleason, and so


many more interesting people. I wish we'd gotten to know each other better.




But now, mainly through the internet, I'm making up for some of the loss. We're not all campaigning as strongly


as we were then, and we exchange emails and phone calls. Now we have a chance to get past the image, and


open up a little. It's good.




We're even talking about organizing an all-star geezer show.







Jack Blanchard


© 2001.