Download    One night, several years ago, my nightclub gigs came to an abrupt halt. After 30 years of making a decent living playing beach bars and clubs and Holiday Inns – with a couple breaks for ill-advised adventures – I finally decided that enough was enough. I wish I had been doing “Take This Job and Shove It” at that time but, unfortunately, I wasn’t. It would have been the perfect exit song that night.

It was a Thursday evening at a Gulf Shores beach bar.  Things were going nicely.  The first set was well-received and I was launching into my second set when three lawyers (regulars at the bar and quite drunk) approached the stage and demanded I do “Margaritaville”.   Well, I had done that song in my first set so I told ’em I would do it again “just for them” in the third set (I was being nice I really was).  That wasn’t good enough apparently and they became belligerent.  Since  I don’t react well to attitudes, an argument ensued and ended when one of the idiots poured a full drink into my keyboard.  They took off and it was then a little voice in my head said “No Mas!  No more of this kind of crap!  I’m done!”

So now I sit in my little studio and write backing tracks for other musicians and singers.  It’s so lonely in here – I don’t interact with sax players or drummers or guitarists – it’s so dark with the only light being a spot over the piano – no backup singers or stage managers – no crowd to entertain –  it’s just me now…..(sigh)…. I LOVE IT!!!!  So all you young players hitting those bars for the next twenty years, keep this sequence on file for that inevitable night when you finally get sick of it all.  What did I use for my last song on that final night?  “Good Bye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John.  The significance escapes me now, but it seemed right at the time.

Take this job and shove it – I ain’t playin’ here no more…

[Country List]