Second Impressions Ablaze
By ice rivers
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As some of you may recall, Thornton Krell made an indelible first impression when he helped me earn my merit badge in music even though I couldn't play my clarinet due to a cracked reed and no backup. Instead I beat his bongos to a Dylan song and played a primitive version of Oh Sussanah on his piano. After hearing me play, he gently advised me to take up writing as I had the hands and the rhythm.
First impressions are critical but second impressions are under-rated. I encountered Krell for the second time one night at the Merchants Bar and Grill. My buddy Al and I were recovering from another days work at a job we dreaded going to in a few hours. Genesse Beer was easing our pain. As usual we were overplaying We Gotta Get Out Of This Place on the jukebox. It was our custom to put a buck into the box and play the song 20 times. It was well past midnight when Krell walked in smoking his corncob pipe.
I barely recognized him at first. He had grown a beard or maybe he had just stopped shaving. We were down to our last three plays of We Gotta Get Out of this Place. Krell recognized me but couldn't remember my name. He bought a beer to get started and then began slapping the bar and singing Oh Sussanah to himself intending me to overhear which I did. He recalled our first encounter and said "How ya doin, Bama?"
I put two and two together and got five. He remembered our first encounter but had forgotten my name I remembered his name and introduced him to my friend. He laughed and said "You guys make a great team, Al and Bama." He noticed the repetition of We Gotta Get Outta This Place. We explained our strategy. He liked it. He agreed. "Yeah we gotta get outta this hell out oft this place. Not this place but the eighteenth ward of Rochester. This place is allright."
He put a buck in the jukebox and played "Do Wah Diddy" by Manfred Mann 20 times while we threw back another coupla beers.
We started snapping and clapping and shuffling our feet to the Manfred beat.
He asked us where we was goin' after this. Not This but what plans did we have for the future.
We told him that we were sure as hell not gonna do what we were doing now. We were sick and tired of spreading fertilizer and hiding in the bushes. I told him that I was gonna become a teacher and that I was in college at Geneseo and thank Gawd awmighty this was a summer job and we were gonna have to be on it in about nine freakin' hours and we didn't want to go.
He said that he was gonna take a break from the beer and he ordered a Blue Blazer. This obviously wasn't the first blue blazer that he had ordered at the Merch because Dino the bartender knew just what to do. He poured two shots of Southern Comfort on the rocks and topped that off with a shot of annisette. Then he put a match to the mix, struck a match and when he lit the concoction sure enough there appeared a blue blaze of fire. Krell said "Bottom's Up" and threw the blazer down his throat.
It was quite a showstopper for a second impression.
"How the hell do you do that?'", we asked in astonishment.
"Just don't inhale when you throw it down."
That sounded easy enough.
I told Dino to mix me up one.
The blazer was blazing blue. I put it up to my mouth and started to throw it down. I panicked. I inhaled. I spilled the drink all over myself, blaze and all. Fortunately, Dino was ready with a wet towel. He'd seen this act before. The blaze was on my skin and chin. Only the alcohol was on fire, not me. They hit me with the towel and the blaze was out. No harm, no foul.
Al tried it and had the same result, inhale, spill,towel, no harm no foul.
Dino cut us off at that point, from Blazers anyway.
He poured us a couple more drafts which Krell picked up the tab as well as the tab for the blazers.
By that time Manfred Mann were on their last Wah Diddy.
Krell walked over to the juke box and started playing Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds with that beautiful twelve string opening riff Domm Dooto Dooto Dootto dum da dum da dumdum.
Dino rang the bell for last call.
Time for our work boots to be scampering
For the next couple of weeks of August we saw Krell at the Merch a few more times and then, in September, we all got the hell outta that place.
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Comments
Lyrics and Copyright
A really evocative reminiscence, but sadly, from an editor's point of view, we have to ask you to remove the couple of lines you've quoted from the song, unless you have permission to quote them. Under copyright law, the only part of a song you can legally quote is the title. There's no allowance for proportionality, as there can be for quoting from a written text, because song lyrics tend to be brief and so if you quote a couple of lines you're quoting a significant proportion of the whole.
I know it's a pain, because the lyrics are part of the atmosphere you're trying to create. We can't afford to get sued, though!
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Thank you, ice! Really
Thank you, ice! Really appreciate you being so understanding.
If you go on to the ABC Homepage, or your own Page, and click the 'Write' button at the top, the option to 'Create a Collection' comes up under 'What Would You Like To Write'.
Thanks again.
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