Keith? And those interested...

Neal McCoy's new CD has "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On." The thing that got my attention was the lyrics to the chorus, which go like this...

He’s on the dance floor yelling Freebird
Singing off pitch but he knows every word
Grabs him a girl and he holds on tight
He’s chasing everything in sight
He’ll fall apart when he gets home
But right now his worries are gone
Life looks good, good, good
Billy’s got his beer goggles on

For those reading this, here is some of the information found on the Web concerning "Freebird."

From:WSJ.COM -
Rock's Oldest Joke:
Yelling 'Freebird!'
In a Crowded Theater
By JASON FRY
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
March 17, 2005; Page A1

Somebody is always yelling out the title. "I don't know that I've ever seen a show where it hasn't happened," says Bill Davis of the veteran country-punk band Dash Rip Rock.

"It's just the most astonishing phenomenon," says Mike Doughty, the former front man of the "deep slacker jazz" band Soul Coughing, adding that "these kids, they can't be listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd."

Yelling "Freebird!" has been a rock cliché for years, guaranteed to elicit laughs from drunks and scorn from music fans who have long since tired of the joke. And it has spread beyond music, prompting the Chicago White Sox organist to add the song to her repertoire and inspiring a greeting card in which a drunk holding a lighter hollers "Freebird!" at wedding musicians.

Bands mostly just ignore the taunt. But one common retort is: "I've got your 'free bird' right here." That's accompanied by a middle finger. It's a strategy Dash Rip Rock's former bassist Ned Hickel used. According to fans' accounts of shows, so have Jewel and Hot Tuna's Jack Casady. Jewel declines to comment. Mr. Casady says that's "usually not my response to those kind of things."

Humorously,
Rumblepurr
The Writer Cat...

FREEBIRD will always be one of the most memorable moments from my Cats experience. I can still picture the events of that bizarre evening and recall what went on. Aside from the FREEBIRD incident, there was a fight in the balcony and I believe 7 people were escorted out of the theater that evening. I will say, though, that so far, during my Disney career, I have yet to hear anyone from the audience shout out FREEBIRD to us......yet. There's still time.

I hope you're doing well. I'm great and keeping busy down here in Orlando. I'll be back in Philly during Thanksgiving doing their Thanksgiving Day Parade and I'm looking forward to doing that again. Last year when I was up there, they were doing Cats at Walnut Street Theater. I didn't have the time to see it, but some friends were in the show so I got to see them and catch up after they were finished with the show.

Have a good one!

Keith