Tusk: The Story Behind the Story

[CarneVaca]

[The phone rings. Lindsey lifts his head from the console, looks back down, fiddles with the knobs. The phone continues to ring.]

"Hey, guys, anybody? Somebody pickup the phone," he shouts. "Christine? John? Is anybody here?"

He walks over, picks up the receiver, muttering, "I've gotta do everything around here. Now I'm an operator too."

"Hello?"

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"Yes? Mick?"

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"What!? No, way, not again, Mick. This is becoming a regular..."

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"Oh, all right, I'll get somebody to pick you up."

John walks in just as Lindsey, brow furrowed, hangs up.

"Cheerio," John says. "I was thinking, I should practice my vocal parts today and..."

"Oh, not now, John. Mick is in the drunk tank again."

"Again?"

"And you gotta pick him up."

"Me? Why me? I gotta practice my voc..."

"Look, John, I don't have time for this. You gotta pick him up. Damnit, I've got too much, too much to, to do around here... And besides, I know you know where the drunk tank is. You're well acquainted with it, as I recall."

"Oh, gee, Lindsey, there's no need for insults, lad. I'll go pick him up."

"Better check the petty cash box. You're gonna need to bail him out."

John leaves. Lindsey goes back to the console, starts running the tape. "...wwooooork. Don't know why I can't play," he sings along. "This is damn good," he thinks. "I'm damn good, but most importantly, this music has integrity." He sings: "...a place..."

Christine walks in. "Hello," she says. "Where's everybody?"

"Hey, Chris. Well, John just went to pick up Mick at the drunk tank..."

"Oh, not again."

"Yes, again. Stevie's somewhere practicing one of her songs. Something about eggs and high noon, full moon, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, whatever. I gave her my ukelele to play with. That should keep her busy for a while. What's up with you? You got anything for me?"

"As a matter of fact, Lindsey, I've got this song I'm pretty excited about.... It's called Honey Hi."

"Honey High, heh? Is that a new thing? I've heard of getting high from whipped-cream cans. But, hey, I'll try anything..."

"No, no, no, silly. Honey Hi, H-I. As in hello?"

"Oh, well, OK. Let's hear it. It would be cool getting high from honey, though."

"All right. It's kind of sparse though. Just the piano, like Songbird. I think it'll work."

Lindsey pops the tape in. "Hmmm," he says, "I like the repetition. You know I like that..."

"Yeah, I know."

"But I don't know about the piano thing. Maybe we can use just guitar instead." He picks up an Ovation, starts strumming the A-D-E pattern. "Yeah, like that. Now, check out this muted strum pattern, huh?"

"Not quite what I had in mind, Lindsey. I, I..."

"Christine, trust me on this.... Hey, maybe I should sing it too. Baby, I've been trying to tell you. La la la."

"Now, Lindsey, I'll have to put my foot down about this. We can use the guitar, but I'm singing the fookin' song, you hear me? I wrote the damn thing."

"OK, ok," he says, sly grin spreading across his face. He thinks: "I knew that would do it. She'll give me the guitar part if I let her have the vocals. Genius? Methinks."

[Tune in next week for another episode of TUSK: THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY. Mick returns from the drunk tank. What kick-ass percussion ideas will he have come up with in his drunken stupor? Will John get to practice his vocal parts? Will Christine agree to Lindsey's song arrangements? Don't miss a minute!]