BATTLE OF THE BANDS: 2025, APRIL 15 (Or, VAN MORRISON Versus TODD SNIDER - Part 1 Of 2)

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NOTE: This Part 1 explains in copious detail why the two songs in this BOTB's Battle Of The Booze installment remind me of specific times in my life. The songs are pretty Bluesy, but other than that, they are vastly different -- as were these two times in my life.

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If you're not interested in learning the backstory & want to cut straight to the songs in Part 2, click HERE.

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'The Back Room' by Van Morrison

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For 7 years I worked in the movie / TV industry in Hollywood. But, by the end of 1983, I had healed from the Acting bug that had bitten me. For the last 2+ months of '83, when I wasn't working on a studio set, I was feverishly spending every spare minute trying to finish writing my book manuscript, 'The League Of Soul Crusaders', in time to present it as a Christmas gift to my friends. (Thanks to "Fast Fingers" Ma, I made the Xmas Eve deadline.) My friends thought I had been snubbing them those 2 months... until the evening of December 24th, when they found those 197 single-spaced typewritten pages in their hands!

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At the start of 1984, I quit performing in Hollywood and decided to make my living doing something more sensible; namely, betting on the horses at Hollywood Park. 😲

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My career as an Equine Gambler was short-lived, and on March 12, 1984, I began working as a commercial sign artist, designing things like these:

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However, those 2+ months at the beginning of 1984 were a special time for me. I got a chance to really relax & decompress. I'd place my bets at Hollywood Park very early in the mornings, & then General  Poohregard (one of the 6 "League" members) and I would hang out together. We were the founding and sole members of the 99-Cent Club. (At Azteca, margaritas were only 99-cents until Noon.) 

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After the 99-Cent Club would adjourn for the day, Pooh and I would go to his place, "The House At Pooh Corner", & drink beer (Mickey's Malt Liquor, I'm looking at you!) while listening to music together. That was where Pooh turned me onto Tom Waits via his 'Small Change' album. The other LP I remember us most often playing was 'Trouble In Paradise' by Randy Newman (the song > 'I'm Different', with Linda Ronstadt providing backing vocals, really tickled me!). 

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This was probably the most carefree time of my "adult" life. It was almost as if Pooh and I were playing Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, even to the point that we once borrowed a raft on the Venice canals and toured the place from the waterways. We'd pause underneath the bridges and 'tip the bottle' in the shade.

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L.A.'s Venice Canals, circa 1984.

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Huck & Tom (or... me & Pooh?)

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At that time, General Poohregard worked at his Dad's liquor store in Venice. He said that he worked there for "the binge benefits". It wasn't uncommon for Pooh (& sometimes his friends with him) to down a brew or two in the store's back room. Like this:

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Pooh (looking a bit like Randy Newman) in "The Back Room".

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A song that always transports me back to those times is 'The Back Room' by Van Morrison. Pooh & I could really relate to the lazy, carefree, conversational stream-of-consciousness mood of that song. We recognized that it seemed to paint a perfect picture of the kind of lifestyle we were floating in and on during those first months of 1984.

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By the way, General Poohregard just released his first book of photographs titled 'Sacred Places And Sacred Faces' which you can preview and order > HERE. I can't help finding it humorous & astounding that Pooh has become a truly talented professional photographer. After all, when he and I used to party together, Pooh never saw anything in focus! In fact, I think he once tripped over someone's camera tripod and fell into a pond. (Or... maybe that was me. After awhile, it all seemed to blur together.)

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'Betty Was Black 

(And Willie Was White)' 

by Todd Snider

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One day I was sitting in > The Townhouse at Venice Beach, which was one helckuva dive at the time. Taking a sip from my cocktail, I noticed my reflection in a mirror behind the bar; and I mentally said to myself, "What if there was a guy who was so self-loathing that he would move to a different bar stool in order to avoid seeing himself in the mirror?"

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I started asking myself more questions, such as, "What might happen to him when he leaves the bar on a rainy night and starts walking home?" One question led to another, and another, and before long, a story was developing in my mind. I was a professionally trained actor, but I didn't know the Ins & Outs, the Dos & Don'ts of screenplay construction. So I took a couple of professional classes & read a ton - 2,000 pounds! - of books about screenwriting. 

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In 1991 I wrote my first & only screenplay for a movie I would call Billy 'N' Billie. It turned out to be an interracial romance between a socially awkward White guy (Billy Withers) & a sassy Black woman (Kimberly Clayton) who idolized Billie Holiday and sang Blues songs on the Venice Beach Boardwalk for tips. The imaginary musical soundtrack can be found > HERE. 

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Larger view HERE.

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Larger view HERE.

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I started shopping the screenplay around, which was a lot of work back in those pre-personal computer years. Was it any good at all? Well, this may be a clue: Tony Bill (producer of 'The Sting'; director of 'My Bodyguard') contacted me and set up a meeting with him at his Venice office. Unfortunately, however, I went into that meeting with the 100% WRONG approach / attitude, and that was that. 

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In 2000, Todd Snider released his album 'Happy To Be Here' which included the song 'Betty Was Black (And Willie Was White)' which reminded me of my 'Billy 'N' Billie' story. In the song, Betty & Willie fall in love while drinking Tanqueray gin. But in my story, Billy is a drinker of Beefeater gin, because he's subconsciously attempting to beef-up his anemic sense of manhood. 

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Continued Below (Or, Continued > HERE)

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~ Stephen T. McCarthy