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Circling The Drain is a show about the current state of the music and radio businesses as well as culture in general!
Hosted by John E. Bozeman and Jay Harper along with Jim McCarthy as Co-Host/Executive Producer.
John has had a storied career in music and talk radio, most notably as the Executive Producer for the late and legendary Phil Valentine.
Jay also has has a long career in radio as Announcer, Play-by-Play, Voice and On-Camera Actor. He was also an Artist Rep for MCA records.
Jim McCarthy ALSO has had a tremendous career in radio since 1996 and has since brought his consulting/producing skillset to the podcast world.
Circling the Drain is produced by ItsYourShow.co
Unknown: My wife this morning,
when I was coming in, she said,
You know, I love Deborah Allen,
really? Yeah, she, she, you
know. And I think that's, that's
the that's, and I hope this,
this doesn't, I hope I don't
turn you off here, but to me,
you remind me of like Dolly
Parton. You've got a great
personality. Thank you. You are
you? And as she put it, she
said, she is so pretty. And I
said, Well, honey, she's pretty,
but not as pretty as you are.
And she said, Oh yes, she is.
She's pretty.
And you said, My wife loves you,
as I was thinking to myself,
well, then I already love her.
Welcome to a podcast about music
and entertainment before it all
goes down, circling the drain.
This is circling the drain. We
are off to the races.
Hey, welcome back to circling
the drain. You know me, John E
Bozeman, known as Johnny B and
of course, you got the three
J's. One of them is Jay Harper.
That would be me. Hello, Johnny
B and I'm gonna toss it to the
third J. That would be the
producer extraordinaire. Jim
McCarthy, thank you very much.
Sometimes known as Chris,
sometimes. And we have a special
guest in here, special guest
deluding the ugly in this room,
ladies and gentlemen. And she,
you know, her from from RCA
Records, she had a great big hit
called baby. I lied. Yeah, we're
gonna be talking about that.
Yes, we are, because we have a
great story on that. But she's
done so much more. You know, it
would take me the entire podcast
to tell you everything she's
done. We'll let her tell us. But
Deborah Allen, welcome to
circling the drain.
I am so excited to be here
circling the drain with y'all.
Well, we're excited as well. In
fact, I was excited because what
brought this all on was that you
met up with Jay Harper at the
Josie awards.
I did. Gosh, fate stepped in
again.
Yeah, I suppose so. You know,
I've told the story, I believe,
perhaps on the podcast, but I
know certainly online. You know,
an old radio dog met Deborah
back in 1983 when she was making
the radio tours, as artists were
prone to do back then. Don't
know if they're doing that
anymore, but going out and
meeting radio and promoting
their music. And Deborah and her
RCA record rep at the time, a
guy named Jack Weston had came
to the station where I was
working. I was music director at
a Billboard R and R reporter,
and anyway, she was so sweet, so
kind, took us to lunch. And I've
always, you know, I've met a lot
of artists over the years,
working at MCA and all that, but
Deborah has always been one that
has stuck in my mind about being
so kind and so talented. And
yes, it's a real treat to see
you again, and but it but it
kills me, you look just like you
did 42 years ago. How do you
do that? Oh, man, I'll tell you
what. I wish I had $100 I'd give
it to you. Thank you so much.
Well, it was such a pleasure to
run into you again. It's such a
sweet surprise. I loved it. And
you know, I guess you were
pretty lucky that we took, well,
maybe not lucky we I guess we
were all pretty lucky. Weston
took us to lunch that day. Most
of the time we brought pizza.
Well, you know us radio guys, we
wouldn't have minded that
either. No, we take the pizza.
Yeah, yeah. But no, you know you
were out promoting your what?
Well, your album, but also the
hit from 1983 got to number four
on the Billboard chart and
crossed over to pop. That's
correct, baby. I lied, which
still gets played. I mean, I'm,
you know, on WSM FM, I'm on
Westwood one, and I'm on some
other stations, and we still
play baby I lied. I mean, it's
just that had to be a career
changing release for you.
It truly was. It's still my
signature song, and I'm so
fortunate that my signature song
is actually a song that I like.
You know, a lot of artists, I
know they'll go, I gotta sing
that again, but I'm always, I
love to sing that song. But
yeah, at RCA, Joe Galante said,
you know, Promotion Department
and radio is calling this the
record that won't go away. And I
said, Well, that's okay with me.
Well, it made my because I was
working in Birmingham at the
time, yeah, and I was familiar
with Deborah because she had
done the Jim Reeves. I know I
was going to whisper about that
story. And you also had another
album that I love, the album
cover, Trouble in paradise.
In paradise. Trouble in
paradise. Let's see. Trouble in
paradise came, I think just
after the Jim Reeves duet, yes,
yeah. I think they were so close
it was hard to tell which one
came first. It was my first
album, though,
especially with my memory. You
know,
it's a little frosty. But
anyway, I was working in
Birmingham, and we had this
chain of radio stations, and
they never really let us jump on
records, yeah, and so I had to
call the home office and. And
Baby, I lied. Came through. I
flipped out, because I thought,
Man, this thing's gonna be huge.
Wow. And thank you. I really, I
got in an argument because they
were saying, No, you can't jump
on it. I said, I want to play it
right now. I said, I don't want
to wait. Because I said, this
record, I told them. I said, the
record is going to be huge. I
said, I guarantee you this thing
is going to cross over too. And
they thought I was crazy. I
mean, they one thing they had 10
years sometimes that happens in
radio. But I was so pleased when
the record started. Oh, I mean
it, and you made me a hero. So I
have to really thank you. Well,
I'd
say you made you were the one,
one of the ones that made me a
hero, too, by playing it. You
know, there was one, one
holdout. I think it was
somewhere. I think it was either
Memphis or Texas, and I had to
call them up. And the guy's
name, I think it was Steve, and
the record label had me call him
up, and he says, You're not
playing it. They need to play
it. So I called up. They were
all happy to hear from me. And I
said, Why? Why are you not
playing baby? Out Loud,
everybody else in the country's
playing it. He goes, Well, you
know, Deborah, it's just not
country. I said, you know? He
said, You know that part where
you go, baby, baby, baby. I
said, there's nothing more
country than babies. Yeah.
Especially, man is my favorite
part of the song
they started playing tail end.
Oh, yeah. And you know what,
really but, you know, I have one
beef with RCA, or whoever, at
the very end of the record,
where it's fading out, you hit a
high note, they faded it, yeah,
because when I would play it on
the air, I would just pop it up.
You know what? When I sing that
note, and when I sang it, I
remember, in that studio go, I'm
gonna reel in my Ronnie Millsap.
That's what inspired me. Well,
it was very I was only I was
angry with the record label over
that. I was like, I about want
to call him up and say, put it
out and put out a different
version where you can hear that
faded long. Yeah, wow. That's
great. Thank you. Wow. Yeah,
those are some good times. I
enjoyed it so much. And right
around that same time, I was
going to the pop radio stations
too, and all over the country,
and it was so much fun because
the Eurythmics were just coming
out, and they'd go in, they'd
play the Eurythmics, and I'd go,
I love that song. That song is
so cool. And then they'd play my
records, and, you know, started
taking off too. Yeah, it was on
the pop on the hot 100 pop
charts got way up the charts
there, and the AC chart and the
country charts. So I think
that's one reason why they
called it the record that
wouldn't go away.
Yeah, just wouldn't. Just
wouldn't, still doesn't really,
well, you know the when you came
to Nashville, I mean, did you
come here as a looking for just
to be a songwriter. Because, you
know, I definitely want to talk
about that. I mean, your
songwriting credits are pretty,
pretty impressive. But did you
want to be both an artist and a
songwriter? I mean, what was
your goal coming here?
No, actually, not. I really came
here to to be a singer. That's
what I wanted to be. And, you
know, I used to when I was a
kid, I'd walk through the
neighborhood singing. I'd always
pick the saddest song to walk to
my girlfriend's house, you know,
just going, Oh, like that. And
but I moved to Nashville, I
really wanted to be a singer,
but I I had worked at Opryland,
and had just gotten back from a
State Department tour with
Opryland, with Tennessee, Ernie
Ford, we went to Russia. Oh,
wow, yeah, yeah. We went to five
places within Russia. It was,
let's see Leningrad, Tbilisi,
Baku, yudovan and Moscow. And we
did a TV show while we were
there on Opryland type thing.
And I loved Opryland so much.
And actually, that's when I
first got to be on the opry
stage. Was when we were doing
that show with Tennessee Ernie
Ford. I loved him so much. He
was so wonderful. And but I just
felt like I didn't want to stay
at Opryland, because, you know,
I don't think, I don't know if
it was the best wisdom to pass
along to any new artist starting
out, but as something in me
said, If you keep getting used
to this regular paycheck, you're
not ever going to get out there
and take the kind of risk that
you need to take to become more
so that's when I kind of broke
out and started doing that. And
then I wound up singing at the
happy hour at the spins manager
man the Spence Manor on Music
Row and and I was also hanging
out at whale and Jennings
office, where my best friend
was. Her name was Marie Barrett,
and you had shelf Silverstein
there. Did you?
Yes, I did. That's what I was
about to say. There were all
kinds of characters that came
through there, John Hartford,
who wound up Mary, Marie, but
then shell came through, and I
said, Hey, would you come hear
me sing at the Spence manner? I
do the happy hour there. And he
goes, Yeah, I'll come. He kind
of talks like that. He looks
like a pirate. And so. He does.
He showed up, you know, and I
sang, and I sat down beside him,
and he said, you ever thought
about writing No. First he said,
You got really good voice. And I
was like, oh boy, I'm getting
ready to get discovered, you
know. But then he said, Have you
ever thought about writing
songs? And I said, Well, no, you
know, I've written poems, few
poems in high school, but never
thought about writing songs. He
goes, I think I don't think
about writing songs, you know, a
song you could write your own
direction. And he goes, a song,
something you can keep forever.
And then he said, you know, it
the sun doesn't shine on the
same dog's back every day. And
that kind of stuck with me,
because I knew he meant you
can't have a number one hit
every day. So I said, Well, I
tell you what, I'll go try and
bring you back a couple of
things. And if it, if you think
I've got potential, I'll do it.
So I wound up writing a couple
of acapella songs, and I went
back to him and I sang them and
to him, and he goes, I think he
got away with words, you do? He
said, Yeah. And so I thought,
Okay. So then I was heading up
to Hot Springs, Arkansas,
because my parents, they were
automobile upholsterers, but
they had retired, and they had
bought some lots, and they were
building a couple of houses up
there. So I walked in, one of
them that they had almost
completed. My mother was in the
kitchen. I walked in and she was
standing there, kind of washing
the dishes. She goes, Well, Deb
sugar, what are you up to these
days? And I said, Oh, I'm a
songwriter. This is that simple
shell. Silverstein said, I ought
to think about it, and that I
had a way with words. So I went,
Okay, if Shel Silverstein thinks
it, then I guess I'm a
songwriter.
Yeah, that would be a,
certainly, a
somebody that you would
certainly trust to tell you the
truth, right?
Yeah. And so, I guess the short
answer to your question was, I
thought I was going to be like a
strolling singer, you know, like
a Reba McIntyre or someone like
that. And I still do stroll and
sing a lot, but I had, I had no
idea that I was going to, you
know, ask so much of myself,
which I'm glad I did, because I
didn't even know I had it in me,
you know, learn to play guitar,
brush up on my piano, start
writing songs, and, you know,
it's just been a good life, you
know, it's been an adventurous
life, And the adventure
continues.
Well, you came from Memphis.
What? What kind of me who
inspired you when you were
coming up in Memphis? Who are
your some of your heroes?
Well, of course, we all love
Elvis. That's right, baby.
And every time, every time I
think about it, my lip kind of
curls, the Big E baby. Oh, Jim
had pretty good Elvis over there
this morning too, didn't he?
Yeah, I loved Elvis. But, you
know, I like Jerry Lee Lewis. I
liked, I liked all kinds of
people. I liked country music
too. My, my daddy used to like
to watch the country things, you
know, but then on the way to
school in high school, that we
were always playing rock and
roll and pop the, you know, hot
100 and then I would listen to W
dia, the R B station. I remember
one time in the car with my
girlfriend some song, some great
song, came on the radio. I go,
man, I love that. What is that?
And they go, it's the number one
song, Debra. Look, if you if you
didn't listen to W dia all day
long, you might know what's a
hit. I mean, I've just always
gravitated to a lot of different
styles, but just like great
music and so Oh, Willie
Mitchell. Willie Mitchell, you
know, Al Green, yeah, I loved
all of that. Willie Mitchell was
actually, he worked at this
place called Farber brothers,
which was a automobile
upholstery. They made seat
covers, but they were prefab. My
parents did custom work, and so
sometimes, occasionally they'd
get a customer who wanted a
prefab thing, you know, so my
daddy would call Willie Mitchell
down there at Farber brothers,
and you'd deliver them, and he'd
always say, I'm telling you, Mr.
Thurman, I'm gonna make it
someday. And so he, you know,
and he did. He produced all that
early I can Tina Turner stuff.
He produced Al Green, and then,
but back then he used to have
this club you played at with his
band. Willie played trumpet. And
so he, he said, You, you're you
and Rosetta, need to come over
and come out someday and and
dance at our club? He goes, is
you sure it's okay for me to
come out there? And he goes,
absolutely, come out so they,
they'd go out there. You know,
it's a different time then.
Yeah, but Willie, definitely,
he's he rose to the to the
height of his dreams. You know,
he's no longer with us, but he,
he sure was wonderful, you know,
wonderful. A friend of mine that
I wound up writing a lot of
songs with was his name was
teeny Hodges, Maben Teenie
Hodges. And I got it in my mind
one time I had already moved up
here and had some hits and
everything. And I got it in my
mind I was going, you know,
what? I need to get in touch
with that teeny Hodges. He's
from Memphis. I mean, I need to
connect with him. And so I
called him up, and he said,
Hello. And I said, teeny Hey,
this is Deborah Allen. I'm
calling you from Nashville. He
goes, yep. And I said, Listen,
you know, I'm thinking, you're
from Memphis, I'm from Memphis.
We should meet each other. He
goes, Yeah. And he goes, we have
some mutual friends. And I said,
like, who? He said, Beverly
Sousa list. She's an opera
singer. And I said, Oh yeah, I
remember her. She's wonderful.
And I said, Well, would you like
to come to Nashville and write
some songs with me? And he goes,
Oh yeah, I just got back from
Australia. I said, Okay. I said,
but you probably need to rest
for a couple of weeks first,
right? He goes, Oh no, no, no, I
can be there in two days.
Listen, I said, Who was it that
played Oregon on all those great
Al Green hits? And he said, Oh,
that's my brother Charles, and
he's raring to come up here. So,
I mean, that that started, I
don't know why. Y'all, I guess I
just always get something in my
mind, and the next thing you
know, I'm doing it. Way to get
it done. Yeah, he became one of
my dearest friends before he
ever got up. There I go, teeny
Hodges, we I didn't have my
phone to check it out and see
what he looked like. You know, I
think teeny Hodges. Well, he's
either real teeny tiny, or he
weighs 300 pounds. I didn't know
what to a man named teeny
may not get much action, but
anyway,
oh, we're circle in the drain.
But anyway, so he rang the
doorbell. I lived up on this
hill at that time, and he rings
the doorbell. And I saw him. He
was just teeny tiny, and his
eyes kind of go like that. I
didn't know what he thought
about me till he told me later
on he he had nice things to
think and but we just hit it
off. And I mean, he when
sometimes, when he and Charles
were up there, remember the
movie that Tom Cruise was in
when he had the bobby socks on
and he'd go sliding,
yeah, risky business. Yeah,
risky business. When they
would be in there, they would
wake up earlier and they'd be in
there, like, Charles would turn
his cigarette backward and set
it kind of up on the upper
manual, and he'd be in there
playing that organ, you know,
because he was so cool and
teeny. I don't know what teeny
was doing. He was floating
around somewhere, but I would
hear that music, and I would
come sliding Tom Cruise. It was
really fun. But no, I love
Memphis. A lot of things
inspired me. George Klein
inspired me in Memphis, you
know, because I got to soon as I
turned 16, I got my driver's
license, and I got in my green
barracuda. My daddy was in the
car business, so he was able to
do that, and I went straight
over to whbq and auditioned to
be a WHB cutie, which I did get
hired as, and that was pretty
cool, and that's how I got to be
great friends with George. But
George Klein, years before I was
even old enough to do anything,
he had already told Elvis about
my parents and about their
wonderful talent. My mother's
very creative, and my daddy had
that automobile upholstery shop.
And so he told he, this is
George talking. He said, I'm
telling you, e you need to take
that bus over Leon Thurman's
automobile upholstery shop. They
do some great work. So they did.
Oh, wow, they did. And but I'm
talking too much.
No, no loving. That's why we
wanted to have you here.
Okay, well, so they took it over
there. But along with that bus
came the Memphis mafia. And so
my daddy, not being a real big
guy, he was kind of a, not a big
tall guy, but he went out, he
said, No, look it y'all gonna
have to quit coming around here,
because I can't get any work
done. Y'all causing too big of a
commotion So, but they kept
coming around, so he took the
bus out and brought it to our
house. So when I was probably
about three years old, me and my
sister Judy decided we were
going to camp out in Elvis's
book. So we did so in my show.
Now I have eventually, through
the years, I wound up writing a
song called Amazing Graceland,
which is actually one of my
favorite songs to sing for
everybody. But I'll usually tell
a little bit of that story, and
I'll go, Yeah, I slept in
Elvis's bed, but I
was only three years old. He
wasn't there, but
still, it still counts. That's
right, that's still one you can
put on the resume. So when you
came to Nashville out I for some
reason I cannot picture you
because you're so sweet, but I
can't picture you at hillbilly
central with Waylon and Tom
Paul. Well, I had, I had
a guardian angel, and that was
Marie. There was a guy named
there, Billy Ray, not Billy Ray
Cyrus, it's another Billy Ray.
And. And he was really good look
until you had big hands. Billy
Ray Reynolds, Billy Ray,
Reynolds, I love Billy Ray. In
fact, we wrote a song, and I
have no idea where it is, we
found we finally wrote a song.
We wrote a song called hit
another Homer. Homer. I like it.
Knock it out of the park. But
anyway, I wish I could find it.
It was real cute, but Billy Ray
was always a great friend to me.
But she said, Marie. Said,
because, see, I moved in next
door with Marie. She had a
house, and I had to, I called my
parents, my mother, and I said,
Mother, you're not gonna believe
it, but I'm living next door to,
well, in Jenny's office, and the
lady that I'm living with is so
sweet, so nice, but you're not
gonna believe this. She goes,
what? And I said, her whole
house is wallpapered in the
Sunday funny paper. But she she
later told me one time she said,
I told Billy Ray, he better not
even think about you. He better
not touch you. And I'll go,
Well, I don't know. I think I
was thinking, I can probably
take care of myself, but she was
like, watching over me. But,
yeah, Marie was there. She never
traveled. She was really kind
of, if you heard her talk, you
would think she was really back
woodsy, because she just their
family had a real thick country
accent. Yeah, and, and she
wouldn't, I'd say, you ever
gonna do some traveling or
something? She goes, I don't
want to travel. I'm not going
anywhere. I hate traveling. And
then John Hartford and her
hooked up and got married, and
then you couldn't get her off of
that bus. She traveled. She
became a world traveler. There
you go. And you know, Kyle
Lenning had a studio upstairs,
and then Waylon would be back in
his office. And the brothers,
I'm trying to think Tom Paul and
the glacier brothers, they were
in there all the time. They had
offices in there. And then
upstairs in a little closet,
there was a guy. He was a radio
guy, Captain midnight, Captain
midnight. And I remember going,
he's got a Bunsen burner. He
lives in here.
Yeah, he just kind of hung out
with,
I mean, so I came, I came up
with some great people in the
show. Would blow in town, and
then, you know, I would be
sitting in there with him. I
don't know, they just, I think I
was just their little I don't
know, they just watched over me,
you know? Yeah. But I remember
sitting around there one time,
and they were all sitting there,
just talking up a storm, and I
saw all their feet, and I was
like, feet under the table, feet
under the table. I started
writing a book about that. I
would write about anything.
That's what was really weird
when I had so much fun in the
beginning, just because when he
said, You got away with words. I
did have fun with words, you
know. But my words, you know,
and when I would write stuff,
especially if I wrote something
a cappella, I think I cannot
wait till my musicianship
catches up with my voice,
because this is fun, but I don't
think I'm gonna be singing any
of this on stage. So it took a
while for me to groom it all and
blend it all together, where I
felt like I had something that I
could really run with, you know,
and stand on stage and sing.
Now I'm real curious about, as
Johnny has already mentioned,
the Jim Reeves duets that you
did. And of course, Jim Reeves
had passed many years prior to
those, those recordings coming
out. How did those come about?
And whose idea was that to to
pair you up with a deceased
legend?
I know, I know Don cook one time
says, Yeah, you ought to do an
album Deb called Deborah Allen
and the dead boys sound
like a good punk band.
Well, you know, I used to hang
out, even though I was a writer
with Jerry Crutchfield at MCA.
Oh, wow, yeah. I hung out a lot
at tree publishing down there
with Don Gant and all of those
guys, you know. And there was a
song plugger that used to be
there, named Dan Wilson, and he
was having a number one party
out at his house. And of course,
he invited all the writers. And
you know, there were a lot of
other people there too. And you
know, I don't know if they still
do that around town now, but we
used to have what they call
guitar pools, yes, yeah. So
you'd be sitting in a room, and
if they pass you the guitar, you
had to sing something. So I
didn't have that many songs at
that time, but it's funny, I
had, basically, I had two and I
would sing, I would I had, I
would sing, goodbye, love. I
can't remember which one I do
first. And then Don Gail would
say, No, I think he had first
had me do dirty old man. I had a
song called dirty old man. I'm
in love with a dirty old man.
And because you say sing dirty
old man, dude, not sing dirty
old man. He go, now do your
other one. So anyway, so I
qualified for the guitar pool,
and so I sang a couple of songs
at night, and I didn't think a
thing about it. And I guess les
Ladd was there. He was the
engineer out at Woodland studio,
and he called me up and he said,
Debra, hey, this is Liz LED. And
he said, you know, Bud Logan,
heard you sing last night, and
he loved your voice. And he was
wondering, would you be
interested in doing some duets
with Jim Reeves? And I said, You
mean like Jim Reeves put your
sweet lips a little closer to
the phone? And he said, Yeah.
And I said, but I would love to,
but isn't he no longer with us?
He said, Right, he's deceased.
He goes, but we're gonna, let's
do this brand new technology.
It's never been used before.
It's called an overdubbing
technology, and we're going to
take your voice and we're going
to put pull his off and put you
on there with it. So we were
actually the first ones to do
that, even before Natalie Cole
and her dad, yeah. And so I was
honored, you know, to get to do
that. And then Joe Galante,
being the marketing genius that
he was, he said, I tell you what
we're going to do. We're not
going to put your name on there.
We're just going to call you The
Mystery Girl. Since nobody knows
who you are, they'll never guess
it. No one can win the contest.
Because I do remember when that
came out, we, all of us at the
radio station, were going, who
this girl's got a great voice. I
recall that too.
She, yeah, don't let me cross
over. Loves cheating line, and
let's see, oh how I miss you
tonight. That was my favorite.
Thank you when. And one of my
personal favorite, I loved that
one because it did so well and
it was fun to sing too. But one
that I had an actual moment in
the studio on was I was in
Woodland studio. The lights were
black in the studio. There was
just this little light over my
lyrics, and I could see Mary
Reeves and bliss and and Bud
Logan in there, like in the
studio, but that's all. They
were far away. Was just me and
that light the lyrics and I
started singing with Jim. That's
what happens when two worlds
collide. And I just got chills
over and, oh, my god, two worlds
are colliding. He's up there and
I'm down here. Oh, thank you.
Oh, my gosh, I'll never forget
this moment. And yeah, and I
think that he and Roger, let's
see Bill Anderson and and Roger
Miller wrote that song together.
I'm pretty sure they were the
writers.
And can you imagine that night
with Roger Miller and and and
Bill Anderson writing together?
Oh yeah, that that had to be a
team. I've written songs with
Bill. We had a lot of fun
writing we and then, of course,
I knew Roger Miller out in in
when I lived out in California,
in LA in fact, he had a big
party out at his house, and me
and my friends wound up over
there at Rogers. And they, they
and they, they got me to stand
in the middle of their gazebo
and sing my one of my acapella
songs, which was my mother and
daddy song, and it was, I
remember that being a sweet
moment. Then we went in there,
and one of the other guys, who
happened to be Jim Stafford,
they started trading, quipped
back and forth and songs and
stuff. And in my mind, I was
thinking, I think Rogers for
some reason, because Roger was
on fire that night. He was on
fire, but I was just a kid, so I
didn't open my mouth. I was
thinking. I was just thinking to
myself,
yeah, I got to work with Roger.
You know, when he did big river
the Broadway show, you know,
MCA. MCA had the soundtrack for
that, okay? And we actually took
radio to the Eugene O'Neill
Theater in New York to see the
play, and and I got to kind of
hang with Roger Miller a little
bit. He was, he was an
interesting cat. Oh, he was a
character, yeah. He was, he was
funny, yeah. And I always loved
him when I was little, so it was
really cool to to kind of be
around him and lost him so young
we did. I absolutely loved him.
He was a total gentleman, and I
loved his wife. Of course, I
love his son. Everything about
Roger Miller, I loved and
admired, you know? I, I was
always around some really
quirky, brilliant thinkers, you
know, and that was entertaining
me so much, you know, all the
time in my mind, and inspiring
me and setting the bar high.
Now, you know, when you got your
songwriting deal publishing
companies, what have you, I
mean, were you one of the only
women on the on the songwriting
team, if you will. I mean, what
was it like then?
A lot of guys, Dave, Dave
Loggins, he was, he was like a
big brother to me. There he was,
Oh, he got me into trouble.
He taught me how to be
independent at
the publishing. Company. But no,
there were a lot of guys, but,
and I was, I would, you know, I
think girls were starting to
float in, but I was maybe the
only girl. Tanya Tucker would
come by sometime, because Jerry
produced her.
But, I mean, please come to
Boston, one of the greatest
songs, Oh, and there's only one
Dave Loggins, and no one can
phrase like Dave. Nobody could
sing that song like he. Nobody
could. I was around at that time
when he wrote that song, but by
then he had gotten to be an
executive too for a little while
at at the company. And I said, I
got all these songs and I don't
know what to do with them. And
he said, You know what you need
to do, Deb. He goes, what I just
do, do what I'm telling you? I
said, Okay. He goes, call up,
book a studio, book some
musicians, and book you a
session. And I said, Okay. And
he said, Let him talk to you
afterwards about it. And I went,
Okay, that's what I'm gonna do.
So I did it. And then I got
called in. Jerry says, I needed
to talk to you about this. You
know, you know how Jerry talks.
He kind of talks like Robert F
Kennedy a bit, but not quite as
he didn't. Wasn't quite as bad.
And my mother has that same
thing, so I'm very familiar with
it, because my friends used to
call it and say we called your
house and your mother was
crying. I go, Oh, no, that's
just how she talks. So I booked
the session, and I turned it in,
and Jerry was kind of upset with
me, and he said, What gave you
the idea that you could do that?
And I said, Well, I said, first
of all, guess what? One of
them's already been cut, and
it's on its way to becoming a
number one song. That was, Don't
worry about me, baby. Yes, I
said, so I think I made a pretty
good executive decision, and he
goes, Well, you're not going to
do that again, are you? And I
said, I can't promise that,
because, you know, he goes, he
goes. And I just floored him,
and I floored myself. I couldn't
believe I was doing it. I don't
know what got into me, but I
said, Well, after all, you're
the vice president of MCA
Records, I'm the president of
Posey publishing stuff like
that. I've surprised myself all
my life. But you know what? I
don't know. I just said that,
and he loved me for it, but I
did do it one more time, and I
don't think I did it anymore
after that, because it did kind
of upset him.
But so what was his problem with
that? Yeah, well, because you
have
to ask permission, but I had
been asking permission, and I
wasn't getting to Oh, yeah, and
he said to me, and I love Jerry
was one of the greatest mentors
and business partners I ever
had, but he said, You're
supposed to bring the songs in
Deborah and let them get
approved. And that's when I
think I said, Yeah, but you're
the vice president. I'm the
president. And people like Don
cook and shell Silverstein, they
approved them, and I'm the
president, so I approve and so,
you know,
in fact, you wanted to put that
song out yourself. Did you know
which one that one Jamie
fricking,
well, I did cut that song, yeah.
And I did really like it a lot,
and I probably would have put it
out, but she did. But you might
be also thinking about the one
that I put out recently hurt me
bad in a real good way. Yeah,
yeah, because that is the one
that Patty put out. Yeah. Patty
put that out because Tony Brown
called me. I was no longer on
RCA, and I was kind of in
between deals, and I was
gathering me some new songs, and
Tony calls and says, Hey, Deb,
what's going on? I said, Oh,
just working on some stuff. He
said, I heard a song that of
yours, and I love it. He was,
you ought to be recording this.
I said, Well, I would, and I'm
probably will, but I'm not. I
don't have my deal together yet.
I'm just gathering my songs. And
so he said, Well, what would you
think if, if I told if Patty
loveless wanted to cut it, I
said, Are you kidding me, I
would absolutely love that. And
he said, well, great, because
she loves it and she wants you
to sing on it with her. So, you
know, once I sang on the song
with Patty and she took it to
number one, I thought, I'm not
touching that. It can't get any
better than this. But after so
many years, and I had this new
deal partnership with star Vista
records, and they have some of
my songs that they're, you know,
working with on the internet,
well, on especially YouTube. And
they said, Have you got anything
you had never released before? I
was like, Well, I never did put
out hurt me bad in a real good
way. They said, let's put that
out there. So I did, very cool,
yeah, but it's been so long ago.
In fact, I got a really nice
quote from Tony Brown and from
Patty Lovelace on it too. And
some other people,
and you also, a lot of people
don't know this. Maybe you. You
also did a song that prince
wrote under a under a different
name, Joey, yeah,
yeah, yeah, tell us about that.
Um, well, I was recording out in
California. I was at Sunset
Sound. And Sunset Sound is a
very super cool place. It's a
really state of the art
recording studio, and it's, it's
a compound built around a
basketball court, and it's so
much fun. And, you know, people
be out there playing basketball
all throughout the day, and But
one night, when I was in my
little studio, I had to go the
bathroom. So I had to go over to
the office. And I went across
the basketball court, went into
the office, and I came out. I
was zipping my I had that music
over my mind, you know. And I
was coming out thinking about
the music. I was zipping my
jeans up walking along, and I
saw this ball go rolling by, and
I kind of skipped over to it and
picked it up and turned around,
and oh, excuse me. I thought you
were going to be with my group.
It was Prince. Oh my gosh, oh my
gosh. I'd never dreamed I'd meet
Prince, and I didn't. I knew he
was in this other studio, yeah,
but I didn't want to go over
there and hang out. I didn't
want to go around on him, you
know, so but so I went on back
to my studio. And so I heard,
once again, that there was going
to be an executive turnover at
my label. And so the big dogs,
the new big dogs, showed up, and
when they did. It was a studio
about this size in the control
room, and there was a little bit
more room out there, but not a
whole lot. And so I don't know,
I just got kind of like, kind of
sweating all over there, sitting
there, listening to my stuff. So
I'll be right back. I'm gonna go
get some coffee. So I leave and
I go get some coffee, and then I
come back out with my coffee
cup, and by that night, I was
all decked out. I had on a
yellow suede jacket splattered
with black and silver paint. My
hair was like up over here. And
so I walk out, and there's
Prince in a matching beautiful
silk shirt with silk bell
bottoms and platform shoes,
boots to match. And he's sitting
there shooting some hoops. So I
kind of lean up against the wall
with my cup, and I say, Oh,
that's a good one. Oh, shoot.
And then I like, that was a good
one. Then he kind of dribbles
the wall back there, ball back
to me, and I look over at him,
and I say, I like your outfit.
And he goes, likewise. That's
all he said to me. But even in
that moment, I did recognize the
beauty of Prince. His face was
prettier than any woman. His
eyelashes were longer than Vince
gills. He was just an adorable
person. And even with this
platform shoes, I and this
doesn't happen very often, but I
was still taller than him. He's
pretty short fella. Yeah, he
was, but he was adorable. So I
go back in, and they go, Well,
we think we can run with this,
but we need to do a two, a
couple more cuts, you know. And
so we'll be working on that.
We'll get back with you and all
that echo. Okay, so I go home to
Nashville, and I go into my
kitchen, and I'm sitting there
in my kitchen, and I just like,
Oh God, please help me. What
should I do now, you know,
because I got switched to the
pop roster, really, without even
knowing. It sort of a deal that
happened. I wasn't even there. I
sort of got traded like a
baseball card. So I thought,
Okay, I'm gonna go for it, you
know. But all of a sudden, when
I was saying that to God, I got
this spark in my head. It was
like, well, you met the genius
of our time. Just write him a
letter. So I wrote him a letter
said, dear prince, my name is
Deborah Allen. We met briefly on
the basketball court at Sunset
Sound. We've had an executive
turnover at RCA, and I was
thinking it would be merely
wonderful if you and I might
work together in some capacity.
I've enclosed a cassette which
shows you how long ago it was, a
cassette of what I'm working on
my current work. If, when you
have time, please take a listen.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely. Deborah Allen, so I
overnighted it out to the studio
and coke Johnson was his. Was
his engineer, so I just mailed
it to cope Johnson. And I mean,
lo and behold, like two or three
days later, after I had
overnighted it, I get this call
from Coke, and he goes, the
phone rings. I go, Hello, and he
says, Hey, dude, Coke Johnson
here. I said, Hey, coke, how's
it going? He goes, good. He
goes, Well, I'm I got a song
here. I want to mail it to you.
Prince wrote it for you, and I
just wanted. Know where to mail
it to. And I went, I don't know
why I didn't go. I said, Well,
that's cool. I said, Oh, come
on. Now, cope, tell me the
truth. I said, Is it really a
brand new song, or is it
something he already had, kind
of laying around? He goes, No,
it's brand new. I was in the
studio when he wrote it for you
know, it really, he said, yeah,
like I was going to turn it down
if it wasn't brand new. No, I
was thrilled. I was so thrilled.
Well, it showed up, and I just
was so excited. I made me a
great big bathtub full of water.
I had this boom box and I had
his cassette, and I put it right
up here behind my head, like
this. And he kind of doodles,
like I do. He doodles a lot, you
know, he's kind of so I think
we've got that in common. So
anyway, so I was in there. I was
laying in there just listening
to it and everything, and then
I'd hit play, and it go to the
end. Then I'd hit reverse, and
just sitting there listening to
it over and over and over, and
all of a sudden, one time I hit
recording, I went, No, much of a
big a little bitty one, but now,
oh and he wrote all the lyrics.
The reason I know he wrote it at
Sunset Sound, because on the
back of the tracking sheet at
Sunset Sound, that's where he
wrote the whole song out of four
pages. So I have it
framed really, oh, it's gonna
say, yeah, that's something you
definitely want to hang on.
Yeah, I do.
I have it there, so, yeah, I
mean, that's what I mean, I've
been so blessed to get to do
some unusual things, you know,
like
you had a big show recently at
the Franklin theater I did. And,
you know, you mentioned your mom
a little bit ago, she sounds
like an amazing woman. She just
celebrated her 100th birthday.
She certainly did. She's my best
friend. I absolutely adore my
mother. In fact, you know, I
told you about her voice,
because of that going on with
her voice when she was carrying
me, she always prayed. She said,
You know, I think because that
was going on with my voice,
Mother, I always pray for my
babies to be healthy, but with
you, I would always add on the
end, like, Oh, and please let
this baby have a strong voice.
And, you know, so, I mean, we
just have that deep connection.
But yeah, so I'm her youngest
daughter, and we just have a
great connection. And so, you
know, I remember her 90th
birthday, and then, then here
she is at 100 years old, you
know. And there were some health
challenges along the way, and I
was like, just, I just wanted
her to make it, you know, that's
what I wanted. But she's still
beautiful. She has a boyfriend
named Ed. He's 12 years younger
than her, wow. And he drives
over from nolensville Almost
every night of the week. He has
a big red truck, and he just
drives over and comes over
around six o'clock, they eat
dinner, watch their favorite TV
shows, and then around 11,
excuse me. Around 1130 he'll go,
Well, I guess I'll get my own
ugly ass back. So he's so sweet.
I love I love it. He's a great
guy. He's turned he's turned out
to be the perfect companion
mother has been for him too. Ed
is a kind of an inventive man.
He can do just about anything.
He can flip houses. He can work
on cars. He's done a lot of
things in his life. And he's
just real plain spoken, you
know, and as as you can gather
by that last comment, but I said
I was at my mother's house one
day, and I said, What's this
mother? And she goes, Oh, that's
my birthday card from Ed. And I
said, Do you mind if I read it?
She's no, go ahead, so I'll pick
it up. Oh, mother.
I said, you bring the Poetry Out
of Ed.
But that can't be my I put that
on.
Don't. Well, that's all right.
You're popular. People want to
talk to you.
It's Raymond's girlfriend again.
I told her not to call anymore.
Well, speaking of potential
spam,
but you have a fellow That's
mighty Yeah, he's mighty fond.
I do y'all to interview him. He
but you better have to do it
after midnight, though. Oh yeah,
because he was, he was Mel
Tillis first tour manager. Then
he went to work with Oak Ridge
Boys. Then he worked with Hank
JR and everybody you can think
of. So he's got some stories.
Raymond Hicks.
I've always heard that's where
the music of statue came from.
Somebody yelled fire on Hank
Junior's butt. I've always
heard,
yeah, there's he's got so many
stories, I practically got them
all numbered, except for the
ones I don't know about.
Well, you could probably get
some money out of some people.
Yeah, you could probably, yeah,
I won't write the book, if
you'll just,
Raymond always says, I'm waiting
to write the book. Some people
got it. I'll not everybody's
that. What is it you say? Yeah,
wait for some people to die
first. And there was
speaking of my wife this
morning, when I was coming in,
she said, You know, I love
Deborah Allen, really? Yeah,
she, she, you know. And I think
that's, that's and I hope this,
this doesn't, I hope I don't
turn you off here, but to me,
you remind me of like Dolly
Parton. You've got a great
personality. Thank you. You are
you. And as she put it, she
said, she is so pretty. And I
said, Well, honey, she's pretty,
but not as pretty as you are.
And she said, Oh yes, she is.
She's pretty.
Listen and you said, My wife
loves you, as I was thinking to
myself, well, then I already
love her.
Well, she does. She said, she is
so nice. She goes even on
Facebook. She said, I'll say
something. And she replies to
me, nobody ever does that too.
Yeah, I try to do that. Well,
that is and by the way, about
Dolly, no, listen to me that
that's a huge compliment. I
mean, she's from East Tennessee
and I'm from Memphis, but I
guess being in Nashville, yeah,
it's our accents are similar,
but there's only one Dolly
Parton and and the i i admire
her, and I admire her
generosity. For you know, with
the children's books, yes, then
I don't I saw it on I saw it on
Facebook, and I hope it's true.
You can't believe everything
that's on Facebook. No, I
believe it's true that some,
someone said that she gave $2
million to the Charlie cart
foundation.
I can believe it. I can believe
that. I can believe. But yeah,
you, both of you, you just have
this quality about you that, you
know, men find you beautiful,
but the women don't feel don't
feel threatened. Yeah?
That makes me happy. Yeah? Well,
I love everybody. Women are men,
you know, or whatever, whatever
they whoever it is, I just, you
know, it takes a lot to make me
not love somebody, and I'm gonna
love them, even if I might not
like them for a second or two.
Well, see, we get that from you.
We you just, you just exude
such. I mean, I've always felt
that way anytime I've seen you
sing or anytime, you know,
anytime I hear you the
you know, there's a sincerity
and a genuine warmth to you. And
it really, you know, really
does, does come across. What?
What are you doing now that that
folks can, can find your music,
find where you may be appearing.
What can folks do?
Well, my most recent album I
still really do love. It's
called The Art of dreaming, is
believing, and it was on audio
records. And actually, something
cool about that is, there's a
high school down in Alabama, in
Florence, Alabama, that they
they chose that song as their,
like their, what's the word
inspiration song for the year,
you know, so and now they're
having me back down to come down
and sing it again. And I'm also
going to be writing a song and
performing something for the
Olympics that the people there
are involved with that that's I
enjoy doing things like that.
I've got a lot of shows coming
up, and plus, like I mentioned,
Star Vista, I'm super excited
about that because, you know, I
am very involved on my Facebook,
and I'm not going to stop doing
that, and I need to get more
involved on my Instagram and my
Tiktok and my there's so much,
so much, So that's one thing
that I'm looking forward to with
them is they've got, you know,
social media person who can help
me organize some things. But I'm
still, I had a social media
person one time when I was on
another record label, and in
fact, it was with Audubon. They
were super sweet, and he was
super sweet, but it's, it was
like twice the work, because I'd
have to take my picture, send
them to him, and he would do
something with them, and then I
would look at it, and I'd have
to call him up and say, I really
like that. It looks really good.
But that is not exactly
something I would say, you know?
I mean, you know what? I mean,
yes, it's hard to get someone
that gets you enough. So, I
mean, I'm gonna always be
involved in what I'm doing, I
just can't imagine not being
that
way, right? Yeah, but you guys,
y'all make everybody have so
much fun and be so welcome. I
saw something y'all did with
Wade Hayes.
Yes, that's right, yeah, we had
Wade on here a while back, and
he's a good buddy. What a good
dude. I love that guy.
Love him. He's wonderful. And he
was telling his story about his
health issue.
Oh, we're lucky to have him. And
thank God. He went for another
another, another opinion.
And he was so young to have
that, you know, yeah, but one
time I had an issue, and Raymond
was so scared. And I was too,
and he put it on internet. And I
said, don't put it on the
internet. What if I don't die?
But
I did. I had, I had this thing.
Here it was. I was singing at I
did 25 Christmas shows at
fontanelle and my friend, she
was helping me change clothes.
And I go, I've got a little
bitty, tiny knot right here
under my jaw. Feel of it. She
goes, have you had, have you had
a virus lately? And I went, No.
I said, but when I had a real
big note, it doesn't hurt, it
just kind of drags me down, you
know? And I said, I'm gonna go
see about it after the first of
the year. So go to see about it,
and they take a biopsy. And I
was just like, having so much
fun. I go, that didn't even hurt
because they put lidocaine on
it, yeah. And then after, I was
like, Well, what'd you find? He
goes, Well, I'm not a doctor. I
can't tell you, but I'll tell
you one thing I do know. And I
said, what that? He said, I
don't like the way that felt.
And I went, Oh, okay, so it's a
story. It's a story. It turned
out that I had this thing. It
was, well, no, the doctor calls
up and he said, You've got
metastatic carcinoma. And I
said, What's that? He called me.
He didn't even meet with me in
person. He calls me and and I
said, What's that? And he goes,
it means you've got a cancerous
tumor right there, and it's
coming from somewhere. It's all
gathered there, and it's coming
from somewhere else. And I went,
oh no. And when you said that, I
started kind of getting dizzy. I
said, Hold on. I want to call my
husband. I call Raymond. I said,
Raymond, get on here. I want to
connect you. So we connected.
And I said, now tell tell
Raymond what you just told me.
And he told him. So we hung up,
and then Raymond calls me back,
because I tell you what we're
gonna do. I said, What's that?
He said, we're gonna call right
pen. Now, the only reason I'm
even taking time to tell you
this is so fun about the way God
works in our lives, because we
used to just go have so much fun
at country in the Rockies, and
there was a band there called
Soul incision with a bunch of
doctors. And so we would all get
up there. Yeah, we would, we
would entertain. We would
entertain all the different very
wealthy people all throughout
the day, go skiing with them.
You know, do all this, have all
these auctions and everything,
but the real fun was at night
with dull incision. So we'd get
up and have fun. Yeah, Heidi,
Heidi and I got up, you know,
one night, she had her
harmonica, and we were just
getting wild and having fun,
just all kinds of fun stuff and
but he wound up being the vice
chancellor. He was a doctor, a
surgeon. He wound up being the
vice chancellor at at
Vanderbilt. So Raymond calls him
up and says, right. And he told
him what the doctor had said. He
goes, there's only one doctor I
would ever he said, the head of
our otolaryngology department.
That's Dr James netterville.
That's who she needs to see.
That's who I would send my
people come from all over the
world to see him. So he said,
Okay, now, in the meantime, I
went over to see my friend
Millie Taylor, who she I met at
a garage sale at my house,
because I live on a road where
you can just throw a sign out
anytime, and people start coming
over, and I've met some great
friends that way. So I met up
with Millie mother, and I did.
And then few years went by and
we didn't see her. And then we
connected again, one time. And
so I knew where she was. She was
at New Beginnings, and so but
after I heard that news, I was
so freaked out about it, because
I looked up what the procedure
would be. The procedure on this
would be they would operate on
you. They would go in and they
would take it out, yeah, and
that's what that doctor said. I
said, so you just could put a
little tiny incision in and pop
that little thing out, right?
And he goes, Oh no, it'll
probably be five or six inch
scar. It'll be kind of wavy, but
we can tattoo it. It'll be okay.
And I went, Oh God, so I'd find
myself walking down the street
seeing couples in love, and I
go, I hope I'm going to be here
this time next year. Oh, my God,
it was. It's just weird how your
mind starts seeing the fragility
of life when you know something
could happen like that. And then
the other thing I was very
interested in this surgery, that
the real surgery, what they do
is they go in and they take it
out, and then, if they can, and
then they take it out, and then
your neck will sink in. And then
they have to take fat from your
stomach area and build your neck
back up, but 90% of the time,
then your face is going to droop
forever. And I was walking along
going, the devil's trying to
steal my smile. The devil's
trying to steal my smile. God.
And so, so I was so scared, but
I went to see so I went to see
Millie, and I was soon as I
walked in the door, she said,
Deborah, what's wrong? I said,
Millie. They say, you know. And
went into all the details. She
said a prayer for me right away.
And then she said, I'm going to
help you. So she does all kinds
of holistic things. And she did
do that. She took care of me.
She was all kinds of things that
she did to help me. And so I
went to see Dr netterville, and
I told him what was going on.
And he said, Now, Deborah, I
said, I really just, I've got
shows I have to do Dr
netterville, and I need to do
this. He says, Well, it's slow
growing right now. He said, so
I'll say yes, but I hope you're
not going to do like that. Other
man came in here the other
night, and in my mind there was
this man in a chair. He looked
like elephant man. His head was
all swollen. His tongue was
hanging out. And I remember when
I walked into that place, I
thought, this is where I would
come back when I was with
country in the Rockies, I was an
entertainer to cheer everybody
up. Now I'm one of the people
that needs help. And you know,
what else it brings to I'm
hurry, and I know I'm taking too
long. But look, one thing that
it made me realize. It made me
realize that, you know, a lot of
times when someone's sick and
you go, Oh, I'm going to pray
for you. You know, well, that
takes on a whole brand new
meaning. You hope they really
do. And I know that I did have
some great prayers. But anyway,
I said, Dr, he goes, I hope
you're not going to go out to
Arizona and spend $150,000
because that man that just left
here. I could have helped him
six months ago. Now I don't
think I can. I said, Dr
naderville, I couldn't do that
if I wanted to. I said, all I
want to do is go do these shows
and keep doing this stuff with
Millie that I'm doing. You know?
I said, and I didn't tell him
everything we were doing because
I was afraid it would make him
not like it. But I just said,
I'm just drinking a lot of green
juice and doing, you know this
and that, and it wasn't anything
much more than that, but I don't
care to go into all the details
right now, but, but anyway, so
we did a lot of things to get me
well. And he said, Well, I don't
know. I've never heard of any
green juice dissolving that. But
he goes, you can try it for a
little while. Then one night,
out of the blue, he called me
up. It was about eight o'clock
at night, and he goes, Deborah,
what are we doing? I said, Well,
you're going to Africa to teach
doctors how to do surgery, and
I'm still drinking green juice.
And he goes, now, Deborah, he
goes, You need to be in my
operating room on Friday, my
personal operating room. He
goes, and because I do not want
to go out of the country without
taking care of you. And he goes,
and if, if we wait much longer,
it's just going to make my job
more difficult, which I knew
what he meant. He meant that it
might make my face, you know,
right, droop. So I was sitting
there on the steps, just kind of
going back and forth like this.
And I was again, thinking, the
devil's trying to steal my
smile. The Devil's all of a
sudden, Dr netterville said,
Deborah, I pray for wisdom every
day. And I went, I pray for
wisdom every day. That's it. I
said, I've been waiting for a
sign. I've been saying, God,
don't whisper that still small
voice. I want to hear that. Just
scream at me. I said, when you
said that, I heard it. I said,
Okay, Dr naderville, I'll do it.
I said, But now listen, you
know, we've seen that thing. And
I said, that tumor is just on
the back end of my submandibular
gland. And I'm a singer. I need
to keep that submandibular
gland. Can't you just take off
the bad part? He goes, Oh, look
at that. And I thought he was
just being nice. So I go to the
well, the next when I Friday
rolls around, and I get myself
ready, and the next thing, you
know, I'm in the kitchen with
Raymond, and I start having a
meltdown, and I start crying and
going, I don't want to go. I
don't want to go. And then about
that time, my sister came in
like a baby rooster, going, what
is going on in here? And and she
goes, she's having a meltdown.
And she said, Debra Lynn, you
better go get in that car. You
know, good and well, you will
not have a good outcome if you
if you're going like that. And I
was like, I know, so we're
driving down the road heading to
Vanderbilt, and I say, I'm not
scared of this operation.
Raymond, he's like, you could
have fooled me. No, no, I trust
Dr netterville. I said, it's
just the after effect. I just
hope and pray my face doesn't
droop and so, you know what? We
did, that operation. He took a
picture of it. I've got pictures
of it. No one wants to see him.
Anyway, I did look like a
science project, for sure. And
anyway, that was too long for
that story, but it all came out.
Great. He came. In, and he said
I was still very loopy, because
I told him to put me way out.
And when he came in, he said,
Deborah, got great news. No
cancer, no chemo, no radiation.
I went, That's good. He goes,
No, that's wonderful. Debra, oh,
and guess what? And I said,
What? He said, I did what you
suggested. And I'm like, What
did I suggest? Because I only
took out the part that was bad,
and I've never done that before,
so, but you know the thing?
Okay? I guess I got too
comfortable here, and I ran
well, no, that's fine. Here's
the thing about it. Here's what
I was just gonna say. It's just
like a patchwork quilt. How do
you never know when you meet
someone new? You never know when
you meet someone new, how
they're going to figure into
your life later on. Like, who
would have known that one of the
musicians in soul incision would
be the Vice Chancellor of a
chancellor of Vanderbilt, and
who would have known that a lady
I met at my garage sale would
have her own little holistic
company and helping people, and
that she would help me so much,
and then it just those were the
people I needed in my life, and
they were there before I even
knew that I needed. Very true
that's just a story that I guess
that's one reason I do love
people, because you never know
what people are going through,
and you never well. Every person
you meet is a gift, really?
Yeah, they are.
They really are. Well, and two,
let me just tell you this, the
devil is not going to steal your
smile because you have too much
God around you, and it comes
through and too much smile.
That's right. Thank you very
much. Well, I really appreciate
you joining us. On, on circling
the drain. You definitely
brought up the place and and let
us know too, when you're going
to be playing. I will nearby
because, well, we'll make it a
night out for the three J's.
Well, I'll come out and see you.
Oh yeah. And let me tell you, at
that 100th year birthday party,
my mother wound up getting, she
wound up getting a letter for a
proclamation from a state
senator, all right, Senator pote
and the Speaker of the House,
and a letter from Governor Lee,
and thanks to Martha Blackburn,
mother, got a beautiful letter
from President Trump, I can tell
you. So I mean, it was really
wonderful. And at the Opry,
Larry Gatlin gave her, gave her
three dozen roses, and Raymond
rolled her out in the circle,
and he got everyone to sing
happy birthday. It was just so
special. You know, I was, you
know, I had even more things
planned for mother, but I think
I did. I think you did good. I
think I did pretty good.
I think rated PG for pretty
good. Yeah, there you go.
PG, now, what's really good is
PDG, oh yeah. Pretty dang good.
Well, this was pretty dang good.
We appreciate you being here
very much, very much, and we we
wish you a continued success in
everything you do. And thank you
for bringing Raymond today. Oh
yeah, he's been my Facebook
friend forever. I finally get to
meet him.
You know what? Y'all I'm
serious, if y'all got it after
hours, would call, break call.
Well, that's the only fans one
will do with Raymond, but
anyway, be sure and join us next
time on circling the drain. You.