Excuse Me (I Think I’ve Got a Heartache)

A few years after college, when I was young and stupid, I used to wait tables at Blueberry Hill in the U-City Loop near Wash U’s campus in Saint Louis. In those days, we drank for free while we were on the clock and drank for half price when we weren’t, so I’d entertain myself during long shifts by drinking as much as I could and playing the same songs over and over again on the jukebox.

The jukebox was filled with hundreds of great tracks, but I had a few standbys that always managed to get me going and annoy the living hell out of the rest of the staff. They were, in no particular order, Someday by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot, Running Bear by Billy Preston, and I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail by Buck Owens. The last two were particularly successful in driving my co-workers up a wall because within moments of the opening beats, everyone knew what song was playing.

I’ve…..got….a…. tiger by the tail, it’s plain to see.
I won’t be much when you get through with me.

By the end of my tenure there, they had instituted a kill switch for the jukebox and eighty-sixed the free drinks policy altogether.

Buck Owens died Saturday at the age of 76.

While I can’t forget his turn hosting Hee-Haw, and I’ll remember him for the sound he pioneered, I’ll remember him most for the joy that he gave while I worked at Blueberry Hill.

Thanks, Buck. I’ll miss you.

• Listen to I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail
• Listen to Big in Vegas