Bright Firebolt

 Song 664: This week the playlist recognizes White Lightning by George Jones, written by J. P. Richardson, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. During the 1960s, as I went through my second decade, my family would regularly visit the Ohio relatives every other summer, and on our sojourns to Bowling Green, I would get to listen to some of country music's most popular songs from that era, including this striking shiner. I knew that the lyrics on this wild ride referred to an illegal form of alcohol, and my fundamentalist parents and grandparents would have morally disapproved of such a beverage, but when the tune came along in the middle of a bunch of other ones, I soon figured out that if I didn't draw attention to the piece's subject matter, my folks would probably never notice it. I had not known until I researched the history of the hit that its writer had used the name The Big Bopper as a performer, and that he did not get to know about Mr. Jones' success with the number because he had died a few days before GJ's record got released. This particular jaunt inspired a ramble that I wrote in my twenties, back in the 1970s, that I titled Moonshine Man, and you can hear a rough cut video of that song on YouTube by clicking on the title. I personally have never felt a desire to taste that powerful stuff, though I understand why some people do, but in my case, I'd rather not have my eyes bugged out and my face turned blue.