Danny O’Keefe – The trick as an artist is to figure out how to be continually creative

IV. THAT SONG JUST CAME THROUGH ME AS A GIFT

ND: Getting back to the music, and specifically your signature song — is there one particular version of “Goodtime Charlie’s Got The Blues” that is the most dear to you of the dozens that have been recorded?

DO: I don’t think there’s one, but there are several that, whenever I think of it, I come back to them. I of course loved Mel Torme singing it on “Night Court”. Particularly now that he’s gone, you know, it’s very touching. Cab Calloway singing it — I mean, I’d loved Cab Calloway from the moment I saw him as a kid. And to have him record one of my songs was, like, I can’t tell you what a thrill.

I liked Waylon’s version of it because Waylon made it his own. He didn’t just sit down and try to copy my version; he did it Waylon style, which I thought was really great. I loved Elvis having cut it. Basically, the guy who had played rhythm guitar on my version was one of the Memphis regulars, and took it to him. It wasn’t one of his greatest hits or anything like that, but, still, I got an Elvis cut.

ND: Have you ever noticed a connection between “Goodtime Charlie” and “Luckenbach Texas”? There’s a guitar riff that’s pretty similar.

DO: Um, god, I don’t know; I haven’t heard that song for awhile. I once got accused by Sam Peckinpah of having stole it from Kris Kristofferson. Which floored me, to say the least. Considering that when I wrote it I had never heard of Kris Kristofferson. The song that he thought [was being mimicked] was “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, which, I suppose there is a similarity to it. But, I mean, it was great, at least I got to say I was insulted by Sam Peckinpah! (Laughs)

ND: Some people who have a song like that will always play it live, while others will hardly ever play it, trying to distance themselves from being identified with one big hit. Do you fall into either camp?

DO: Well, you always have that tag — which is really a slap in the face, but it’s the truth to a certain degree — of being a one-trick pony, or a one-hit wonder. But I still particularly have a great deal of pride in that song. It was one of the first songs I ever wrote.

ND: How old were you when you wrote it?

DO: Uh, 25, I think. I hadn’t yet gone down to L.A. I was hanging out with the Daily Flash [a ’60s Seattle psychedelic folk-rock group], and they had just gotten their big record contract and they were heading to L.A., and I was completely broke, not on welfare but pretty damn close. Literally being the starving artist. And that song just came through me as a gift. I always play it. I play it primarily as an encore, but I always play it. Interestingly enough, there are people in the audience that know “The Road” but don’t know “Goodtime Charlie”.

ND: Because of “The Road” and some other songs you’ve had covered by well-known artists, there’s a little less of the one-trick pony reputation in your case.

DO: Yeah. And I’ve tried not to work exclusively behind that record — you know, having that be the promotional tie, or going out on some kind of oldies-but-goodies thing. I don’t think anybody would hire me for that anyway, but it’s the kiss of death. If you’re not being appreciated for your current work, then you’ve gotta find another line.