[Dixielandjazz] True Duck Story: with musical content:

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

Most of you probably don't know that I used to work with the famous Country 
act George Jones and Tammy Wynette, back in the early seventies, booking and 
promoting concerts for them on the West Coast.

After they finally drank themselves into the final breakup, I still worked 
some dates for Tammy, but George mostly stayed back east, but eventually I found 
the market right to bring him back out west for a weekend at the Circle Star 
Theater.  He was supposed to have been off the bottle by that time and I had 
not seen him for several years.

Well, I was over at the Theater getting ready for the concert which was sold 
out, and I got a call from the Holiday Inn, it was Old George speaking in 
fluent Donald Duckese and he said "This Is Donald Duck and I am ready to come over 
and do sound check, and I am going to do the entire show as Donald Duck."

I of course told him there was no way he could do that, and he got really 
upset and said he was damned well gonna do it and if I didn't like it I could go 
to Hell, because his Doctor told him to do it, and I told him his Doctor was a 
Quack.  

 He had already called several Radio Stations for on air interviews and told 
them he was Donald Duck and was gonna do the show that way.  He continued to 
talk as Donald Duck all weekend, I think he actually convinced himself that 
indeed he was Donald.  He was certainly having a good time all by himself.  That 
was my last conversation with George, (Donald) to this day.

I resorted back to what we used to do when George went on a bender while he 
was on tour with Tammy, he would often find a bar and disappear for three or 
four days at a time.  I called Merle Haggard to come fill in for him and do the 
show.

 The audience used to yell up to the stage at Tammy "Where's George?"  And 
Tammy would almost cry and then smile and answer back "Hell even George don't 
know where George is folks, or he would be here, so we got Merle Haggard to come 
fill in for him is that all right with ya'll?"  The audience would always 
roar with laughter and welcome Merle or whoever else we got to come sing with 
Tammy.  The show always went on, and I NEVER gave the Money Back. 

  Accept once for Miles Davis, but that was Jazz, and that audience is not so 
forgiving as a country one.

Since that Donald Duck show, incident, every time I go duck hunting I can't 
help but get the giggles sitting in the blind, and every time I hear a duck 
call I remember old George Jones and Donald Duck and think about going home and 
cookin' chicken.


I never heard of him ever becoming "Chicken George," however.
Cheers,

Tom Wiggins