Simple Pleasures (narration)

Okay, this next song is really, really buried treasure
in digging up all these lost songs for you to hear
A couple of them were buried so deep that
even I couldn't remember writing them, much less playing them
Until Milton gave me some clues

Once I heard this story, it did unlock my own buried treasure
locked away deep somewhere in that way back machine part of my brain
The unique thing about simple pleasures is
that it really features Rick Hirsch on a lead acoustic solo
It also is a song that got it's
inspiration more from Fred Neil than Gordon Lightfoot

I'd been turned on to Fred Neil by Bob Cooke who included several
of his songs in his sets in the Bayou Room days
Candyman which became a Roy Orbison hit, Other side of this life,
A little bit of rain, The dolphins
Were all coffee house standards that came from his classic album
Bleeker and McDougall and from Bob's repertoire to mine

Then in the Summer of '69, the movie Midnight Cowboy came out
and featured Harry Nielson's version of Everbody's Talkin'
That became a radio hit
As a solo performer and in every band I have played in since that time
Everybody's Talking has been part of my go-to list
I met Fred in Coconut Grove in 1971 when I went down to play in Miami
for the first time and was living with
Jerry Jeff but that's a whole other story,

Fred was a great inspiration and became a good friend
We fished and played gigs together at the Flick in Coral Gables
and on many dolphin project
benefits in Coconut Grove in the early 70's
I stayed in touch with him in my comings and goings from Key West
and God knows where
Until he kinda dropped out of sight just after the millenium
Sadly he passed away alone on Summerland Key
the list of Fred's proteges is long and loaded with famous names
I'm simply proud to be one of the singers that spent time
in the shadow of his great style

So this little Simple Pleasure, goes out to Fred Neil