Wednesday, June 15, 2011

It's a Cinderella Story

Around the time the tales of the brothers Grimm came into my life, a song by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane began to enchant me.

Over Bridge of Sighs/To rest my eyes in shades of green/
Under Dreaming Spires/
To Itchycoo Park that’s where I’ve been


The only spires in my world were near the horses at Churchill Downs, and I didn’t get the reference to Oxford. Each day in ’68 I set foot in Mercy Kindergarten, and even first grade loomed far away in the distance. Before my mother drove me to school, she would hold me on her lap and scratch my back. We called those five minutes our “Itchycoo Park” in honor of the Small Faces song we often heard in the car.

Years ago when I met Ian McLagan (Mac) in Austin, I felt like a dream came true. And then several years later when he chose to record “Itchycoo Park” for Spiritual Boy, I was so pleased.

Two Sundays ago I made my neighbor's day when I took her to Raleigh to meet Mac. She’d been to his shows in England in the 60s. Julie was a teenager when I was sitting on Mother’s lap when Mac was first cast into stardom.

And for our night together in the Pour House, he told us the story of walking away from a band with a faulty van and sitting down in the talent office where he was selected to play the organ for Small Faces for thirty pounds a week.

If that’s not Cinderella story enough for you, here’s the new chapter. Those of us who are Mac’s Facebook friends know he wears the silver bracelet a fan gave him years ago. He’s looking for the lady who gave him the gift. My friend Julie told Mac she was the one. He told her she has to know how it’s inscribed. She said, “I know what it says. It says, ‘Will you marry me, Ian?’” Evidently, the shoe didn’t fit.

Mac shared more about his life and gave us an intimate accounting of the stories behind songs like “Glad and Sorry” and “Debris.” He rocked my world with “I Will Follow.” When he talked of missing Austin before singing “Been a Long Time,” I felt a pang to be back in the Texas capital myself. The recent show at the Pour House in the capital of North Carolina was the first time I saw Mac without all his Bumps backing him like I’m used to seeing at the Lucky Lounge in Austin. I did enjoy meeting the newest Bump bass player, Jon Notarthomas.

Now I’m ready to order Mac’s book, All the Rage. Until then, I count myself lucky to know such a charming, genuinely nice (and need I say talented) man.


Got nothing in common with this crowd/
I feel like a spaceman on solid ground/
I’ll have another drink and then I’ll blow/
I left my heart here long ago.

“Been a Long Time”
-Ian McLagan