Entertainment Roundup: Jimmy Buffett might be gone but his legend lingers on behind the mic in Oakridge

By BEN OLSON/For The Herald — Last week, when the word got out that I was doing a Jimmy Buffett show, the request line was opened up. I knew “Margaritaville,” “A Pirate Looks at 40” and a handful of other tunes penned by Mr. Buffett. Fortunately, the oracle proved to be extremely useful in finding enough songs to get through the night. One site listed all the songs he has done in concert since 1971, including the number of times he has performed each one. Jimmy did a lot of cover tunes in concert that were already on my song list.

A local man who retired after a career in the Navy asked me if I was going to play “They’re Sending the Old Man Home.” I vaguely remembered the song from one of Buffett’s early albums, but confessed that I didn’t know it. Not wanting to disappoint one of my listeners, I went home and worked out a version of it to play that Thursday night. Since that show, I became curious about the origin of the song. With a little research, I learned a bit about how that song came to be.

In 1979, while Buffett was recovering from his third broken leg, he was watching the 1960 movie “The Gallant Hours,” starring Jimmy Cagney as Admiral Bull Halsey. The movie was about Halsey’s cat and mouse game with Japanese Admiral Yamamoto and the Battle of Guadalcanal in October and November of 1942. The movie was told in flashback in 1947 as Halsey was ceremoniously leaving his command.

The movie was unusual in a number of regards. It was Cagney’s last starring role in a dramatic movie. Though it was a war movie, there were no battle scenes. The emphasis was on logistics and strategy. The soundtrack was an a cappella choral score, quite uncommon in movies. Buffett, in the liner notes of his Bars/Beaches/Boats/Ballads Box Set, said the idea for the song came to him as he watched the film in a “pain-killer” haze. He said he kept flashing between the movie and memories of his grandfather and the officers’ club at Pearl Harbor.

One can only speculate that “Rosa Lee” was dancer Gypsy Rose Lee, a popular entertainer of the era. In the movie Cagney delivered one of Halsey’s famous lines, as he told an overwhelmed junior flight officer, “There are no great men, only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet”.

The Corner Bar in uptown Oakridge will be the scene of a birthday bash for Kalista, who will finally be old enough to enter the establishment. That happens this Saturday, September 30, and the Cramer Boys will be providing some live rock and roll for the occasion. Even if you don’t know Kalista, please stop on by and join in the fun. The music starts at 8 p.m. and there’s no cover charge. The Corner Bar has appetizers and entrees on the menu and a full bar. You can find them on First Street, just east of the Post Office.

Yet another block to the east, you will find the 3 Legged Crane. It’s a brewpub, in the traditional sense, as John makes the beer right in the back room. It doesn’t get any fresher than that. This Thursday, September 28 there will be an open mic from 7 until 9 p.m. Bring your instrument or your voice, or both, and join in the fun. On Friday evening, September 29, the HipBillys will be taking the stage at 7 p.m. Craig and Tom play a fun selection of Americana music — many songs that you know, others that they think you should know. The Crane serves appetizers, sandwiches and dinners, and has a fine array of craft beers.

Broken Horn is slated to play this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Lion Mountain Bakery. The music takes place from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. each day. His song list takes you back to the classics of rock, pop and country music from the ‘50s and ‘60s. The Lion Mountain serves breakfast and lunch. They’re located on Highway 58 in Oakridge.

The Dexter Lake Club will be putting me on stage again this Friday, September 29. Looking at the forecast, it will be taking place inside this week, not in the beer garden. I had several requests that I could not fulfill last Friday, but I’ve worked out arrangements of those songs for the show this week. I can only hope that the people who wanted to hear them will be there again this Friday. The music runs from 6 until 8 p.m. The Dexter Lake Club has a full bar and the adjoining Rattlesnake BBQ serves appetizers, sandwiches and dinners. They’re located just off Highway 58 by Milepost 12.

Now that we’ve finally had some rain, I look forward to being able to sit outside by my firepit with an adult beverage some evening. Of course, it would have to stop raining for that to happen.