The Round Mound of Music History

Mick Jagger sang “Don't need a whore, don't need no booze, don't need a virgin priest” right next to this same exact pole, in what used to be Tribe, and before that was...the bar where Mick Jagger sang “Don't need a whore, don't need no booze, don't need a virgin priest”. Now it's Vbar, and while Dylan above's not a rock star, he is a damn fine photographer who once shot Charles Barkley, the only public figure in recent memory to freely volunteer that he did, on occasion, need a whore.

The drink's Four Roses Bourbon, on the rocks. The cherry's there because my friend Dan ordered a Manhattan but turned down the Maraschino. I decided to show Dan and the bartender, Declan, that sometimes being a man means admitting you like artificially sweetened cherries. Everyone was very impressed. We started talking about bartender showmanship. Someone mentioned lighting orange peel essences -- very big in cocktail bars these days, not so big in the sort of bars Declan works in. Declan told the story of a bartender down the street who lit a little bartop fire trail, culminating in a bottle or glass (can't remember which) that unfortunately exploded in a patron's face. For reasons other than Mick Jagger's warning, Declan does not play with fire.

Somehow the conversation turned to Edwin McCain, who despite also being from the Southeast is not to be confused with Shawn Mullins. My friend Dean related a story from his brother, about being at a Rockets game where the slated National Anthem singer didn't show, and someone spotted McCain in the crowd and asked him to step in, which he did enthusiastically after grabbing his guitar from his car. I caught Edwin McCain in '98 or so – my friend Marlo wanted to see him, and I wanted to see the opener, Pete “If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself)” Droge. During McCain's set, some guy OD'd and had to be carried out of the club like a seizuring baby. I'd started laughing, because how embarrassing is it to OD while some guy's singing

“I'll be your crying shoulder,
I'll be love's suicide
I'll be better when I'm older,
I'll be the greatest fan of your life”

But maybe being a man means admitting that you'd prefer to OD at an Edwin McCain show. Given that National Anthem story, maybe being an American means admitting that you'd prefer to OD at an Edwin McCain show.