When you are on a road trip in the US there is always the opportunity for strange things happen. To be fair they are not often or they weren't the main thing in 1990 when I traversed the US from a stop over in New Jersey from San Antonio to Seattle.
This is my memory of one of the those little events along the way that has stayed with me.
I was staying with a new found friend Jim Bunch in Nashville. I'd met Jim in Tootsie's Orchid Lounge on Broadway. He asked where I was staying and I told him. 'You can't stay there' he exclaimed. 'Why' I asked. 'It's where people go for one-night stands' he explained 'Come and stay at my apartment'. I know what you're thinking. And yes I'd been propositioned before in Lake Charles when I was asked if I was into bi-sex and would I be interested in a three way. Jim was ok he was with a group of friends who also seemed to be ok. Though they did all take me to a club which my Let's Go guide said was a gay hangout - they shrieked with laughter when I showed then the entry. The club didn't play country music. But I digress - I said yes to his offer and bunked down on his living room floor for a few days.
Jim worked for a casting agent. One night I returned to the apartment and found a strange man there. He was friendly and was cooking up some food. He told me it was macrobiotic and introduced himself as Mac Gayden. Internally I gasped. THE Mac Gayden writer of 'Everlasting Love' and member of Area Code 615 of the Old Grey Whistle Test theme 'Stone Fox Chase'. He was and I was in the presence of greatness. He told me that he'd written part of 'Everlasting Love' when he was a teenager and kept it until he found the rest of the song (which he completed with Buzz Cason and it was a huge hit for Robert Knight in the US and Love Affair in the UK). He'd been to Memphis to meet U2 when they covered the song during sessions for Rattle and Hum album (later released on the Best of 1980-1990 compilation). He seemed touched that this young Irish band had recorded his song. They were nice boys he said.
We spoke briefly about macrobiotic food and he was gone. Mac was the husband of Jim's boss and they were pulling a late shift contacting casting options and Mac as a dedicated husband had prepared the food for that late shift.
That was 1990 and now many years later I've learned of Mac's passing. I'll remember that brief encounter and a man who seemed caught up up in his own humility. Just making macrobiotic food and conversing with a traveller form Scotland.
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