MY IMPRESSIONS

"I'll never cease to be bewildered at the wonder of it all."-J.C.Hartsfield

"Come inside to this house of living. Join with me and I'll join with you."-Perry Jordan

The first thing that comes to mind when writing about Perry Jordan and J.C.Hartsfield is that they are both instantly likable. They have known and worked with each other for such a long time (since the early '70s) that they personify the phrase "old friends, bookends." But, as I gained a more intimate knowledge of each, I realized how surprisingly different they are from each other.

Perry, a self-described "German Hillbilly", is slightly shy, very soft spoken and can interject his intelligent insights in such a low-keyed manner that some might even miss them. His songwriting inspiration seems to come in spurts -- he may disappear for a few days, only to reappear with three new songs. Some have even said that if P.J.'s name appears on a song, it will be good. In many ways, he has a child-like innocence which enhances his creativity as a composer, but makes him very gullible ("What do you mean you watched me play when you were a child? How old are you, man?"). However, just when you've accepted this vulnerability and you really just want to hold his hand to comfort him, he catches you totally off guard with some sophomoric bit of obscenity, followed up with such a great dirty old man laugh that you could never really stay mad or be offended -- at least not me. Mr Jordan, you are a real class act. Thanks for being in my "house of living".

J.C., or "Just Cancelled" to his close friends, is the prime subject in my continuing ethnomusicology research, because I have never met anyone else (except for me) who has as much "useless" knowledge about music. And to think that there are two of us on the same planet is, to put it mildly, very comforting. I am not necessarily fond of long conversations, but my talks with J.C. can go on for hours and, as Spock would say, are "fascinating." It has even become a normal occurrence that we can finish each other's sentences. This may not seem too strange except that we might be talking about Mississippi Johh Hurt, Doug Dillard, Ry Cooder or D-28's (rosewood? herringbone?). I've always said that any rocker worth his weight in CD manufacturing material should be able to play a Buddy Holly cover -- J.C. not only recorded "Think It Over" for a very small record label when in his early teens, but he can still play it with feeling -- minus the hiccups. Thanks, J.C., you know how much I love Buddy Holly. Also, the personal stories are priceless -- being growled at by Ted Nugent because Mr. Nugent hates "them hippie types", slipping and falling in the fake blood spit on the stage by Gene Simmons when Heartsfield followed Kiss at KSHE's 1974 birthday party, having the audience throw anything handy at him when Heartsfield opened for Bachman-Turner Overdrive ("Hell, I woulda pitched something at myself too if I came to hear BTO!" ) and at The Disc-Connection CD Release Party when we were both brought to tears by Michael Grafman who came to thank J.C. for the wonderful things he had said on the air about his father, Shelly (long time manager of KSHE radio and avid Heartsfield fan who died recently). Yes, J.C., it is bewildering but still a wonder.

Sherre -- Bedrock Records

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