Marshall and the Moonwoman

 

Today is one of my favorite anniversaries. Way back in 1991 THIRTY YEARS AGO (Wow!) I met Jill McLane Greene. She had recently come to work for James Irwin and I and our EDGE Magazine as our ad sales rep. She was going through a divorce. I was smitten with her from day one and fell in love fast and hard. By January 1992, I got up the nerve to ask her to go with me to see Johnny Winter in Clemson. There’s a whole story that goes with that special event, but I will save that for another time.

 This anniversary melded with my thoughts of my dear friend and she-ro Marshall Chapman, the great singer songwriter from Nashville who was originally from my home town of Spartanburg, SC. Jill and I were married in 1996, and I had a ball turning her onto music she had never heard. One weekend I recall in particular, I was pulling out LP’s one after another. I had just played her Jessie Winchester’s “Gentleman of Leisure.” When the song “I Wave Bye Bye” played, she broke down crying. She loved it. Before long, I added it to my set list. Nearly every show I did, she asked for that song. That and Don Dixon’s “Givin Up the Ghost” and anything by John Prine. Then I broke out Marshall Chapman’s “It’s About Time,” recorded live at the women’s correctional facility. Jill loved that one, especially Marshall’s rap between songs and the part where she recalled a night when wrote one of her songs. She told the captive audience, “I was ovulating that night.” Jill loved “Goodbye Little Rock and Roller.” 

But there was one song by Marshall on another album that particularly resonated with us both. The song was “A Mystery to Me.” That song hit both of us squarely in the heart. Just a great song about two lovers who are completely different, but somehow come together. Sounded like us. In the song, the guy works on his computer all day and the girl plays guitar and writes songs. With us, I was on the computer writing or out playing gigs, while her whole world revolved around teaching kids to swim and being a professional astrologer. So, the one line in the song that made us smile, and these days can bring me to tears, is ‘While he sits and stares at his screen saver, she stares at the stars.” And it goes on to say “How these two lovers ever got together remains a mystery to me.” 

 One day I told Jill that Marshall was scheduled to do a book signing (and play a few tunes) for her excellent book Goodbye Little Rock and Roller at the Open Book in Greenville, so we made a plan to be there A couple of weeks before at that very same store I had just introduced her to another of my favorites, Pat Conroy. He even had his father The Great Santini in tow. Dang, I miss The Open Book!

 Jill was tickled to death to meet Marshall, and Marshall’s overwhelming kindness and wit cemented Jill’s love for the artist. For a brief period, I found myself without a car. Jill had a brand spanking new Saturn. When I told her that I had a chance to drive to Nashville to meet with Charlie Daniels one day and Marshall Chapman the next, she insisted I take her brand new car, although it meant that she would be stuck at home the entire weekend. That road trip was very special in many ways, not the least of which was sharing lunch with Marshall at the old Vandyland Restaurant, spending a few hours with Charlie Daniels in his log cabin office, and meeting Vince Gill by accident at the Nashville Deli. 

 But I digress. My main point, and I really do have one, is that there are a handful of songs that I keep close to my heart. Songs that remind me of my late love. Sitting high atop that list is “A Mystery to Me,” from the album Love Slave by Marshall Chapman. Happy dating anniversary Jill. I still think of you every day with love. Always…

-Michael