Last Chance Texaco. Rickie Lee Jones

      LAST CHANCE TEXACO

      LAST CHANCE TEXACO

      Chronicles of an American Troubadour

      RICKIE

      LEE

      JONES

      Grove Press

      New York

      Copyright © 2021 by Rickie Lee Jones

      Jacket design by Becca Fox Design

      Jacket photograph © Bonnie Schiffman

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Scanning, uploading, and electronic distribution of this book or the facilitation of such without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. Any member of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or anthology, should send inquiries to Grove Atlantic, 154 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011 or [email protected].

      FIRST EDITION

      Published simultaneously in Canada

      Printed in Canada

      This title was set in 11.5-pt. Abobe Caslon Pro by Alpha Design & Composition

      of Pittsfield, NH.

      First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition: April 2021

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available for this title.

      ISBN 978-0-8021-2712-9

      eISBN 978-0-8021-8880-9

      Grove Press

      an imprint of Grove Atlantic

      154 West 14th Street

      New York, NY 10011

      Distributed by Publishers Group West

       groveatlantic.com

      This book is dedicated to my family

      On whatever stage they call their own

      CONTENTS

       Prologue

      Introduction: A Prelude to Gravity

       THE BACK SEAT

      Chapter 1: What Were the Skies like When You Were Little

      Chapter 2: Juke Box Fury

      Chapter 3: On Saturday Afternoons in 1963

      Chapter 4: A Summer Song

      Chapter 5: The Winston Lips of September

       RIDING SHOTGUN

      Chapter 6: The Moon Is Made of Gold

      Chapter 7: Gravity

      Chapter 8: You Never Know When You’re Making a Memory

      Chapter 9: The Summer of 1969

      Chapter 10: Walk on Guilded Splinters

      Chapter 11: Olympia

      Chapter 12: Surfer Girl on the Waterbed

      Chapter 13: Turn Her Over and Go . . .

      Chapter 14: Doyt-Doyt—Venice Beach

       DRIVER’S SEAT

      Chapter 15: Easy Money

      Chapter 16: Young Blood

      Chapter 17: The Man with the Star

      Chapter 18: Rickie Lee Jones

       THE WAY BACK SEAT

      Chapter 19: Saturday Night Live

      Chapter 20: The Bus Stop Blues

      Chapter 21: Jazz Side of Life

      Chapter 22: It Must Be Love

       Epilogue

       Photo Insert

       Acknowledgments

      Glossary of Songs

       PROLOGUE

      Frank “Peg Leg” Jones

      Here are the histories of my parents and siblings whose often tragically shaped lives feed my music and personality. Here are the stories of my friends and lovers, co-writers and producers, and those demons and angels who wage a constant battle for my soul. There were cave dwellers, Southern hoodoo, urban jails, and some of the most opulent hotels in the world. I’ve traveled to these places via my thumb and VW bug and a few times, the Concorde supersonic jet. I’ve lived volumes as a young girl long before I was famous and here I share the largeness of events I experienced through my younger eyes.

      I sense a natural language being whispered that is shared by all of us. After all these decades, life remains stubbornly mysterious. In dreams