Name: Mel Tillis on Letterman, 1984
Uploaded: 2017-11-19T19:02:01.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Mel Tillis on Letterman, 1984' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-11-19. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Mel Tillis on Letterman, 1984' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-11-19. Transcript available.

My next guest is, well, is unbelievably truly a country music superstar, and
this is his
latest album right here.
It's called New Patches.
He's also featured in the new film, Cannonball Run 2.
It's a pleasure to welcome to this program, Mr. Mel Tillis.
Mel.
Hi, Mel.
Nice to see you.
Is this stuff yours?
Yep, I'll tell you all about it.
Oh, good, good.
Mel Tillis, ladies and gentlemen.
Now, do you want to get right to that, or what is that exactly?
Well, this stuff, every place I go, somebody, they always give me a gift.
That's very nice.
And I remember when they didn't give me gifts, you know.
Yeah.
But once they think that you're doing pretty good, they give you everything.
And last night, I was in Canada, in Kitchener, Ontario, and I did a Glenn
Campbell TV special.
Right.
And there's a lady, she gave, this is Glenn's.
Well, what are you doing with it?
He went off, he stayed in my room this morning until about 3.30.
We had a little party with Chris Christopherson.
Uh-huh.
And Glenn left his doll.
And I've got my...
So you, wait a minute, you and Glenn and Chris Christopherson until 3 in the
morning with puppets.
Is that what happened?
Well, Ann Murray was there, and she had one, too.
They gave her one.
What the hell's going on here?
I'm just telling them about the things that the people that they give you.
Yeah, that's very nice.
And they gave me a cow in Yakima, Washington.
A living?
A big cow, 800 pounds.
Well, it could have been 900 pounds.
And I couldn't get it in the bus.
I couldn't get the cow in the bus.
And I gave it to the...
Oh, I brought you a picture.
Uh-huh.
Now, what happened to the cow, Mel?
I gave the cow to the 4-H girls.
Uh-huh.
Well, that's a very...
Very generous donation.
And here I have a sweatshirt from some photographic studio in the Toronto.
Here's an ad on the new movie, which they didn't even mention me.
They didn't even put my name.
The hell?
This is not exactly a tag sale we have here, Mel.
Here's a prospectus, if you care to invest in my next movie.
Okay.
Pass this through the audience.
Here's the galleys on my new book.
Oh, now, now, tell us what these are.
This is...
I've never seen these before.
Stuttering Boy.
That's what it is.
That's my life story up until about an hour and a half ago.
Uh-huh.
Now, now, uh, what is...
It comes out in...
It comes out in October, and I made it in it, uh, uh, uh, now.
I mean, uh, uh, Walter Wager's in the audience here.
He's the one that, uh, is helping me.
He's from New York.
Yeah.
And he rode the bus with us.
He's Jewish.
He's from New York.
Wait a minute.
What...
Let me tell you.
Why are we pointing out that the man's Jewish?
Well, I won't tell you how funny this is.
Oh, I see.
He went with us on the bus to Texas.
Mm-hmm.
And, and, and, and he rode the bus with us, uh, for two months.
And I gave him, uh, uh, about, uh, 40 cassettes.
And we got him a cowboy hat and boots and stuff.
He loved it.
He thought it was great.
And he, uh, he brought all the information that I had, that I had given him, uh,
to New York.
And, and he rode it.
It took him, uh, a year or so.
He's in the audience here now.
He's his wife.
Yeah.
And, uh, it took him a year.
And he sent me the manuscript, uh, the manuscript.
And I realized that, that all I had, that I gave him the highlights of my life.
Right.
And, and he tried to fill it in with a New York, uh, uh, Jewish, uh, point of
view.
And I said, I said, hell, that ain't me.
Oh, yeah.
Here's the part about your bar mitzvah.
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
What the hell is going on here?
No, but it comes out, uh, it'll be out, folks, uh, in October.
Now, but it won't be this long.
Will it, it'll be, I mean, it's, these, these are, it won't be like that.
No, this is it.
They carry it in bags, in Cammy's, in Cammy's bags on the street.
No, this is.
It'll be a real book when you see it.
It'll be a real book.
Yeah, that's right.
It comes out.
But keep this in mind.
And the man that wrote it with Mel is Jewish.
Well.
Now, we want to, we want to look at some of your, uh, new movie, Mel.
Well, I ain't even get, I ain't got started yet.
No, uh, well, let's, we want to, we want to, for sure.
Oh, the movie.
Yeah.
See you in the movie.
Cannonball Run 2, isn't it?
Okay, and we're going to do what now?
We're going to take a look at you in the movie.
Cannonball Run 2.
And I'm going to, and I'm going to set it up.
If you will.
Okay, and this movie, in Cannonball 2, folks.
Were you in 1?
I was in 1, in Cannonball 1, and I had a buddy in there, uh, uh, Terry Bradshaw.
Mm-hmm.
He couldn't be in this, uh, in Cannonball, uh, 2.
Uh-huh.
Uh, uh, hell, it'll be Cannonball 3 before I can get this over.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, well.
All right, let's, uh, let's just take a look at it now, and then Mel will
explain it after
we've seen it.
Okay.
Here it comes right here.
Mel, tell us Cannonball 2.
Are you sure this guy's your uncle?
Yeah, and I told you he's your uncle, too.
Listen, I told you.
Don't tell me.
Don't explain it to me again, please.
He's my mother's brother who moves to California, and my mother is your father's
sister, and
you're my mother's brother's son.
Is that our uncle?
Eh, eh, eh, they said he had a, uh, uh, a white limo.
I ain't seen him in 20 years.
He's from your side of the family.
Uncle Cal?
Well, howdy, boys.
Cal's the name, and cars is my game.
Got some real sweethearts for a little down and 9.9% financing.
Uncle Cal, I'm your, I'm your nephew, uh, Melvin from North Carolina.
You my brother and sister, boy?
Yeah, and I'm your nephew, Tony, from Brooklyn.
What pair you out of?
Well, it don't matter.
I guess you boys are wondering about my driver.
He sure looks a little, uh, a little, uh, a little, a little, he, he weird.
Okay.
Getting to the wall, too.
We're going to do a commercial.
We'll be right back with, uh, Mel Tillis.
Okay, we're out of time, folks.
Mel Tillis, the, uh, album, your 53rd, by the way, is called New Patches, and
he brought
a Jewish friend with him tonight.
That's awfully nice of you.
Uh, my thanks to Pete Barbeauty and Sam Donaldson.
Tomorrow night, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go's.
We'll see you then, folks.
Thank you very much.
Not only is my first guest tonight a country music superstar, but he is also
the author
of this autobiography.
I have a copy of it right here.
It's called Stutterin' Boy.
It's a pleasure to welcome Mel Tillis.
Hi, Mel.
Nice to see you.
How are you?
Have a seat, though.
Thank you, Mel.
Good to see you.
Thank you very much for being back.
Somebody eat a pine tree.
Yeah, it smells nice.
It's, uh, it's actually, now it smells a lot like Christmas here, doesn't it?
Yeah.
Uh, where are you in from, as they say?
I'm in from Nashville.
I've, I've been down in Lajitas, uh, Texas.
Where, where is Lajitas, Texas?
It's along the border in Big Ben country.
Along what border?
Uh, Mexican border.
Yeah.
And we've, uh...
Big Ben country?
And we've finished a movie down there.
What does Big Ben country mean?
It's a Big Ben.
You don't know history?
I mean, I mean, geographics?
Uh, a little, I know a little geography, but I don't know Big Ben.
Uh, Big Ben is in Texas.
And it's, uh...
I know, we've kind of established that.
It's, uh...
It's, uh...
A Big Ben is, uh, is a park.
And it's got, it's got, uh, mountains and, uh, and rocks and dinosaur bones and
that kind of stuff.
That's where it is.
Big Ben and Lajitas is, uh, is on the border of the Rio Grande.
Uh, uh, uh, that's where it is.
Big Ben.
Now, are you saying Big, Big Ben or Big Bend?
Big Bend.
Oh, Big Bend.
And, and it must be adjacent to a, a bend in the Rio Grande.
Not really.
I, I don't know the reason.
Now, I don't know the reason it's called that.
Oh, you don't?
Uh, it's in the Big Ben of Texas, you know, in that area, but...
Well, there you go.
No, I didn't realize that.
And, uh, you're, you're just making a movie down there?
Yep, finished the movie with Roy Clark.
It's called Uphill All the Way.
Mm-hmm.
And we're flam flammers in 1914, uh, and we live by our wits.
And we get in all kind of, uh, uh, trouble along the, uh, along the border.
Uh, and, and I had this hat in the movie.
It was, uh, part of my, uh, attire, my wardrobe.
Mm-hmm.
And I loved it so much, I asked him if I could have it.
And he said I couldn't, and I bought it.
Yeah.
What did you pay for that hat?
Uh, but I haven't got the bill yet.
Yeah.
Uh, uh, uh, uh, it's coming, though.
Now, is, does this hat represent an authentic piece of, uh, wardrobe from the
era, 1914, you
said?
Oh, sure.
It's, uh, the time it's, uh, uh...
Is that a fan okay in those bands?
Steve, you okay, ain't you, Steve?
Oh, boy, the bands are cooking tonight.
Yes, the hat, uh, it's, uh, 1914.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
But who wore the hat in 1914?
I don't, uh, I don't know who wore the hat, but I knew that I had, uh, a shirt
that was,
uh, uh, uh, worn by, uh, it must have been, uh, uh, the same actor.
I can't even think of his name now, but, uh, his name was in it.
And, uh, yeah, uh, Duvall.
Oh, uh, Robert Duvall.
And I had a shirt, uh, that he had worn.
I suppose it was his.
Yeah, but, but let me try this once more.
Now, is this, you have a little star up there.
Does that mean that this hat was worn by a marshal or a sheriff?
No, uh, the star was given to me by the director of the movie.
It's a little silver star, and it, uh, uh, represents the state of Texas, and
that was
the gift.
The lone star state.
The lone star state.
Yeah. Now, Mel, here, let me ask you about the book here, your life story, Stuttering
Boy.
Now, in all of your life, you must come in contact with a lot of people who say
to you, Mel,
you know, I know how you can overcome this stutter.
People must be coming up to you with, are there remedies for this that people
are pushing on?
I've had a million of them.
One that comes to mind that's in the book that I told about in the book was a
lady one time,
she told my mother, she said, you catch young Melvin coming along the street,
the sidewalk,
after a Frankenstein movie or something, and he'll already be scared,
and jump out of the bushes and hit him in the face with a wet squirrel.
And I think my answer to that was a dead wet squirrel.
And I think my answer to that was, did he have to be wet?
Have you ever run across something, one of these home remedies that works for a
while?
No, no, I tried the pebble business.
You know, Demostin is a great Greek orator who went down to the sea and picked
up the pebbles and put it in his mouth.
I tried that.
I swattered a couple.
That didn't work.
That gave me kidney stones, I guess.
I tried this, hello there, how are you?
And that didn't work long.
You know, people, they think you're crazy when you do that.
But what is this supposed to do?
It's sort of like a tempo, like follow the bouncing ball.
Well, that makes sense because when you sing, you don't stutter, do you?
That's because you're singing, it comes from another area of the brain.
Mm-hmm.
True.
No kidding, singing and speaking, two different parts of the brain?
That's right.
I didn't know that.
Now, what about, I don't know if you drink, do you drink?
I will have a beer or two occasionally.
I used to drink a lot back when I could handle it, you know.
I got, you hit an age, you had to, you had to let some stuff, you had to slow
down a little bit.
Okay.
We'll do a commercial here.
We'll be right back with you.
Thank you.
All right.
I don't want to, yes, sir.
You know, I think every time I come up here at the band, they like to show out
a lot because I got a band, too, you know.
Yeah.
And they really turn it on.
You're really good, guys.
I really appreciate your music.
Now, I don't want to belabor this, but there's a story in the book about one of
your appearances on the Glen Campbell Good Time Hour,
which was years ago on CBS, a summer replacement for the Smothers Brothers,
right?
First time I was ever on the Good Time Hour.
I went out and I was so scared.
I didn't, in those days, they didn't use me in any kind of skits or anything.
It was usually just the talk shows.
Merv and the Mikes and the Johnnies and this and that and the other.
And you wasn't around that time.
No, I wasn't.
I'm sure I would have been with you.
But I went out there and I was scared to death.
And they said, well, they gave me a script.
Before I left Nashville, though, my secretary had given me a valium.
I didn't know what a valium was.
That is the truth.
I didn't take any kind of valiums and I still don't.
But she gave me that and I asked her, I said, what is this?
And she said, it will relax you.
She gave me two of them.
And she said, it will relax you and it will help you talk.
It will help you.
So I was rooming with Jerry Reed over at the old farmer's daughter motel.
Now, this sounds like trouble somehow.
Well, he had already been out there.
He had been out there three weeks before I had got there.
He had already been on three times and I hadn't.
And he said, there's nothing to it.
He said, hell, it's just a TV show.
He said, it's nothing.
He said, just be yourself.
But, you know, I noticed that he was scared to death in front of the camera.
He became another person, you know, in front of the camera.
So we were supposed to go over and read through the show.
And I lingered to the very last minute and I walked across the street.
I took a valium.
I walked across the street and it didn't hit me.
You know, I didn't, I didn't have any idea what it would do to me.
And I walked over there and I said, well, I better, I might as well have the
other one.
And I stopped at the fountain and I got me a drink of water and I took your
other pill and I went in there and said, oh, here he is.
He said, Melvin, sit down.
And I said, and it began to hit me and I said, no, I better not.
If I sit down, I may just go to sleep.
So I stood up and everybody had their lines and stuff and they got to my line
and didn't have but two lines.
Boy, I read that off just like Donna Meachie.
Donna Meachie.
And Glenn said, Mel, he said, let's do that again.
You know, he thought that I was supposed to stutter.
You can't stutter on cue.
Right.
You stutter where you stutter and that's it.
And he come back around and you come back around and I read it through it.
Boy, just, he said, he said, I thought you stuttered.
And I said, I do.
And I, I confessed to the Valiums.
Right after that, I went to sleep.
And I ended up at Glenn's house.
And, and he told me, he said, he said, he said, Mel, we do, we do our show
straight.
That sounds funny coming from Glenn, but that's what he said.
No, no, no, I love Glenn.
Anyway, anyway.
That sounded funny, huh?
Anyway, I stuttered my way through, uh, uh, uh, 17 episodes of the Glenn Camel
Good Time Act.
Yeah.
And we've become friends, and we've, and we've been friends ever since.
But what, what exactly does, does that mean?
Do you suppose that with two Valiums, the, the stuttering disappears?
Does that, does, have you ever thought about that, or talked to anybody about
that, or?
Well, uh, it's hard to, it's hard to talk in your sleep.
Yeah, I suppose there is a downside to that effect, also.
I guess it relaxes you.
Yeah, yeah.
It relaxes you.
If I was to drink a couple of beers, uh, you know, I talk pretty good then.
Yeah.
But you, but you, you don't drink so much anymore.
No.
You, you slow down, because I'm guessing something nasty happened, right?
Well, yeah.
You know what?
A lot of things happened.
Now, let's see the movie.
What's the movie?
Uh, you just mentioned the movie as, uh, pulling it up the hard way, or what
was the name of the movie?
Uphill All the Way.
Uphill All the Way, sure.
Now, when, uh, when is, when is that coming out?
Uh, uh, we're hoping for a July release.
It stars, uh, Roy Clark, Mel Tillis, Burrill Live, Glenn Campbell, uh, Trish,
uh, Banderbeer, Elaine George, Christopher Weeks, uh, Shev Bully, uh, uh, and
Tommy, uh, Tommy Collins, a bunch of people.
Who, who was the key grip on that film, Mel?
Do you know?
Um, and the book is called, uh, Stutterin' Boy.
Gee, uh, continued success, Mel.
Nice to see you.
Have a good holiday.
Thanks for being here.
We'll, uh, be back here after station identification.

Mel Tillis on Letterman, 1984

My next guest is, well, is unbelievably truly a country music superstar, and
this is his
latest album right here.
It's called New Patches.
He's also featured in the new film, Cannonball Run 2.
It's a pleasure to welcome to this program, Mr. Mel Tillis.
Mel.
Hi, Mel.
Nice to see you.
Is this stuff yours?
Yep, I'll tell you all about it.
Oh, good, good.
Mel Tillis, ladies and gentlemen.
Now, do you want to get right to that, or what is that exactly?
Well, this stuff, every place I go, somebody, they always give me a gift.
That's very nice.
And I remember when they didn't give me gifts, you know.
Yeah.
But once they think that you're doing pretty good, they give you everything.
And last night, I was in Canada, in Kitchener, Ontario, and I did a Glenn
Campbell TV special.
Right.
And there's a lady, she gave, this is Glenn's.
Well, what are you doing with it?
He went off, he stayed in my room this morning until about 3.30.
We had a little party with Chris Christopherson.
Uh-huh.
And Glenn left his doll.
And I've got my...
So you, wait a minute, you and Glenn and Chris Christopherson until 3 in the
morning with puppets.
Is that what happened?
Well, Ann Murray was there, and she had one, too.
They gave her one.
What the hell's going on here?
I'm just telling them about the things that the people that they give you.
Yeah, that's very nice.
And they gave me a cow in Yakima, Washington.
A living?
A big cow, 800 pounds.
Well, it could have been 900 pounds.
And I couldn't get it in the bus.
I couldn't get the cow in the bus.
And I gave it to the...
Oh, I brought you a picture.
Uh-huh.
Now, what happened to the cow, Mel?
I gave the cow to the 4-H girls.
Uh-huh.
Well, that's a very...
Very generous donation.
And here I have a sweatshirt from some photographic studio in the Toronto.
Here's an ad on the new movie, which they didn't even mention me.
They didn't even put my name.
The hell?
This is not exactly a tag sale we have here, Mel.
Here's a prospectus, if you care to invest in my next movie.
Okay.
Pass this through the audience.
Here's the galleys on my new book.
Oh, now, now, tell us what these are.
This is...
I've never seen these before.
Stuttering Boy.
That's what it is.
That's my life story up until about an hour and a half ago.
Uh-huh.
Now, now, uh, what is...
It comes out in...
It comes out in October, and I made it in it, uh, uh, uh, now.
I mean, uh, uh, Walter Wager's in the audience here.
He's the one that, uh, is helping me.
He's from New York.
Yeah.
And he rode the bus with us.
He's Jewish.
He's from New York.
Wait a minute.
What...
Let me tell you.
Why are we pointing out that the man's Jewish?
Well, I won't tell you how funny this is.
Oh, I see.
He went with us on the bus to Texas.
Mm-hmm.
And, and, and, and he rode the bus with us, uh, for two months.
And I gave him, uh, uh, about, uh, 40 cassettes.
And we got him a cowboy hat and boots and stuff.
He loved it.
He thought it was great.
And he, uh, he brought all the information that I had, that I had given him, uh,
to New York.
And, and he rode it.
It took him, uh, a year or so.
He's in the audience here now.
He's his wife.
Yeah.
And, uh, it took him a year.
And he sent me the manuscript, uh, the manuscript.
And I realized that, that all I had, that I gave him the highlights of my life.
Right.
And, and he tried to fill it in with a New York, uh, uh, Jewish, uh, point of
view.
And I said, I said, hell, that ain't me.
Oh, yeah.
Here's the part about your bar mitzvah.
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
What the hell is going on here?
No, but it comes out, uh, it'll be out, folks, uh, in October.
Now, but it won't be this long.
Will it, it'll be, I mean, it's, these, these are, it won't be like that.
No, this is it.
They carry it in bags, in Cammy's, in Cammy's bags on the street.
No, this is.
It'll be a real book when you see it.
It'll be a real book.
Yeah, that's right.
It comes out.
But keep this in mind.
And the man that wrote it with Mel is Jewish.
Well.
Now, we want to, we want to look at some of your, uh, new movie, Mel.
Well, I ain't even get, I ain't got started yet.
No, uh, well, let's, we want to, we want to, for sure.
Oh, the movie.
Yeah.
See you in the movie.
Cannonball Run 2, isn't it?
Okay, and we're going to do what now?
We're going to take a look at you in the movie.
Cannonball Run 2.
And I'm going to, and I'm going to set it up.
If you will.
Okay, and this movie, in Cannonball 2, folks.
Were you in 1?
I was in 1, in Cannonball 1, and I had a buddy in there, uh, uh, Terry Bradshaw.
Mm-hmm.
He couldn't be in this, uh, in Cannonball, uh, 2.
Uh-huh.
Uh, uh, hell, it'll be Cannonball 3 before I can get this over.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, well.
All right, let's, uh, let's just take a look at it now, and then Mel will
explain it after
we've seen it.
Okay.
Here it comes right here.
Mel, tell us Cannonball 2.
Are you sure this guy's your uncle?
Yeah, and I told you he's your uncle, too.
Listen, I told you.
Don't tell me.
Don't explain it to me again, please.
He's my mother's brother who moves to California, and my mother is your father's
sister, and
you're my mother's brother's son.
Is that our uncle?
Eh, eh, eh, they said he had a, uh, uh, a white limo.
I ain't seen him in 20 years.
He's from your side of the family.
Uncle Cal?
Well, howdy, boys.
Cal's the name, and cars is my game.
Got some real sweethearts for a little down and 9.9% financing.
Uncle Cal, I'm your, I'm your nephew, uh, Melvin from North Carolina.
You my brother and sister, boy?
Yeah, and I'm your nephew, Tony, from Brooklyn.
What pair you out of?
Well, it don't matter.
I guess you boys are wondering about my driver.
He sure looks a little, uh, a little, uh, a little, a little, he, he weird.
Okay.
Getting to the wall, too.
We're going to do a commercial.
We'll be right back with, uh, Mel Tillis.
Okay, we're out of time, folks.
Mel Tillis, the, uh, album, your 53rd, by the way, is called New Patches, and
he brought
a Jewish friend with him tonight.
That's awfully nice of you.
Uh, my thanks to Pete Barbeauty and Sam Donaldson.
Tomorrow night, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go's.
We'll see you then, folks.
Thank you very much.
Not only is my first guest tonight a country music superstar, but he is also
the author
of this autobiography.
I have a copy of it right here.
It's called Stutterin' Boy.
It's a pleasure to welcome Mel Tillis.
Hi, Mel.
Nice to see you.
How are you?
Have a seat, though.
Thank you, Mel.
Good to see you.
Thank you very much for being back.
Somebody eat a pine tree.
Yeah, it smells nice.
It's, uh, it's actually, now it smells a lot like Christmas here, doesn't it?
Yeah.
Uh, where are you in from, as they say?
I'm in from Nashville.
I've, I've been down in Lajitas, uh, Texas.
Where, where is Lajitas, Texas?
It's along the border in Big Ben country.
Along what border?
Uh, Mexican border.
Yeah.
And we've, uh...
Big Ben country?
And we've finished a movie down there.
What does Big Ben country mean?
It's a Big Ben.
You don't know history?
I mean, I mean, geographics?
Uh, a little, I know a little geography, but I don't know Big Ben.
Uh, Big Ben is in Texas.
And it's, uh...
I know, we've kind of established that.
It's, uh...
It's, uh...
A Big Ben is, uh, is a park.
And it's got, it's got, uh, mountains and, uh, and rocks and dinosaur bones and
that kind of stuff.
That's where it is.
Big Ben and Lajitas is, uh, is on the border of the Rio Grande.
Uh, uh, uh, that's where it is.
Big Ben.
Now, are you saying Big, Big Ben or Big Bend?
Big Bend.
Oh, Big Bend.
And, and it must be adjacent to a, a bend in the Rio Grande.
Not really.
I, I don't know the reason.
Now, I don't know the reason it's called that.
Oh, you don't?
Uh, it's in the Big Ben of Texas, you know, in that area, but...
Well, there you go.
No, I didn't realize that.
And, uh, you're, you're just making a movie down there?
Yep, finished the movie with Roy Clark.
It's called Uphill All the Way.
Mm-hmm.
And we're flam flammers in 1914, uh, and we live by our wits.
And we get in all kind of, uh, uh, trouble along the, uh, along the border.
Uh, and, and I had this hat in the movie.
It was, uh, part of my, uh, attire, my wardrobe.
Mm-hmm.
And I loved it so much, I asked him if I could have it.
And he said I couldn't, and I bought it.
Yeah.
What did you pay for that hat?
Uh, but I haven't got the bill yet.
Yeah.
Uh, uh, uh, uh, it's coming, though.
Now, is, does this hat represent an authentic piece of, uh, wardrobe from the
era, 1914, you
said?
Oh, sure.
It's, uh, the time it's, uh, uh...
Is that a fan okay in those bands?
Steve, you okay, ain't you, Steve?
Oh, boy, the bands are cooking tonight.
Yes, the hat, uh, it's, uh, 1914.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
But who wore the hat in 1914?
I don't, uh, I don't know who wore the hat, but I knew that I had, uh, a shirt
that was,
uh, uh, uh, worn by, uh, it must have been, uh, uh, the same actor.
I can't even think of his name now, but, uh, his name was in it.
And, uh, yeah, uh, Duvall.
Oh, uh, Robert Duvall.
And I had a shirt, uh, that he had worn.
I suppose it was his.
Yeah, but, but let me try this once more.
Now, is this, you have a little star up there.
Does that mean that this hat was worn by a marshal or a sheriff?
No, uh, the star was given to me by the director of the movie.
It's a little silver star, and it, uh, uh, represents the state of Texas, and
that was
the gift.
The lone star state.
The lone star state.
Yeah. Now, Mel, here, let me ask you about the book here, your life story, Stuttering
Boy.
Now, in all of your life, you must come in contact with a lot of people who say
to you, Mel,
you know, I know how you can overcome this stutter.
People must be coming up to you with, are there remedies for this that people
are pushing on?
I've had a million of them.
One that comes to mind that's in the book that I told about in the book was a
lady one time,
she told my mother, she said, you catch young Melvin coming along the street,
the sidewalk,
after a Frankenstein movie or something, and he'll already be scared,
and jump out of the bushes and hit him in the face with a wet squirrel.
And I think my answer to that was a dead wet squirrel.
And I think my answer to that was, did he have to be wet?
Have you ever run across something, one of these home remedies that works for a
while?
No, no, I tried the pebble business.
You know, Demostin is a great Greek orator who went down to the sea and picked
up the pebbles and put it in his mouth.
I tried that.
I swattered a couple.
That didn't work.
That gave me kidney stones, I guess.
I tried this, hello there, how are you?
And that didn't work long.
You know, people, they think you're crazy when you do that.
But what is this supposed to do?
It's sort of like a tempo, like follow the bouncing ball.
Well, that makes sense because when you sing, you don't stutter, do you?
That's because you're singing, it comes from another area of the brain.
Mm-hmm.
True.
No kidding, singing and speaking, two different parts of the brain?
That's right.
I didn't know that.
Now, what about, I don't know if you drink, do you drink?
I will have a beer or two occasionally.
I used to drink a lot back when I could handle it, you know.
I got, you hit an age, you had to, you had to let some stuff, you had to slow
down a little bit.
Okay.
We'll do a commercial here.
We'll be right back with you.
Thank you.
All right.
I don't want to, yes, sir.
You know, I think every time I come up here at the band, they like to show out
a lot because I got a band, too, you know.
Yeah.
And they really turn it on.
You're really good, guys.
I really appreciate your music.
Now, I don't want to belabor this, but there's a story in the book about one of
your appearances on the Glen Campbell Good Time Hour,
which was years ago on CBS, a summer replacement for the Smothers Brothers,
right?
First time I was ever on the Good Time Hour.
I went out and I was so scared.
I didn't, in those days, they didn't use me in any kind of skits or anything.
It was usuall