Clay Pigeons notes
"When I heard ‘Clay Pigeons’ I thought I wrote it, I couldn’t get it out of my head until I learned it. That tendency to stick in your head is what makes a good song. I’m proud of the way my songs have gotten around in spite of [their lack of] radio play. They’ve gotten around because people have heard them around campfires, and that’s the folk process. And also, because I can just barely play the guitar, just about anyone who can play the guitar can play my songs.” (2005) ~John Prine"Merle Haggard turned me on to Blaze Foley... Lucinda thought I knew Blaze, and I sat there with a blank look ... I find out years later that we did know each other. We ran together in Austin back in the 70's. Backstage area of the Armadillo World Headquarters is like backstage of the Wizard of Oz. I ran into Sara Elizabeth who had bootlegs of Blaze - I wanted to hear "If I Could Only Fly" right after that I heard Clay Pigeons ... I thought it sounded like me ... I just couldn't get it out of my head. He wrote a whole ton of really good songs. I got a letter 2 weeks ago about how he was leaving Chicago - Bill (sounded like redhead) got on a Greyhound bus headed south out of Chicago and he wrote the song. Blaze was a big old bear of a guy with a big soft heart. BFI - Blaze Foley Inside... he was the Duct Tape Messiah. I'm starting to get all kinds of stories about Blaze. He got around, they say when I knew him they called him Deputy Dawg." ~ John Prine (2005 Sirius interview)