I sent a tape to my friend, Jim Shaw in the late 90s when I was living in Sacramento.  It was a few years before Buck passed away.  Buck Owens, after hearing this song I wrote called The Buck Stops Here, on that cassette, told Jim Shaw, (who told me), that I reminded him of Johnny Cash.  That was one of the best compliments I've ever received. 

But for the most part, Crystal Palace royalty prefer to admire me from a distance rather than directly involve themselves with me in a professional capacity.  I am raw, I am rough around the edges, and I am unpredictable.  Kim is an exception, and she has sung with the best, Buck Owens, the Buckaroos, and many others.  And she is a critically acclaimed solo artist and rising country star in her own right.  I call her the "Princess of the Palace."

To his credit, Monty Byrom did express an interest in adding his guitar and vocal skill to the song, he simply wasn't able to make it on the session involving the song.  In fact, when Monty called me back about the session, he actually convinced me that the song, Billie Jean would work as a country rock song.  He did this by singing it back to me, and that was the clincher, for me.

Still, Kim is the first among the Crystal Palace inner circle to have dared to collaborate with this underdog, humbly stepping into the trenches with me and my beloved band for this Michael Jackson tribute song.  Yes, I'll say it again, just for the record (pun intended). In this important step for mankind, in the evolution of the Bakersfield sound, this Crystal Palace princess named Kim McAbee, broke a cardinal rule of not mixing with the peasants, and quickly stepped into this rare recording of a K.c.c.o.c.k. (Kern County country rock) arrangement I whipped up involving Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. Kudos to Kim!  That's what Buck was all about---breaking rules and busting genres.  So with this latest bold move, Kim is carrying on Buck's penchant for breaking with tradition, and taking risks on underdogs, like Homer Joy was, for example. 

Pat Fraze, the drummer pictured here has been an instrumental part (pun intended) of what I have referred to as the nu bako or kccrocker sound.  I have been honored to have him play on lots of my recordings and to jam live with him as well at my Johnny Cash tribute performance and others.  Jerry Rothberg, also in the remarkably talented bako blues band, Blue Mirror, has also contributed immensely to the shaping of the new Bakersfield sound, or the nu bako sound.  I am also honored that he has offered his deft talents on many occasions, adding sax solos, guitar riffs, backup vocals, even lead vocals to some of my original songs. 

It's already been pirated, even in its unfinished-unvarnished-warts-and-all state, and it's been heavily downloaded, even though the link is just a sample, so I might as well let you here it.  The full length, fully edited mix will be out sometime soon, God willing, after the July 4th weekend.  Here's the pirated, heavily downloaded, unedited sample:


Dr BLT's (K.c.c.r.o.c.k.) Arrangement
original recording by Michael Jackson
Public Domain