George and Jack

At the Coaster Saloon at 1:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, Mike Tyler drank Jack and Cokes and checked out the small jukebox mounted on the wall. I asked him what song he was looking for.

"George Jones, 'Corvette Song.' I love it. When I was driving back from Columbia [South Carolina], this guy Eddie created this game.... You had to switch [radio] stations, and if it was your turn, you had to sing eight words in a row of the song that was on. If you did, you got a point. If you couldn't, it went to the next person. We played this game for an hour and a half, driving back from St. Louis. Three of us were sitting across the bench seat in the [Chevy] S10. And we're all pretty good at this game.

"Every so often [we'd] come across a country song. One time it was a George Jones song: 'She's hotter than a two-dollar pistol / she's the fastest thing around / long and lean / every young man's dream / she turned every head in town.' That song came on, and I started singing it. Ed said, 'How do you know this song?' I was, like, 'Dude, I grew up on this shit.' He was amazed. When you get Eddie's respect, that's good times right there."