When Mickey was booked to play the Bitter End in NYC,in 1970 or 71, He asked Dennis Linde and me to back him up....For the next few mornings, we would take his houseboat out to the center of the lake, drop anchor, and rehearse sitting on the top deck, soaking up the sun until it went down.....Mickey loved that houseboat, and his privacy as well! I'm amazed anyone ever got him to go out and perform! We all kidded him about being a hermit...When we got to NY, Mickey went to his room, where he stayed until the gig....Dennis and I ran around the city and then returned to the room, Mickey had booked for us...Well, Dennis was a real funny guy, and a bit of a rocker, as well...(after all Dennis did write, "Burning Love")!... He suggested that maybe, since most of Mickey's songs were so slow, that we should take it upon ourselves to speed up "Tell Me Baby, Why You Been Gone So Long"!!! We rehearsed it, and that evening, when we got to that song on our set list, we kicked it off at about twice the normal speed!!!! lol..
Well, Mickey turned and looked at me, then at Dennis, then at me...then at Dennis....lol !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If looks could kill, I wouldn't be writing this! Finally, he decided to go along with the joke and just sing it at that tempo! It was DY-NO-MITE!!!! Since that time, everyone I've ever heard do that song, has done it that way!!!
Dennis and I were sure Mickey would have "something" to say about it after the show, but he never did! As a matter of fact, the next day, after our "Ned Kelly" sessions, he took me out and bought me a new pair of boots.... Dennis ended up producing Mickey's classic cut of "American Trilogy", a short time later....I'd say, that all in all, he took our little prank pretty well!