The “Golden Hits Of The 70s”
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DANNY O’KEEFE
“GOOD TIME CHARLIE’S GOT THE BLUES”
(DANNY O’KEEFE)
Signpost 70006
No. 9 November4, 1972
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Danny O’Keefe, who wrote many portrait pieces that others would popularize, is primarily remembered
for his lone, lazy lingering in Top 40-land. “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues” was no party platter, but a
poignant vignette of an abandoned Charlie, his pills, and his pain. “It was about a good friend of mine,”
O’Keefe told Rolling Stone’s Judith Sims. “He’s a very mellow, beautiful friend who was going through
heart attacks and it was rough [back in 1968]. It was a rough period for me, too.”
Danny grew up in the small town of Wenatchee, Washington. Papa was a lawyer, an insurance adjuster,
and, by Dan’s pre-teen years, a dying man. “My grandmother put me into a military school in St. Paul.
That was for the first two years of high school.” About the time of his dad’s death, O’Keefe began writing
poetry and hanging out in the area’s coffeehouses. After a short stay at the University of Minnesota, he
returned to his hometown to attend Wenatchee Valley College. “In the winter when I was 20, I stayed
there being lonely and crazy, starting to take drugs and playing guitar. I did it for a release, not seriously
trying to do anything except to get some of the stuff inside out.”
In the mid-’60s, O’Keefe was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident that involved extensive surgery
and years of recovery. During this time, O’Keefe was encouraged to continue writing. By 1966, he had
some songs and a band, later labeled the Bandits. A musical buddy introduced them to Jerry Dennson,
who had recorded IAN WHITCOMB, the Sonics, and early sides on Paul Revere & The Raiders. (Dennson
also discovered the Kingsmen of “Louie Louie”fame.) A few O’Keefe singles (like “That Old Sweet Song”)
and a Bandits 45 (“Little Sally Walker”) were issued on Dennson’s Jerden label, but no great wealth and
popularity were to follow. As Calliope, the Bandits band had singles issued on a variety of labels (Epic, Jet
Set, Sharnley) and an LP (Steamed, 1968) on Buddah, but again, nothing quite clicked.
Charlie Greene and Brian Stone–who supervised the careers of BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD, BOB LIND, and
SONNY & Cher–spied O’Keefe palling around with a group called Daily Flash, and managed to convince
Atlantic Records’ Ahmet Ertegun to record him as a singer-songwriter solo act. “Good Time Charlie” was
included on Danny’s debut album; the tune was recorded on four or five occasions before everything was
deemed just right.
A few follow-ups nearly cracked the Hot 100 (“The Road,” ”Angels Spread Your Wings”) and two LPs sold
well–O’Keefe (1972) and Breezy Stories (1973). But Danny never managed to solidify a mass audience for
his story songs. Jackson Browne, Judy Collins, Waylon Jennings, B. W. STEVENSON, and even Elvis have
record ed his material.
In the mid-’80s, O’Keefe had an album (The Day to Day, 1984) and single (”Along for the Ride”) issued by
Coldwater Records. Thereafter, for awhile, he was a member of the Seattle Helps the Hungry
configuration that issued “Give Just a Little” as a 45 on the DJ label.