March 13, 2012
Once again back in the seventies I was flying copilot on the DC-10 when a sweet LA trip hit the open time board. Non-stop both ways, with a Huntley House layover. Real sweet. I needed to fill out my time for the month, so I persuaded my old scheduling friend, Frank Gravitz to give me the trip. I didn’t have to ask who the Captain was. Another co-pilot had called in sick rather than fly with the cantankerous curmudgeon, Capt. Boots Shaw. Good for me, because I didn’t really mind flying with Boots. In fact, I’m inclined to agree with what Flight Attendant Sharon Rowe said about Boots after reading the previous piece about the lightning strike. She said Boots was a “rough tough cream puff.”
Boots and I walked into scheduling about the same time to report for the trip. He was unaware his original copilot had called in sick. “Hey Ben! Where you going?” Boots asked. He towered over me like a hundred-year-old sequoia. “I’m going with you, Boots,” I said. A genuine, giant smile stretched across his face. “Ben,” he boomed, “you’ve made my day!” He grabbed my hand with his mammoth meat-hook and gave me a crunching handshake.
Not too long after that Michael Patrick Callahan and I were working on a musical based on the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. Mike was on the staff at the South Center for the Arts School where the play, What Might Have Been, eventually opened. He was writing the book and I was writing the music and lyrics. Great, great, fun!
We were dealing with the part of the plot where the Jimmy Stewart character meets the Donna Reed character. Mike had given me the task of writing what he called a “like” song. “We can’t have a love song,” he said, “because the characters haven’t met.” Hmmm. Now, I had written many songs previously and went on to write seventeen original songs for this musical, but I was struggling to find my way with this one.
I left Miami on another trip to the west coast. I was not flying with Boots on this trip, but I did see him in operations. I remembered his crunching handshake and his booming voice extolling, “you’ve made my day.” At that moment, I knew I had it!
When I reached the Huntley House in Santa Monica for the layover, I sat down and wrote what is probably my favorite song. I believe in love at first sight, so for me, it really is a love song. And it was inspired by none other than Boots Shaw. And he never knew (R.I.P., Boots).
Here are the lyrics to the chorus:
You’ve made my day
Just a simple little smile
Seems to say
Could we visit for a while
Could we share some feelings too
Telling me and telling you
I feel special when you look at me that way
You’ve made my day
You’ve made my day
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