Nat Reese & th' Bullfrog at the Rialto Theater - Raleigh, NC June 24, 2010

I’ve known Nat for thirty years or thereabouts - and well enough for the last twenty or so to have spilled numerous potable beverages into his couch. I’ve heard a lot of lies about (and from)Nat over the years and this is one of my favorite ones:

When the world was young and dinosaurs roamed the earth, the promoter of the John Henry Festival in Talcott, West Virginia ran hard south with all the receipts from the show and most of the performers yet unpaid. Nat leapt into his jalopy and sped off down route 3 in blinding pursuit, brandishing a nickel-plated revolver of dubious pedigree and legality, straightening curves through Hinton, Lerona, Athens and Princeton - squeezing off the occasional round and cursing all the way - they crossed into Virginia and, finally, into North Carolina. He caught up with the villainous promoter in the parking lot of a Piggly Wiggly just over the North Carolina state line. Shots were exchanged and then words - a few more shots - a few more words - Nat made his determination clear, overwhelmed the promoter and the day went decisively in Nat’s favor.

I think Ed Cabbell told me this story…

So, one time years ago I asked Nat after the veracity of the story and he said this about that:

“Bullfrog,” he said, cause that’s what he called me and everybody’s gotta be somebody and I’m th’ Bullfrog. “Bullfrog,” he says, “I remember everything but the car the gun and the money - other than that, that story is one hundred percent true.”