(Spoken introduction. Slowly) So, that is how the story of Billy Ballou begins. I hope I am telling it well, and faithfully. I am a minor part of this story, so let me bring me into the picture.... My wife Cameron and I went to a spot in New Orleans in the Marigny district along Frenchmen Street. Honey Savage was there singing beautifully with her band, and I said to myself, “Cameron is as good as Honey and if I were her manager and she had a name like Honey Savage, wow, we could really go places, touring around and having fun.” Named Gus as I am, I’m sensitive to these matters. A friend in the UN once said “You become your name.” Movies love Gus - for animals. Soon I will be a mule or mouse. It has occurred to me that if I were instead named Jonathan Countryman, I might have made a good life in politics.
