Fisher
I met Fisher Alexander when I was in my early 30s and he was in his late 60s. He was a great musician who played in big bands, jazz and blues bands, rock bands… I had the privilege of playing with him for about 12 years in the 80s and 90s. We played in a band called the Route 66 Nomads. He was a World War II veteran and one of the wisest people I’ve ever known.
Fisher played back before African American musicians got credit for their work. He played on a number of hit records, but because of the way things were back then, he got lost in the shuffle. He lived in Clovis, NM, where he worked as a janitor at a local high school yet everyone in the music community knew him from the band “Big Mac and Little Fish,” a duo with a horn player named Mac. Every once in a while he’d hear a song on the radio and say, “I think I played bass on that.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” I’d ask.
And he’d say, “I forgot.”
Fisher died when he was 86 years old, and I was so moved by his friendship that I named my son after him – Isaac Fisher.
No matter what the world threw at him, Fisher had a smile that lit up the whole house. I wrote this song in 2005, a few years after he died. He was an inspiration to me personally and professionally and was more than just a friend. He was family.
by Andy Chase
Local singer, songwriter and artist Andy Chase has called Amarillo home for nearly 20 years. He currently plays at 575 Pizzeria, Blue Sky Cafe, and Leal's on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights respectively.Read and Feed
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