CHICKENS IN SPACE

By ARTHUR W. JOHNSON
The Associated Press
05/07/98


NASA -- Rumor has it that the next space shuttle flight will have a very special guest.
A "Chicken In My Underwear" T-shirt popularized by fans of Texas gonzo singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker will be worn into space by Maj. Anthony Nelson on the next mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia, set to depart Earth on May 29.
"This started as a little in-joke, but now it's gotten completely out of control," said the T-shirt's designer, Beaumont Dave. "We had been joking for a couple of weeks that these T-shirts were already showing up all over the world and that, as far as the Chicken In My Underwear went, space was, in fact, the final frontier.
"Then to hear from a friend that Major Nelson had seen the shirt at a Jerry Jeff show and wanted one to wear on the next shuttle mission, that was just too much.
"Well, needless to say, we found a T-shirt to give the Major in a hurry. And I might add," Dave added, "we were able to do the whole thing at considerably less than the usual U.S. Government procurement prices."
The black T-shirt features on the front a small drawing of Jerry Jeff superfan Beaumont Dave sitting in front of his house trailer, but it is the back of the T-shirt that is getting all the attention.
It's a picture of a chicken in Dave's underwear, with the message "I Really Do Keep A Live Chicken In My Underwear."
Dave says the idea for the T-shirt came from a line in an old Jerry Jeff Walker song. On "I'm Not Strange," a track from the 1978 Elektra album "Jerry Jeff," Walker can be heard to exclaim "I keep a live chicken in my underwear."
"One reason so many of us have followed Jerry Jeff throughout the years," Dave says, "is that he's so human. The late seventies and early eighties represented a rocky period for him. The album called "Jerry Jeff" won't be remembered as one of his better recordings. He was probably falling-down drunk when he recorded "I'm Not Strange."
"But most of us have been falling-down drunk at some times of our life, too, and most of us wish we'd have had the ingenuity to come up with something like a live chicken in the underwear at those times. I'm sure my wife would have come closer to believing that than the excuses I used to give her for coming home that way."
Walter Gibson, a spokesman for the Austin-based songwriter whose best-known hits include "Mr. Bojangles," "L.A. Freeway" and "Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother," said Walker had not heard of Nelson's plans.
"Jerry Jeff says this is an honor right up there with playing at the inaugurations of President Clinton and (Texas) Gov. Anne Richards," Gibson said. "Naturally, he wishes Maj. Nelson and the rest of the crew the best of luck on their upcoming mission."

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