David Jennett was a veteran of the Vietnam War and the Korean War. He revealed to us some pictures and documents that he carried with him in his brown suitcase. Pictures that revealed a young fitted handsome seventeen year with his crew landing team. The resemblance of that young man to Jennett was still partially there. I couldn’t point out which one was him but of course, Jennett, smirkingly pointed himself out.
Jennett, when asked about his fear of performance, he gasped with eyes wide open and shooked his head. “That was the hardest for me ever,” Jennett uttered. He remembered how he use to sweat out of nervousness. When in front of an audience, he would grow mute out of fear. Joining Songmakers had to be the core reason that Jennett was even able to overcome perturbation. As a result of previously having been in that sort of neurotic atmosphere in the past, he became very solicitous in helping others overcome that fear when they too, must be positioned in front of people. Especially when it comes to performing, he would be willing to stand with the performer and quietly play alongside with them just to break the nervousness. Such a sweet, caring man he is. Jennett is such a considerate man.
Songmakers was a family to Jennett. Jennett had a way of archiving a database of songs in his head. He had the most amazing memory ever. When asked about songwriting, he shooked his head and chuckled. He never was quite a songwriter but he just knew from every word to every line, and every note to every chord of songs, even the most classics ever from the 1930s. He had this skill in recollecting songs instantly and performing spectacular covers of them. He’s simply remarkable. We were able to divert him to sing a few lines of “Red Neck, White Sox and Blue Ribbon Beer” and even play it on his harmonica. He even stated, “It’s my first time playing this on a harmonica.” We were lucky to be able to hear him jam away at it and he was sprightly enthusiastic while doing it too.
Jennett has had the opportunities to work with other celebrities such as Don Knott, Don Rickles, Raquel Welch, Linda Evans, Kirk Douglas, Elsa Lancaster, and much more. Jennett had also been on television shows such as the David Letterman show but he wasn’t performing. He was known as “Mr. Fix it!” People would direct him with questions and ask him for his expertise on fixing things. Jennett has also been broadcasted on radio stations as “Mr. Fix It” as well. The general public loved him! I could recall him laughing and mentioning how all of these high technology are being advertised and he complained how a simple microwave has to have so many buttons now that it gets so confusing but he had the same dial turning microwave for more than 20 years and “It still works great,” he noted. He isn’t about to change his microwave. Jennett is one funny, enthusiastic man.
It was a great honor being able to interview David Jennett. There was so much spirit and energy in him that we ended up exceeding our interview time of 25 minutes. We couldn’t stop talking, laughing, and having a great time. It stopped feeling like an interview and started becoming one of the greatest conversations ever. Jennett is one incredible, heart-warming, humorous and witty man.
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