Well, see, seeings got nothing to do with it. Its just something they call me. Put it down. Blind otis lemon, the apple of a womans eye. Tell me why youre here. He got a real bad sore on his leg. He sure does. Too bad hes not here to tell you for himself. Where do you live, mr. Lemon . Well, theres uh, no fixed address. Im sort of in between domiciles hes homeless. Im not homeless. Im just houseless. Youre houseless, all right. Youre also apartmentless, condominiumless, and it looks like youre about to be shopping cartless. I can always transport my stuff in your cardboard uhaul. Lie down for me, sir. Mr. Lemon . You got to talk on my good side. Your legs infected, but well clean it up. How long have you had trouble hearing . Y good out of this one. You ever experience headaches or dizziness . Well, sometimes, but mostly i do fine. Um as a precaution, id like to admit you for some tests, maybe have a specialist look at your ear, and fix your leg. You mean stay overnight . Look, uh, i dont know. See, joe here is useless without me. Useless . Im on vacation without him. Ray. This gentlemens joining us this evening. Ill get him admitted. Blind otis lemon . Are you the blind otis lemon . Yeah, thats right. This is incredible, man. Im your biggest fan yeah . Yeah you know this guy . Are you kidding . This is blind otis lemon, one of the greatest blues players ever i was with the high rollers. The man practically invented rock n roll. Practically . I did. All the way from a to z, rock n roll belongs to me. So i tell him, mitch, a zit cant get that big without exploding. Pop that sucker before you put somebodys eye out. Exploding zits are relatively rare, but it could happen. Lucky i caught it in time. Hi, mom. Hi, mrs. H. Hi, guys. Have you ever heard of a blues singer named blind otis lemon . Well, sure. When i was in college, i used to sing one of his songs, i got the down and dirty cornbread blues. No offense, mrs. H, [falsetto] . Papas got a brandnew bag . . Ow . Anyway, today i admitted a guy who claimed to be otis lemon. Ray says he influenced everyone the beatles, elvis, the rolling stones. Raymond kept going on and on. No kidding . The guys a Living Legend or something . Yeah. According to raymond, hes the original hoochiecoochie man. I think otis lemon supposedly died. God, what . 20 years ago. Lots of Homeless People claim to be other people. Last week it was abraham lincoln. [vinnie] youre kidding . He tried to emancipate raymond three times. I think it would be nice to know otis is still alive. . Dont feed me . . No more cornbread . . I got . . Meat on my mind . [scatting] jimi hendrix played that. Hendrix stole that from you . Nah. Hendrix stole that from leadbelly. Leadbelly stole that from me. So why do they call you blind otis . Something to do with the way you play . Nah. Truth is its on account of my driving. After a gig in memphis, splot and thats when our bass man, toothless leroy lewis, started calling me blind otis. Thats when i started calling him toothless lewis. Oh, man. You shouldve never stopped playing. You were the best. Its the same old story. I thought i had to drink a lot of booze to play them blues. I started missing gigs, disappearing for weeks at a time. Soon, most people thought i died, including an exgirlfriend who was tracking me down to put a hurt on me, so it wasnt all bad. [vinnie] do you still, um. No, i dont drink no more. Im into clean living now. Never stop playing. Blues is happening. Hey, i know a guy with a club downtown. The audience would say, blind otis who . No way as soon as youre out, ill take you there. It would be good to play again. Mmm. [vocalizing] blind otis lemon, back making sweet lemonade. Ill confirm your suspicion, dr. Howser. 100 loss of hearing in the right ear. The cause . The scarring suggests chronic infection, probably since childhood. Exactly. Inoperable and unassistable. What about the left . Well. Theres, uh. Acoustic neuroma. Very good, doctor. The tumors quite large. This could become lifethreatening. Unfortunately, the removal of such a tumor ually results in a total loss of hearing. You have another alternative . No. So when do we do it . We, dr. Howser . How did i know that when you innocently asked for my opinion a we would somehow evolve . Because youre the best there is. If anyone will save his hearing, its you. I read about your work youre out of your league. Besides, im booked solid. No, its ok. No need to explain. Ill find someone else. I hope. Its just that, well, this guys homeless. Well just have to release him, and well probably never see him again. But, hey, you cant save everybody. All right. All right. Have him prepped and ready at 7 30 a. M. Tomorrow. Sharp. G to hear nothing . Uh, thats very likely, but dr. Stoessls the best around. Its been nice knowing you, little doc. Otis, this tumors large. With this operation, you may prolong your life. Im 71, broke, and on the streets. Maybe i dont want no prolonging. I dont believe that. I dont believe youre someone whos given up. Listening to music and fussing with joe. Youd take that from me . Its not the end of the world. You just dont get it. Me and joe look out for each other. We take turns sleeping. If i cant hear somebody sneaking up, what good am i . I might as well give up. Look, im just a 17yearold white boy who lives in brentwood. I dont know the streets. All i know is, and ive got an operation that may save your life. You dont give up, thats for sure. Otis, dont quit. Well. I guess a deaf otis lemon is better than a. Ive got surgery scheduled for the morning. Well, ray, i cant play if i cant hear. Well do it tonight. Do what tonight . Otis is playing tonight downtown. Sort of a comeback. Come with us. Well bring the girls. Otis has surgery tomorrow morning. So . So one aspirin, one drink of alcohol, one bite of food, and the surgery is history. Dr. Howser, report to pediatrics. I got to go. Sorry, otis. But, doog. No buts, vinnie. How can you do this . This could be his last chance. I dont know otis really is otis. What if he is . Even so, hes a 71yearold man whos having surgery in the morning