About one week after the accident at Three Mile Island I was in he back bathroom of my house shaving, when a bolt of lightning came in through the window.  I started to sing “Potter County was made by the hand of God, but the devil made Three Mile Island.”  Hey, I said to myself, that’s a good idea for a song.

Hey, I said to myself, that’s a good idea for a song.

So I checked all the local newspapers, listened to news broadcasts and on Thursday, I said to wife, “Go out and do the grocery shopping and leave me alone.  I’m going to write a song about Three Mile Island.”  Three hours later my wife Jean came back and I said, I have it all finished except one line, which I read to her.  And in the missing line Jean said, “May Jesus see us through.”

Jean said, “May Jesus see us through.”

On Friday, I called an A and R friend of mine and made arrangements to record the song in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday.  In those days 33 1/3 albums were popular. So I contacted a fellow entertainer and asked him to draw me a picture of Three Mile Island to put on the cover of the album, Three Mile Island, which he did.

The song was played on the David Brinkley newscast.

Al Shade