Hometown songwriter Makes good

Stepping onto the stage of Nashville’s Blue Bird Cafe, Larry John McNally looked out at the roomful of cowboy hats and long-necked beers and thought: “Oh, man, I think I’m in trouble now.”

McNally could never hope to pass himself off as a country singer, not even when confronted by a crowd of foot-stomping, tourists-turned-cowboys fresh from an afternoon trek through Opryland.

Since leaving Bangor for Los Angeles in 1978, the singer-songwriter had scratched out his living in rhythm and blues and the kinetic West Coast black-music scene. His songs had been recorded by people such as Chaka Khan, Peabo Bryson, the Neville Brothers and the Staples Singers — names that would probably draw a big “Huh?” at the Blue Bird.

But a few bars into “Nobody’s Girl,” a torchy blues song he’d written for Bonnie Raitt’s 1990 album of the year, “Nick of Time,” and McNally noticed the cowboy hats bobbing up and down in a surprising display of recognition.

“People seem to know that song everywhere I go now,” McNally, 38, said during a recent visit with his parents in Bangor. “It’s amazing, but it’s really taken on a life of its own since the Grammy’s.”

In many ways, so has McNally.

His “The Motown Song,” featuring the Temptations, appears on Rod Stewart’s latest LP, “Vagabond Heart.” Raitt recently recorded McNally’s “Slow Ride” for an album to be released in late June, and Aaron Neville will include McNally’s “Somewhere, somebody” on an album being produced by his duet-partner, Linda Rondstadt.

With plans to release the three songs as singles in the next few months — “The Motown Song” is already out as a single in England — McNally finds himself in the deliciously tough spot of finally having to evaluate his good fortune.

“After the success of `Nick of Time,’ I haven’t been deluged with calls from people asking me what else I’ve written,” McNally said. “But the effects of the album and my association with Bonnie are filtering in slowly.”

Raitt’s producer has been asking McNally for material, and so has Jennifer Warnes, who teamed up with Bill Medley on the 1987 “Dirty Dancing” hit “(I had) The Time of My Life.”

After one week with Raitt in a recording studio last winter, McNally got to meet Rod Stewart, Elvis Costello, Lyle Lovett, and several other artists who had dropped by to meet the red-haired blueslady who became an overnight success after 20 up-and-down years in the business.

The success of “Nick of Time”‘ — three million albums sold so far — also has brought McNally a few creature comforts not normally available to struggling songwriters.

“I got health insurance, for instance, and a few things fixed in my apartment,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll probably even get a new car.”

More important, though, his recent success allowed him the freedom to pursue his old, familiar love: performing his songs in front of live audiences in places such Austin, Nashville, and London.

“It’s a really unbelievable time for me,” McNally said. “But, you know, I’d be doing it even if Bonnie hadn’t had a hit. I’d do it if I was laying bricks for a living. If you do things out of love, they come back to you in a loving way. I guess I’m a lucky guy right now.”