Lawrence.com

Well, it's 1, 2, 3 ...

Country Joe McDonald is being sued for allegedly stealing the tune of his 1965 protest song "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die-Rag" from a 1926 song by famed jazz trombonist Kid Ory.

Ory's daughter, Babette Ory, filed the lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. She claims McDonald stole the tune to her father's "Muskrat Ramble." The lawsuit asks for unspecified damages and an order barring McDonald from performing the song. It comes just at the time when the recording may be gaining new popularity because of the military action in Afghanistan.

McDonald, 59, conceded that he's been a fan of Kid Ory but denied he copped the tune.

Fear of furniture

Billy Bob Thornton says his character in the new film "Bandits" has some of his real-life phobias � for one thing, Thornton's afraid of antique furniture.

"I get creeped out and I can't breathe and I can't eat around it," he told reporters recently. "But it's only certain kinds of antique furniture. It mostly ... has to do with France and England."

The 46-year-old actor-screenwriter doesn't know the source of his fear. "I've had friends tell me that maybe I was beaten to death with an antique chair in a former life. I don't know. I'm not really sure what that's all about," he said.

Thornton's also afraid of clowns. "It's like you don't really know the guy that's lurking behind the face."

Lookin' for love

Country music star Buck Owens is smitten with a fan he met briefly and is searching for the woman in personal ads he's placed in several newspapers.

The 72-year-old Country Music Hall of Famer met the woman at a Sept. 7 taping of the TV game show "Family Feud" in Burbank, Calif., and was immediately taken with her, he said. He asked for her phone number and wrote it down, but then lost it. "I'm just sick about it," he said.

A classified ad published in several Southern California newspapers this month seeks the "Buck Owens Fan" who was at the Family Feud taping. It reads: "Buck has lost contact, would like for you to call Mel Owens at (661) 326-1011. Please call, extremely important."

Owens is divorcing his wife of 22 years.