IT’S MUSIC THAT HE DOES BEST

Swigging the last of his beer, Dusty Best pounds the empty bottle against the table and leans forward, his eyebrows scrunched together like a recoiling caterpillar.

It’s not easy to recount the highlights of a career spent on the local nightclub circuit, especially one that started in the 1960s.

So of course he must give it some thought. But after several minutes of contemplative silence, the memories start to filter in; the words begin to flow.

And thus begins a three-hour ride through the musical past of the uncrowned king of San Diego night life--a guitar-strumming troubadour with a tenor voice, a penchant for ballads and a belief that the whole world really is his stage.

There was the night back in the early 1970s when Best, playing in a long-gone North County nightclub, spied Burt Bacharach and his wife, Angie Dickinson, sitting at the front table. He promptly performed the only Bacharach song he knew, “Liberty Valance,” and was rewarded with a standing ovation from the songwriter.

There was the entire summer of 1973, when the band Best was fronting at the time, O.D. Corral, made the outdoor garden of the Cafe del Rey Moro in Balboa Park the hottest spot for country rock this side of El Cajon.

On some nights, Best recalls fondly, overzealous fans who couldn’t get in took to climbing nearby trees to catch an earful of the band’s lilting three-part harmonies soaring above its twangy guitars.

And there was the time when Best included one of his most popular numbers--a tune called “The Victory Song,” written for him by his friend Jack Tempchin--on a demo tape for Warner Bros. Records.

His tape was rejected. But a year later, an up-tempo version of the song, retitled “Already Gone,” became a No. 1 hit for an upstart country-rock band called the Eagles.

“I have to admit, the years passed by rather quickly,” said 36-year-old Best. “But I’ve always loved to sing, I’ve always loved to write, and I’ve always loved to play my guitar.

“I remember the first gig I ever got, back in 1969, when a duo I was in was getting paid $15 a night and all the beer we could drink. I thought to myself, wow, this is great--I’m getting paid to do what I’d be doing anyway in my own living room.

“And the fact that I’ve been able to support myself with my music, through all these years, has always meant a lot to me.”

Best takes great pride in never having had to take a day job to supplement his income during his more than 16 years of playing local nightclubs.

In those years, he has weathered such musical fads as heavy metal, punk rock, disco and new wave. He has performed in bands, trios, duos and by himself. He has appeared in more than 30 San Diego nightclubs and outlived more than half of them.

For the last six months, Best has been playing solo at Antonio’s Hacienda in El Cajon on Fridays and Saturdays and at Tio Leo’s in Grantville each Sunday through Wednesday. He has a constantly changing repertoire of more than 300 songs, many of which he wrote.

And he plans to continue working solo.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time,” Best said. “I’m a lot more versatile than any band I’ve ever been in; I’m free to do any song I choose, and there’s nobody around to object.”

His performance one recent Friday night at Antonio’s Hacienda attests to that. For four hours, the popular East County tavern’s stage was filled with just Best and his guitar. His choice of material read like a country music and rock ‘n’ roll history book.

Early country-Western classics like Hank Williams’ “Hey Good Lookin’ ” intermingled with newer country-rock songs like the Eagles’ “Tequila Sunrise” and Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard’s “Pancho and Lefty.”

Vintage rockers like the late Ricky Nelson’s “Travelin’ Man” and “Hello, Mary Lou” gave way to the Hollies’ “Bus Stop” and Don McLean’s “American Pie.”

And ribald novelty songs had the crowd singing, stomping and clapping along.

But while one of the music business’ most highly regarded axioms maintains: “It’s not the singer, it’s the song,” Dusty Best repeatedly proved the opposite. Each tune he played became his own and, while in most nightclubs people tend to walk around and socialize, the Hacienda crowd seemed riveted to their seats until closing time.

“I’ve done a lot of different things, especially in the last few years,” Best said. “I’ve written and recorded lots of my own songs, I’ve recorded jingles and commercials, and I’ve made a number of stabs at getting a national recording contract.

“But I always feel best when I’m up there on stage. Playing live has always mattered most to me, and it’s reassuring that even after all this time, there are still people who will come out and hear me play.”