The story started from a quick radio blurb I heard about Capone and Fats Waller

“Fats Waller was such an impressive and talented pianist that he came to the attention of the rich and famous—- sometimes whether he wanted to or not. Fats Waller was in Chicago in 1926 and, upon leaving the building where he was performing, Waller was kidnapped by four men, who bundled him into a car and drove off. The car later pulled up outside the Hawthorne Inn, owned by infamous gangster Al Capone. Fats was ordered inside the building, to find a party in full swing. With a gun against his back, Waller was pushed towards a piano, whereupon the gangsters demanded he start playing. A terrified Waller suddenly realized he was the “surprise guest” at Al Capone’s birthday party. Soon comforted by the fact that he wouldn’t die, Waller played, according to rumor, for three days. When he left the Hawthorne Inn, he was very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash given to him by Capone himself and by party-goers as tips.[3]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fats_Waller

And then the scotch “clicking” in your brain is from “A cat on a hot tin roof” and Paul Newman’s character.

“The night was dark, but the scotch was good and my piano beckoned.”

A really good hook.