We're all supposed to have our 15 minutes of fame; at least, that's what I've always heard. I know I'll never be a big rock star, but I had my 15 minutes sometime in the winter of 1966. At the very least, it was a brush with greatness...Let me set the stage: I was 15, playing drums in a band called "D. J. Child's Society Banned." We were gigging around NW Iowa, North and South Dakota, and Nebraska, and were booked for a week-long gig at a little club called "The Loft" in N. Sioux City, South Dakota. South Dakota's drinking age in those days was 19, so the seedly little bars in border towns N. Sioux City became the hot spots for Iowa teens trying to get liquored up within the confines of the law. Now, parents, would you let your 15-year-old play a week-long gig (all those school nights!) in a sleezy bar in a town 70 miles away? Well, it would depend on how much the gig paid... I mean, absolutely not! I expect my parents were violently opposed to it, but I went anyway...
The thing I remember most about the Loft was its tiny stage, suspended 10 or 12 feet about the dance floor, accessable only by a rickety ladder (hence the name). You try hoisting a couple of Super Beatles up those stairs...and we didn't have roadies in those days, just a sound/light guy. One night, midweek, we were playing to 4 or 5 people (hey, it was early yet!) when a dude claiming to be Elvin Bishop strolled up to the bandstand and asked to jam. Now in those days I probably didn't know Elvin Bishop from Elvin Jones, but I now know he is an accomplished blues guitarist and singer, born in Iowa, who'd played with Paul Butterfield. He's probably best known, though, for his pop hit "Fooled Around and Fell In Love," with Mickey Thomas on vocals. I don't remember too much about the tune - we probably played a slow blues progression - but he played a blistering blues harmonica. After the song was over, he turned to me and said that I was the "best little damn drummer" he had ever played with. Probably the only 15-year-old drummer he'd played with, but that was beside the point, he left me beaming with pride.
So that's my story - what's yours?
You can see what Elvin is doing these days by checking out his appearance at the "40th Anniversary Summer of Love Blues Jam," and, as always, keep on rockin!
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Cleveland circa 1975 … my date & I walk in to see a Mose Allison show. When we get there, nobody was there at the piano, so it looked like a good time to hit the men’s room. There was a space next to an older guy at the urinal, so I took that spot, & then we both finished up at about the same time, washed our hands & walked out together. But when I stop off at my seat, this guy keeps going … all the way up to the stage where he takes his place at the piano.
Ha! Bet you thought I was going to say he asked me to come on stage & jam with him or that I at least SAID something to him. Nope. Drat it. I kinda knew what Mose looked like then too, but for whatever reason I just didn’t place him at the time. And of course you wouldn’t expect to see the guy in the public restroom up front. Maybe the plumbing was busted backstage; I have no idea.
So not only have i never gotten my 15 minutes of musical fame, that was the one & only time I was even close to SOMEONE ELSE who actually had musical fame (outside of the times I've jammed with you of course).
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