Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Phil Collins, Michael Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, Alan White, Bill Bruford, Jon Anderson, Kenny Loggins, Jim Messina, Arlo Guthrie, Chick Corea, Percy Jones, Peter Erskine, Todd Rundgren, Jean Guillou, Victor Wooten, Michael Manring, Alain Caron, Jeff Berlin, John B. Williams, Kenny Howes, Rutger Hauer, Steve Gutenberg, Billy Crystal, Dean Semler, Goldie Hawn, Karem Abdul Jabar, Bob Hoskins, Warren Zevon, George Montgomery, Pam Springsteen, Stephen King, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Francesca Hilton, Leonard Nimoy, Richard Hatch (original Battlestar Galactica), Janet Jackson, Ray Walston, Richard Dreyfuss, William Windom, Richard Farber, Ken Marcus, Lyle Mays, Pat Metheny, Nana Vasconcelos, Andy Narell, Bucky Pizzarelli, Jean Luc Ponty, Brian Auger, Monty Alexander, John Goodsall, Sarah Pillow, Marc Wagnon, Todd Coolman, and probably a bunch I have forgotten over the years.

first famous person i met was from '60's tv show "mr. terrific" his sidekick, can't remember his name now...that was on a riverboat cruise in hawaii in '71...hey, sir ! did that pill in mr.terrific's ring really make him into a super hero ? uuhhmmm...yeah, kid. sure !

then...rush '82 at private party, yes '87, genesis '83,peter gabriel band '84,toured with iron maiden '88 usa an uk, michael schenker group '88,bryan adams'86 ,gene simmons'76 '83,and '92, celine dion '92 at juno awards(we were nominated and lost to rush ), uriah heep '88,april wine, had dinner with cheap trick'88 ,kim mitchell, bruce cockburn(if i had a rocket launcher...or...if a tree falls in the forest,does anybody hear ?), vince neil's mom and sister '88 on the freeway(tour bus story some other time ), ron jeremy,joe satrianni (auditioned for him),ronnie james dio, bob ezrin (he wanted to punch my head off !) weather report '85(they asked to borrow my bass gear for free tickets and dinner with the band) screech from that tv show with elizabeth berkley but as a comedian at the mike bullard show we played a song on.

...oh yeah, i almost forgot...me ! and of course...the famous paul boyer ! and john hall !

I worked in hotels for over 25 years and met countless artists, athletes, and politicians. Probably three of the nicest guys were Willy Nelson (before he was a household name), Eddie Arnold, and Bob Seger. One memory that I'll never forget is having dinner with Catherine Bach. Of course there were six others at the table.

O.K., I'll play...

President John F. Kennedy, 1961
John Howard Griffith, 1964 (author of "Black Like Me"), stayed at our house because he had a death threat against him (why our house was safe I'll never know but the Klan didn't show up)
Sen. Robert Kennedy, 1968
George McGovern (Democratic Presidential nominee 1968)
Gov. Ronald Reagan
All California Highway Patrol Commisioners from 1966-1998
Eddie Money (playing at a frat party!)
Stanley Jordan (backstage at the Greek Theatre Berkeley)
Kenny G (ditto to Jordan at the Greek)
Paul Newman at the St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco
Ed McMahon at the St. Francis Hotel
Robert Cray and his Band at Starbucks, Tower District Fresno
Carlos Santana between OAK and LAX (he was flying to the Grammy awards)

well I used to be a project manager for one of the top Beverly Hills developer/general contractors, so here are some of my clients.. Don Rickels, funny guy always giving the help trouble. Cheryl Ladd, exibitionist, used to walk around the job practicaly nude, I'm amazed no one cut their hand off,,Kurt Douglass, I almost ran him over with my truck when he steped right in front of me,, He apologized over and over, nice guy,, Elizabeth Taylor,, very nice lady,, Brian Setzer, too cool, probably the friendliest celeb I met,, James Burton,, who happens to be Brian Setzers idol, there are quite a few more,, its amazing how many famous people there are out there..

These are highlights.
1. A van ride and little chat with Sandra Day O'Conner.
2. Dinner with Pat Cooper (lightning quick mind) and my dad (never mind )
3. Flea marketing irregularly with Jim Yester (the Association) I did a duet with him once and he didn't even know it !
4. a short walk with Dan and Marilyn Quayle..I subtly jabbed him with an adjective.
5. Playing irregularly with Glenn Mercer of the Feelies.

Carl Perkins (sang Lend Me Your Comb w/him outside the Mud Club)
Chuck Berry (on the street)
Johnny Lydon
Joey Ramone
Dee Dee Ramone
Paul Weller
Johnny Thunders
Bruce Foxton (went bar hopping with + afterhours clubs...Setting Sons tour)
Sid Vicious (shook hands with him at Max's Kansas City)
? Mark
Cheap Trick (minus Bun E.)
The Misfits
Billy Idol
Joan Jett (asked her to dance...punched me on the arm and said "Sorry kid, I don't dance." Huh!!??)
Steve & Eydie Gormet
Roger McGuinn
Sean Bonniwell
Gary US Bonds...GREAT GUY!!!
Michael Clark
Gene Clark
Reg Presley

Jake, just remember: THEY'RE ONLY PEOPLE. And some actors barely qualify as that.

I've met a few cool musical folks.

John Jorgenson (even got to emcee the show!)

The Church (Steve Kilbey, Marty Willson-Piper, Peter Koppes, Tim Powles)

Bert Lams (California Guitar Trio)

Karin Bergquist/Linford Detweiller (Over the Rhine)

Richard X. Heyman


Always WANTED to meet Les Paul.

Been playing benefit shows for Gatewood Galbraith this spring (the next governor of KY -look him up!).

Probably lots of other folks (pols, musos, etc.) but it's almost 1AM here in the civilized time zone and my brain's a bit soft at this hour. tsk

Man do I want to send out a boatload of PM's with questions!

My list...right off the top of my head..Frank Zappa, Dweezil Zappa (and I did not tell him he sucked), Mike Keneally, Steve Vai, Scott Thunes (and he was in a bad mood, shocker!) Cheap Trick, Quiet Riot, Loverboy (and I DID tell them they sucked),Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Carr, Ace Frehley, Bruce Kulick, Peter Criss, Billy Squier, Rick Springfield, Sting, Ted Nugent, Billy Gibbons, Kim Mitchell, Had dinner with Nikki Sixx and some blonde supermodel (lasagna), Ahmet Zappa, Klaus Miene of the Scorpions (had a laugh trying to record a promo with him...he was a good sport), Huey Lewis, Jason Newsted, Dio, Rudy Sarzo, Jeff Rath, Linda Evans, Jane Seymour, Steve Yzerman, Bob Probert, Ray Sheppard, (hockey players), Sam Kinison, Tommy Lee, Tom Petersson. That's all I can think of right now. Let me think some more...

godber wrote:I stood on Lloyd Cole's foot (brown brogues of course) in Demob in Beak Street once. He said, "Ow", I said "Oh don't make a commotion".

True story - I'm here all week.

godber wrote:I literally bumped into Mike Peters in Oxford Street - not far from Shelly's shoes. He had very pointy boots and looked a little shaken - I said "don't be alarmed".

Another true story.

opticnerve wrote:Carl Perkins (sang Lend Me Your Comb w/him outside the Mud Club)
Chuck Berry (on the street)
Johnny Lydon
Joey Ramone
Dee Dee Ramone
Paul Weller
Johnny Thunders
Bruce Foxton (went bar hopping with + afterhours clubs...Setting Sons tour)
Sid Vicious (shook hands with him at Max's Kansas City)
? Mark
Cheap Trick (minus Bun E.)
The Misfits
Billy Idol
Joan Jett (asked her to dance...punched me on the arm and said "Sorry kid, I don't dance." Huh!!??)

Tony, I'm way jealous of your list. Some of my favorites there

atomic_punk wrote:Man do I want to send out a boatload of PM's with questions!

My list...right off the top of my head..Frank Zappa, Dweezil Zappa (and I did not tell him he sucked),

To my defense, the entire phrase I said was "Man, you suck.....compared to your dad. "

"Yes" and "Fairport Convention".

I had a bit of a chat to Peggy but he was a bit drunk and cheesed off (He had just left Tull and said he was fed up with it)
They played well though...

emac.

As far as nice guys/musicians/entertainers go, Carlos Santana and George Carlin top my list. Great folks. Generous with their time to make their fans feel special. Peggy Fleming the figure skater was also about as nice as a person can be. I also had fun riding around in a horse-drawn carriage with Toni Tenille.

Timbo

Apart from the bands Yes and Asia, when I was eleven I met Roberto Clemente. It was in the Pittsburgh Pirates locker room, fifteen minutes after he had his 3000th major league hit. My Dad was filming his at-bats for Associated Press and I was lucky enough to be along on that job with him. He was an amazing baseball player and humanitarian. He died in a plane crash off Puerto Rico three months later while attempting to fly relief supplies to victims of the Nicarauguan earthquake, where he coached little league baseball in the off season.

Fred Rogers, who was in real life exactly as he appeared on TV. My Dad did a lot of film work for him as well.

And, of course, little Xilan Squire, who will be famous someday!