bigtim Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 This really happened and it happened the way I am sharing it here for you guys to read. Ok so I have been selling on ebay for years. I am a guitar player and I sell guitar related items sometimes. Long story short, I sold a dunlop univibe pedal on ebay. Anyways, this guy out in Los Angeles wins the auction. A few days go by and he has not paid. I send him a payment reminder. He emails me back with his number and tells me his credit card was hacked. I decide to call him and chat just because he plays guitar. We are talking and he says he has a new card on the way and he could pay when he receives it. I say, no problem. We get to talking a bit and he says he knows all of the famous guitar players. Like Eric Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Vai, Frank Zappa and the list kept on growing. I am thinking to myself, ok, Yeah right, this guy is full of it. Well Jimi Hendrix has always been my favorite guitar player. He asked me if I was a Hendrix fan. I said all of my life. He said he was friends with Billy Cox who was Jimi Hendrix's bass player. Now off of the record Billy Cox was the only guy I had ever wanted to meet because he is the only living survivor of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Band of Gypsies but I never thought I would ever have the chance to meet him. Well, he says, let me get back with you, I am gonna call Billy. I am thinking again to myself, yeah right, I will probably never hear from this guy again. Well about 3 hours go by and my phone rings. It was the guy out in Los Angeles again. He asked me to grab a pen and tells me to write down these numbers. I wrote them down and said what is this because they were local Nashville area numbers. He said Billy Cox wants you to call him and he is gonna pay you the money for the pedal and send it to me. He also said since it was almost 8 p.m. that I had to hurry up and call because Billy goes to bed early. So I got off of the phone and I said to my wife, What the heck, if this is real, what am I gonna say to someone who I have listened to for over 30 years and have tried to play and practice their music? So what the heck, I say to myself, it is probably all b.s. anyways, and I call just to see. Well it was Billy Cox!! The only rock and roll artist still alive that I wanted to meet!! He was real nice over the phone and we met the following day at a local diner. I got to visit him for about an hour and a half in person without any distractions. It was so cool to talk to him and he told me some stuff that you do not hear out about Jimi and him during their time together. He signed one of my guitar straps, I got a few pics with him, he autographed some large pics of him and the band with Jimi and the drummer and I also got his solo CD. He paid for his friends winning ebay auction from me as well. Anyways....you just never know who you will run across in life but I never knew selling an item on ebay would lead to meeting someone I had always wanted to meet and say thanks for all of the cool guitar jams I have listened to just about my whole life!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tx-ogre Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Congratulations. Quite the lucky break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Super cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Wow.. what a story... thanks for sharing.. amazing Id have quite a few questions to ask him too :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american cheez Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 very cool, good to hear something went so well! but wan't the experience's drummer mitch mitchell, and not billy cox? i thought he was only with band of gypsies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 What a great story! You're on a roll recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtim Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Yes Mitch was his drummer But was not with the short run of the Gypsies. One time he owed money to a record company and called Buddy Miles and Billy Cox and they formed Band of Gypsies which the famous Machine Gun performance was created. Then that fell apart, Noel Redding went back to England and Billy Cox was with him for the rest of his short career very cool, good to hear something went so well! but wan't the experience's drummer mitch mitchell, and not billy cox? i thought he was only with band of gypsies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtim Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Lol.....well not sure about that. Just getting back into sharing current things in this forum. Meeting Billy Cox happened several months ago. I just now figured out how to delete old photos from my threads so I can post new pics. I have been wanting to post this with Billy Cox for a long time and last night I was able to delete old photos and shared this with you guys and gals. What a great story! You're on a roll recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtim Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Sorry deleted double reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 ...So what the heck, I say to myself, it is probably all b.s. anyways, and I call just to see. Well it was Billy Cox!! Crazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Brilliant..... As you say, you just never know..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 That is really cool, congratulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzy Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 This is one of the coolest stories I've ever heard. You lucky son of a gun!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Great story and a great ending. I would have thought it a wind up too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 I wouldn't have believed it either. Incredible! Thanks for sharing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelT Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 That's amazing and a total "whowouldathunkit" moment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 This is fantastic Tim!!! thanks for sharing.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 This is amazing as can be. How probable would one rate that including bidding, winning, credit card trouble, and being a personal friend of a celebrity who lives far away from the bidder but close to the seller to whom he is a personal hero since decades? I felt it was quite improbable to be part of the audience of a punk band of friends in the early 1980's, opening for the band with that Mitch Mitchell was a drummer then. They were gigging in a small venue called Centrale 39 in Ampermoching, near the infamously known city of Dachau in Upper Bavaria. It seemed funny to me that Mitch Mitchell was touring small pubs with a punk band then. A really open-minded guy obviously. Sadly I didn't talk to Mitchell although it would have been easily possible. My pal drummer and drummer of two previous bands of mine did, the actor Jürgen Tonkel. Perhaps you may know Tonkel from the film "Downfall" (original: "Der Untergang") where he played Erich Kempka, Hitler's driver, who obtained the petrol for cremating Hitler after his suicide. However, my pal does not appear in the countless comedy clips around in the web taken from this film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu-bud Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 I went to the Experience Hendrix concert here in Seattle last Feb. 19. I was surprised to see Billy Cox starting things off, playing bass and singing. He sounded fantastic! Throughout the show they kept cycling new guitarists (Dweezil Zappa, Mato Nanji, Zakk Wylde, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Johnny Lang, Buddy Guy, Keb Mo, and more), and Billy played on and off throughout the show. The one guy who got the big workout was Chris Layton from SRV Double Trouble. He was the only drummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtim Posted March 17, 2017 Author Share Posted March 17, 2017 You should have taken time to say hello. That is awesome you got to see him though. I agree, it was a 1 in a million chance of this ever happening!! Just the same, maybe I should have purchased a lottery ticket the same day!!! LOL This is amazing as can be. How probable would one rate that including bidding, winning, credit card trouble, and being a personal friend of a celebrity who lives far away from the bidder but close to the seller to whom he is a personal hero since decades? I felt it was quite improbable to be part of the audience of a punk band of friends in the early 1980's, opening for the band with that Mitch Mitchell was a drummer then. They were gigging in a small venue called Centrale 39 in Ampermoching, near the infamously known city of Dachau in Upper Bavaria. It seemed funny to me that Mitch Mitchell was touring small pubs with a punk band then. A really open-minded guy obviously. Sadly I didn't talk to Mitchell although it would have been easily possible. My pal drummer and drummer of two previous bands of mine did, the actor Jürgen Tonkel. Perhaps you may know Tonkel from the film "Downfall" (original: "Der Untergang") where he played Erich Kempka, Hitler's driver, who obtained the petrol for cremating Hitler after his suicide. However, my pal does not appear in the countless comedy clips around in the web taken from this film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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