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What's your greatest claim to fame?


Thin_Lizzy

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I was wondering if anyone here has met any famous guitarists.

 

My claim to fame was speaking to Jeff Beck and John Paul Jones at a guitar party I went to.

 

Also chatted with Albert Lee (guitar legend), who I didn't recognise and asked him if he played the guitar.

 

What's your claim to fame?

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I was fortunate enough to have lunch with Ronald Reagan in 1976 when he was running for the Republican nomination for President. I was one of only ten students chosen to attend the lunch. I never was sure why I was chosen but I appreciated the invite.

 

Man... that would be HUGE! Ronald Reagan, the best president of the 20th century!

 

I've met a few guitar players, and musicians....but I never met Reagan!

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Man... that would be HUGE! Ronald Reagan' date=' [b']the best president of the 20th century[/b]!

 

I've met a few guitar players, and musicians....but I never met Reagan!

 

I guess that depends on who you speaking to but IMHO I agree with you. [biggrin] He was actually a pretty nice guy, or seemed that way to me.

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As far as politicians go - and this has nothing to do whatsoever with my political inclinations, but is simply an analysis of how they came across - I met Reagan and wasn't nearly impressed with his acting ability as I was with Bill Clinton's, at least when he was still Arkansas gov.

 

In fact, having met more than a few fairly well known political figures through the years, I'd say that until Obama who is the better speaker, Clinton likely was the best at overall getting ideas across the way he wanted to, and believably unless you had some proofs to the contrary.

 

Reagan did a great speech but was somewhat less on a one-to-one basis, IMHO. Jimmy Carter did relatively well - but I thought it half funny that it was almost impossible to get a photo without a hair "halo" when he was a candidate because the stage always had backlighting at a low level that shone upwards through the hair.

 

On a very personal basis, if anybody here is old enough to remember George McGovern, my relationship with him was a bit odd since my sister and I went to school a cupla years with his daughters. We liked the girls and so...

 

Guitar pickers? Bunches, but mostly of my generation and older, I've gotta admit. We won't go there. <grin>

 

But I'll forever remember talking back stage with Mother Maybelle Carter. No matter what your age or musical preferences, if you met her, I don't know how you'd not end up automatically liking and respecting her both as a person and as a picker. I though she was "cute," too, even though she was old enough to be my mother when I met her. Luther Perkins exchanged a word or two also. They were good folks to a very young newspaper reporter.

 

Also... Carlos Montoya. It was great to see this older guy with the flashing fingers.

 

m

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Dang, Milo. What's that Kevin Bacon 7 degrees thing? My best friend's sister was McGovern's daughter's (the one with the drug problem-Maureen?? I don't remember) roomate for a couple of years at Vermillion. Also, at the same time the other senator was Aboreszk (sp) who had a daughter that hung around with them who was one of the best natural blues singers I've ever heard (I think she sang at McG's daughter's funeral).

I can remember gladly accompanying her on guitar as she belted out some of the best blues one could ask for. She was a big gal with a real big voice.

 

Back when I was 17 years old I shook hands with Eugene McCarthy, Bobby Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, and Richard Nixon within a week when they were campaigning in my town in 1968.

 

I got drunk with Willie Nelson once in NYC back in '73.

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I was doing some work on a house in a gated community called Kings Mill in Williamsburg VA. I was held up at the gate waiting for confirmation

to get in and a bunch of black suv's came up and in the one not blacked out was John Hinckley. He kind of waved as he went past. I did'nt know

who he was at the time.....looked familiar. I found out from the people I was working for that he gets some week ends with his parents who live there

from his usual home in the Washington mental hospital.

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I have met:

 

-Richie Havens

-Albert Bouchard (former drummer from Blue Oyster Cult)

-Elliot Randall (prolific and well-regarded session guitarist)

-Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack, Jr.

-Al Greenwood (former keyboardist of Foreigner)

 

My greatest claim to fame, however, may be in replacing dem00n as the "most hated forum member".

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I can't get anywhere near most national political figures for reasons not fully explained...

 

:-$/

 

Spoken with my Congressman Trent Franks a few times, and I'm pretty active in local politics.

I've melted the phones at John McCain's office more than once, and my emails were just as fiery.

 

Met Ted Nugent

Joe Perry of Aerosmith

Dave Hlubek of Molly Hatchet

Lonesome Dave Peverett of Foghat

Roger Clyne, Steve Larson, and Scotty Johnson of The Refreshements, Gin Blossoms and The Peacemakers.

Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon of Stevie Ray Vaughn fame, along with the guys in Storyville/Arc Angels

All the guys in Jackyl

All the guys in Silvertide

All the guys in Great White - a couple of times

 

Country Cats like

Kathy Mattea

Jerry Clower

Too many to name off the top of my head...

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I was Barry White's head Sound Engineer for his live shows... We toured Europe and all of the big cities in the states... That was from the end of the 80's into the 90's... Was a great experience. I learned a lot with Barry.... He was a great man.

 

Edit: I also Engineered The Police's first Show in the USA.... It was a small club in Florida and broadcaste live on the radio.... My mix :-)

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Met Kenny Gradney after a Little Feat show in Soboba at the Casino. It was a very small venue, just a bar-sized bar. Paul, Freddy, Shawn, Ritchie, and Sam all headed for the stage side door and to the big red bus as fast as they could (although I caught Paul Barres attention long enough to get a Pick for my Mom).

 

But Kenny the BAss Player came right over to My family and I (Mom, Dad, and Brother) and started talking about Music and Bass Playing. Told us all about the Jimmy Buffet album they had just finished, compared calluses with my Brother, who also plays Bass. Very cool guy.

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I knew Maureen Reagan, my favorite Republican.

 

Back in the 60's it was a lot easier to mingle with the rock stars, they had not gotten to that point where they had to sequester thenselves back stage. Janis, Zappa, and everybody seemed to know members of the Dead and the Airplane. They were folks like the rest of us.

 

On the political side, I knew lots of people that La Belle Palin would call "washed up radicals", some whose names are still bantered about. Cleaver, Angela Davis and even the scary Bill Ayers. I've also known a lot of California politicians, mostly after they became lobbyists and mostly not all that famous.

 

As a young child I met "The Georgia Peach" Ty Cobb. He was a friend of our neighbors.

 

I suppose to be a claim to fame, one would have to have some fame, which I don't really, so meeting all these folks aren't really claims to fame, more like brushes with fame.

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Oh I forgot... I slow danced with Caroline Kennedy when the band I was working with played a dance at her private School in Putney Vermont... I was just a roadie then but I asked her to dance and she said yes... You should have seen the monitors giving me the evil eye... :-$

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