Try us. What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen?
Also, could you hum a few bars of Western Union?
So my best friend, aha, where are the group members now? Did you meet your wife during this or after?
I want an autographed book and a picture.
Do you think your group went as far as it could? Or did you just get tired of it all?
[quote]
Try us. What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen?
Also, could you hum a few bars of Western Union?
[quote]
Ok a quick bedtime story then I am off to bed.
I won’t say the name of the group because this is a public message board but we were booked on tour in Seattle I think it was in 1967. The hotel we stayed in reached out into the ocean and had balconies. This other band fished from their balconey that afternoon. They caught a small 20 inch shark. Then put it in the bathtub and left it there until after our gig. It died by the time we all got back.
Their band and ours had an adjoing suite. After the gig I heard lots of commontion going on in the next room. I looked through the door and saw the lead singer spanking a naked groupie with the now dead shark holding the groupie across his lap while she squealed with delight and snorted cocaine from the night stand.
Is that depraved enough for ya?
I am not going to go into the imfamous Suzie Creamcheese from Dallas that made plaster casts of rock stars genitals.
Sufficed to say she needed a lot of plaster for yours truly…hahaa just kiddin about that part.
umm hum a few bars? De de de de de de de de
Whaddya think of Al Kooper’s book “Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards?”
well they are scattered. I have all their phone numbers however.
Anything you want you got Ultress.
No I don’t think we went as far as we could. After Western Union they ( the record co and manager) clammered for more million selling “communication songs.” We had already written a top forty song called “Zipcode” and had just finished another called “no Commuication” and we had had enough. Besides over the years we had grown up and had different outlooks on life and music. By 1970 the face of music was changing with FM radio, afros, Jimi Hendrix and Joe Cocker. I am sure that groups like The Dave clark five and Herman’s Hermits were even intimidated. The Magical 60s were over and it was time to quit and we did.
I haven’t read that but I intend to. I am a big fan of Al kooper ever since he played the blues with Paul Butterfield and Buddy Miles.
I guess I missed your post in the napster thread… so, what is your opinion of napster? I’m listening to “western union” right now, downloaded from napster for free. Nice song 
When surfing the web I ran across this:
Were you “bubble-gum”?
And do you think the Monkees really “did it better”?
-Sam
Made me think of the movie “THIS IS SPINALTAP” (possibly the funniest movie of its type ever made…were you guys really out of it on your last tour? were you reduced to signing albums at a record store for lunch money? ARE the last years of a once-popular band just this type of protracted agony?
did you ever meet Janis Joplin and what was she like?
did you ever use the Groupies just for sex, or did they fetch beer aswell?
GaWd sed:
[/quote]
Were you “bubble-gum”?
And do you think the Monkees really “did it better”?
[/quote]
I wanted to answer this one first and I will get to the ones in front of it next. But this question begs to be answered.
Where we bubble-gum? Maybe, but not on purpose. In other words…we weren’t contrived. By that I mean no manager or entity put us together, I formed the group and we played all kinds of venues. Beer joints, nightclubs,lakeside beer busts and later when successful we played the bigger nicer clubs around Dallas mainly one called Lu-Ann’s where we swapped sets with The American Blues ( ZZ TOP) for weeks on end. And on stage we played all kinds of music. Granted the song Western Union did have a teen and preteen appeal, if you will, sound to it but it was an honest attempt at commerciality and it worked. Before that song, we had written and released one called “I See The Light.” It was as hard hitting as any song out there and went to the top 20 in the nation and number one in Dallas.
The Monkees:
Now there was a contrived group. If they did it better, they certainly didn’t do it first. As I said before we had a hit record as early as 1965. Maybe from a commercial standpoint they did do it better. But it would be more accurate to say that their studio musicians did it better. Also most of their songs were written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. Two of the leading song writers of the day. We wrote our own songs and played our own instruments and played live gigs all over the nation. So to compare the two is apples and oranges to me. Perhaps if the reviewer above had dug a little deeper he would feel the same.
Sidenote:
I spent the night one night at Mickey Dolenzs’ house. Mickey spent most of his time floating around in a white gown so blitzed he didn’t know if he was coming or going. Nevertheless a very nice guy.
Zuma:
I think napster is the future. I ain’t happy about it but there is certainly nothing I can do about it. I think the RIAA, BMI and ASCAP better come to terms with napster in one way or the other.
John:
Yes, she hung around Dallas for a bit. She was a drug crazed drunk at the time I met her unlike me who was just a drunk and couldn’t afford any drugs. I may be going out on a limb memory wise here but I believe she spent her one night in Dallas with Stevie Ray Vaughn who couldn’t have been more than 14-16 years old at the time.
Oddly enough we were both born in Port Arthur Texas.
John…Groupies ARE for sex. And yeah we sent them to the seven eleven to get beer. :rolleyes:
aha, I know what groupies are for. I do play bass, you know 
I didnt know that you were from Port Arthur as well as Janis, but I knew you were from Texas and were hitting the music scene at the same that Janis was, so I was curious as to if you had met her.
Thanks for the Answer!
Gotcha John, didn’t mean to sound flippant. My apologies.
no bother, mike.
just another short question.
Do you believe that there is more exploitation of artists now than there was in your day?
i.e. the abandonment of musical talent for a pretty face.
In a word yes John. There are certainly more “contrived” groups out there today than ever and maybe that is the coming thing, who knows. Maybe I am old fashioned but I love the groups that get together own their own and write their own songs. One thing is for certain though. In my hey day there were no laws on the books to protect artists contived or other wise. We sued our manger once for back royalties in a Dallas courtroom. It was a complete spectacle. The judge had NO decided cases to reference. The only disputed “entertaiment” contract he could find on the books was a boxing match in 1947. Since then congress has passed laws to protect all musicians.
[Moderator Hat: ON]
Tossing this one over to MPSIMS.
David B, SDMB Great Debates Moderator
[Moderator Hat: Handed Off to Euty & Unc]
I listen to an oldies station at my house and I hear those songs all the time!
Okay, I am an oldster, but I love 'em anyway.
Dear aging rock star:
Do the bands have any input what so ever into the crap like tshirts that get hawked at their concerts?
Do they get to pick the photo for the tshirt or posters, do they make any money off of any of it?
It’s easy to see that the talent is often getting worked to death when bands go on the road. I’m curious who, on the tour, is having the most fun. I’ve heard it’s the roadies.
Thanks
Lindaaha,
You are invited to join a panel of experts assembling here in Great Debates.
elbows:
Usually creative control for those things belong to their publicists and managers. It’s the managers duty to collect on tshirts and the artists SHOULD be included on the take.
Yes they do make money. Through management. Most management contracts contain a “likeness” clause enabling the management to collect monies on artist’s likenesses. That could mean anything from T-shirts to dolls.
Well we worked our roadies into the ground. They drove a two ton truck thousands of miles while we flew. When we arrived for a sound check the stage was suppose to be set up and ready to go and even guitars tuned. Of course the roadies participated in a lot of things after gigs that they probably wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.