# Biggest Horse's Ass in Rock&Roll History? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883 "2009-01-31T17:42:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/81 "2009-02-04T06:25:17Z")
**Scumpup** , I think that Jim Morrison was the opposite of the point you’re making. A lot of his actions point toward him trying to escape the idolatry that comes with being a rock star. Examples would be his drastic change of appearance for the worse and his attempts at expressing himself through other venues. He also moved away to France when his contract obligations were met with no interest in touring. I’m sure his pending prison sentencing may have had something to do with this too. Also, he’s remembered as being educated and extremely well read by anyone who’s known him (he grew up the son of a admiral in the us navy…I doubt he was stupid). Where do you get the idea that he was incoherent or stupid? ---
**Author:** ![Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber_in_Treasury)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/82 "2009-02-04T08:44:27Z")
As(s) for Simmons, I completely agree with **TastesLikeBurning**. And sorry **Guinastasia** , but I don’t remember much of the “advice”. I read it in an interview quite some time ago, and have since erased most of it from my mind, which I hope you understand. It was generally macho crap about how to behave in a relationship, and “if you think your hips look like your mother’s, they probably do”. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/83 "2009-02-04T10:25:46Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Naw, he’s no horse’s ass - he’s just The Killer. > > 😉 Point taken **WordMan** , but **being** a horse’s ass and **acting** like one, are two different dings, dontcha dink, Bro?😃 “All Killer, No Filler” Now which one a Y’all stole mah copy of “Last Man Standing” ? Q ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/84 "2009-02-04T11:39:57Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > I saw Gene Simmons on the Bill Maher show, with a Generic Young Conservative rounding out the panel. They were all waxing sentimental about Our Boys Overseas. Maher & the GYC never served, of course; I think they “missed” the draft. > > Simmons regretted that he was in college during Vietnam. He’d have just loved to join up–but had his education to consider. > > Yeah, right. I’m a member of that generation. That’s not how things worked. I thought you were exempt from going to Vietnam if you were in college. That’s why my uncle didn’t have to go. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/85 "2009-02-04T14:06:24Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Point taken **WordMan** , but **being** a horse’s ass and **acting** like one, are two different dings, dontcha dink, Bro?😃 > > “All Killer, No Filler” > > Now which one a Y’all stole mah copy of “Last Man Standing” ? > > Q No argument. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/86 "2009-02-04T14:40:02Z")
> [@Jester](#): > > Hell, an example of both wit _and_ horse’s assedness comes from one situation: when asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world, Lennon responded, “The world? He’s not even the best drummer in The Beatles.” Urban Legend ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/87 "2009-02-04T14:41:52Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > In the background, he had-get this-_Foreigner_ playing. “I Want to Know What Love Is.” As if the whole thing wasn’t bad enough. > > **Amber in Treasury** -what “advice?” _shudder_ > > Michael Stipe? I can believe it. He always struck me as a pretentious dickweed. Love REM-but I can definitely believe it. I’ve met Stipe several times, and he’s more socially awkward & shy than pretentious. I think he used to be pretentious in his younger days, then figured out that he wasn’t doing anything important enough to warrant the attitude. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/88 "2009-02-04T14:46:26Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Urban Legend Really? I can’t find a verifiable source - but it is not listed in Snopes, either. I thought I read it in the Playboy Interviews, but can’t claim for certain since my copy is at home… ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/89 "2009-02-04T14:49:53Z")
Not sure why Dave Lee Roth would be mentioned… Or indeed, Roger Waters… Some people think that he shouldn’t have complained about the “new floyd” being formed, but he had some rights having written 95% of floyds songs for 10 years… While ok at times afterwards, the band then called Floyd was not the same thing… But horse’s ass? Sure a lot of his solo stuff is self indulgent nonsense, but thats just the music being bad, not himself… ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/90 "2009-02-04T14:55:29Z")
I’ll nominate Gregg Allman as rock and roll’s biggest ASS. Besides being a deadbeat dad to 5+ children, he also let his best friend take the rap (and serve the sentence) for crimes that he committed. He learned how to write from the greatest, unfortunately, no one taught him how to be a man. I got my information from this book, among other sources: > **[Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band: Freeman, Scott:...](https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Riders-Story-Allman-Brothers/dp/0316294527)** > > Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band \[Freeman, Scott\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/91 "2009-02-04T15:48:33Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Really? I can’t find a verifiable source - but it is not listed in Snopes, either. > > I thought I read it in the Playboy Interviews, but can’t claim for certain since my copy is at home… I agree with **Labrador Deceiver**. I’ve seen that quip about Ringo attributed to all three of the other Beatles, and even Mick Jagger. Here’s what Lennon _actually_ said about Ringo in the Playboy interview: > [@John Lennon](#): > > Ringo’s a damn good drummer. He was always a good drummer. He’s not technically good, but I think Ringo’s drumming is underrated the same way Paul’s bass playing is underrated. Paul and Ringo stand up anywhere with any of the rock musicians. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/92 "2009-02-04T15:50:38Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I agree with **Labrador Deceiver**. I’ve seen that quip about Ringo attributed to all three of the other Beatles, and even Mick Jagger. Here’s what Lennon _actually_ said about Ringo in the Playboy interview: Cool - I consider my ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/93 "2009-02-04T15:51:15Z")
> [@Daithi\_Lacha](#): > > I heard Michael Stipe is a bit of a pain in the patootie. REM played Savannah, and then afterwards Stipe went to see a local band in a small club downtown. He got drunk and thought it amusing to roll his empties onto the dancefloor. He was asked a couple of times to stop, but wouldn’t. I was driving around Athens with a real estate guy and he said, out of the blue and with great urgency, “…if you ever happen to see Micheal Stipe don’t approach him. Don’t even try to make eye contact.” Um, who? Oh, him. _shug_ ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/94 "2009-02-04T15:53:10Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > Billy Idol > I saw Generation X a few times back in '77 and considered their lead singer (the aforesaid Mr Idol) by far the most arrogant git I’d ever clapped eyes on, even for a plastic punk. And then he went to the USA… Yeah, but I saw once when Frank Sinatra really put him in his place, telling him “I pick guys like you out of my stool!” OK, it was actually an SNL sketch with Phil Hartman and Sting, but probably would have happened if those two had ever gotten together ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/95 "2009-02-05T17:43:28Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Cool - I consider my ignorance fought! Sorry I was so short, **WordMan**. I didn’t mean to sound snippy. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/96 "2009-02-05T17:44:27Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Sorry I was so short, **WordMan**. I didn’t mean to sound snippy. Dude (of either gender ;)) - no worries; I didn’t take it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/97 "2009-02-05T23:30:47Z")
[QUOTE=Indygrrl] [Quote=Bridget Burke] Simmons regretted that he was in college during Vietnam. He’d have just loved to join up–but had his education to consider. Yeah, right. I’m a member of that generation. That’s not how things worked. [/quote] I thought you were exempt from going to Vietnam if you were in college. That’s why my uncle didn’t have to go. [/QUOTE] It is true that college granted you exemption from the draft. What **Bridget Burke** is alluding to is that people didn’t think, “Darn, if only I didn’t have college, I could run off and serve in Viet Nam.” Granted, there probably were some volunteers for Viet Nam, especially early on. But as the war dragged on, public sentiment turned against the war to such an alarming degree, especially with the reputation of acts that some soldiers committed. It’s ridiculous to think he wanted to go serve, but his education prevented him. He could have delayed college. It’s not like they wouldn’t have college when he came home (if he came home). And he would have qualified for the GI bill. Is it _possible_ he was in favor of the war, but felt his education and future was more important? Sure. But it really comes off as insincere for him to claim actual desire to have served in Viet Nam, yet he chose to act otherwise. To people who lived through that era, it would be like saying, “Darn, I wish I could go fight terrorists in Iraq, but I just have to go to college.” ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/98 "2009-02-06T01:19:30Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > “…if you ever happen to see Micheal Stipe don’t approach him. Don’t even try to make eye contact.” And for fuck’s sake don’t get out of your car and try to feed him. People see this balding middle-aged pretentious has-been twat on TV and they’re all “Aw, that’s so cute”, but they what they don’t realise is that in the wild, his natural environment, he’s going to follow his natural instinct, which is to kill and eat you. And once Michael Stipe has gotten a taste for human meat there’s nothing for it but to destroy him, and before long the breeding population of these magnificent creatures, pompous 80’s do-gooding shoe-gazers, will dip below sustainable levels and we’ll have to set up a captive breeding programme, which nobody wants. Except maybe Sting. ---
**Author:** ![Mongo\_Ponton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/99 "2009-02-06T01:53:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Madonna and Michael Jackson might well be horses’ asses, but they are pop, not rock. So I guess I can’t put up Buddy Rich? ---
**Author:** ![Watcher\_of\_the\_Skies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Watcher\_of\_the\_Skies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Watcher_of_the_Skies)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883/100 "2009-02-06T03:49:45Z")
Jim Morrison didn’t live long enough to compete with Ray Manzarek in the Doors’ horse’s ass sweepstakes. Ever hear a Manzarek interview? I might also nominate Phil Collins, based solely on last year’s Genesis - **When in Rome** concert video during which he prances and preens and does so much pop star schtick that it’s a total embarassment to see, at least for anyone who once took this band seriously. I don’t think Lennon’s status as a horse’s ass is at all arguable after watching the dvd of John & Yoko with Dick Cavett, although that aspect of his personality combines with all the other things that were great about him to make him the singularly unique genius that he was. We’ve been much poorer as a culture not to have him around these last 28 years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-horses-ass-in-rock-roll-history/483883.md?page=6)