# Rock n Roll Urban Legends **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769 "2005-10-25T03:41:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![revolver\_4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@revolver\_4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/revolver_4)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/1 "2005-10-25T03:41:42Z")
I’m not sure if this story has been circulated on the net before but I’ve heard this one years ago from two sources: one was an old friend who was a teenager in the ‘70’s. Story goes a stoned Jimmy Page was onstage playing (maybe with the Zep) and after an impressive guitar solo dared if there was anyone in the concert hall who could play better than him to please come up on stage. From the audience a guy in a trenchcoat and a cowboy hat picks up one of Jimmy’s guitars and plays. Page is amazed. Then the guy takes his hat off and it’s no other than Eric Clapton! I bet this never happened but it’s a nice story to tell anyway. Have you got any rock n roll stories to share? ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/2 "2005-10-25T03:52:33Z")
I have heard that. I’m sure its an urban legend. The title made me think of the Zeppelin/large fish story? true? ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/3 "2005-10-25T03:57:58Z")
There was one where Keith Moom drove a car into a swimming pool at the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan. I liked that story because that was the motel we stayed at whenever we traveled through Michigan; it was rather disappointing to learn that Roger Daltrey claimed Moon made it up. ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/4 "2005-10-25T03:59:23Z")
I went to a series of concerts that were a part of the Mississippi River Festival held at the SIU-Edwardsville (Illinois side of suburban St. Louis) campus in the summer of 1969 (I believe) that included bands such as the immortal Iron Butterfly and the Chicago Transit Authority (later known as Chicago). However, I was there at another time, waaayyy in the back (this was one of those outdoor concerts that had a covered section for the high priced seats and everything else was on the grass) for a concert by the Band. They played their first set and then took an intermission before coming back onto the stage with one extra person who was not visible to me in the cheap seats but those up front were on their feet and yelling like crazy. I don’t remember the song that they started but the “guest” started singing and it was none other than Bob Dylan who, it was stated in the following days newsppaer, was making his first public appearance after the motorcycle accident in late 1966 and the summer spent doing the Basement Tapes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/5 "2005-10-25T04:00:04Z")
That’s a nice story that never happened. Well, except for the part about Page being stoned onstage. He was a junkie for a long time. But on my approximately 100 Zeppelin bootlegs, he never, ever spoke to the audience, never mind having invited someone up to play his gear. Here are some more: Paul McCartney did not die, and was not replaced in The Beatles by William Campbell. Frank Zappa did not take a dump onstage. Or eat it. He is also not the son of the man who played Mr. Green Jeans on Captain Kangaroo. ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/6 "2005-10-25T04:04:34Z")
I don’t know that this qualifies as an urban legend but I went to see John Lee Hooker at a small dive in the Fillmore District of S.F. in the summer/fall of 1970 and I remember him walking out onto the stage (which consisted of moving other chairs to the side in the middle of the bar seating area) with a six pack in one hand and his guitar in the other. He never touched the guitar until he had downed three of the cans of beer and then proceeded to embark on a four hour playing session that was, to put it mildly, just awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/7 "2005-10-25T04:08:09Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Frank Zappa did not take a dump onstage. Or eat it. . But G. G. Allin probably did. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/8 "2005-10-25T04:12:57Z")
Marilyn Manson was not the kid who played Paul in “The Wonder Years.” John Denver wasn’t a deadly Green Beret sniper. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/9 "2005-10-25T04:16:24Z")
I guess Robert Johnson doesn’t count? The Allman Brothers Band did not name its fourth album _Eat a Peach_ because Duane Allman crashed his motorcycle into a peach truck. Jimi Hendrix opened for The Monkees in 1967, and he wasn’t kicked off the tour because the Daughters of the American Revolution complained. And according to a recent book, he didn’t leave the Army after breaking his foot on his 26th parachute jump. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/10 "2005-10-25T04:18:35Z")
Top four rock & roll urban legends: 1 - Elvis Presley is alive 2 - Jim Morrison is alive 3 - Tupac Shakur is alive 4 - Paul McCartney is dead ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/11 "2005-10-25T04:18:45Z")
Didn’t “The Beav” grow up to become Alice Cooper? ---
**Author:** ![revolver\_4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@revolver\_4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/revolver_4)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/12 "2005-10-25T04:25:56Z")
Elvis is alive! He’s in a geriatric home somewhere in Texas under the name of Sebastian Haff. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/13 "2005-10-25T05:16:28Z")
Mama Cass and the fatal ham sandwich. Mick Jagger diddling Marianne Faithful with a Snickers bar, or David Bowie with anything. Rod Stewart being hospitalized after ODing on groupie jizz. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/14 "2005-10-25T05:18:55Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Rod Stewart being hospitalized after ODing on groupie jizz. Or Elton John having six gallons of semen pumped from his stomach, or whatever amount it was. (Maybe we’re thinking of the same thing.) ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/15 "2005-10-25T05:26:48Z")
There’s a legend that George Harrison and Eric Clapton had a guitar duel over Patti Harrison, George’s then wife who did in fact leave him for Eric. But I’m sure the duel was an elaboration by some fan or rock journo. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/16 "2005-10-25T05:37:34Z")
> [@Good Egg](#): > > I have heard that. I’m sure its an urban legend. The title made me think of the Zeppelin/large fish story? true? Some member of this band using said fish to diddle a groupie? Yes, a legend, although according to LZ’s manager it was based on a groupie who was so excited to be in their presence (heheheh) she grabbed the nearest vaguely phallic object and proceeded to do it to herself (if I remember his quote right: “she came like 20 times in a row, no-one was forcing her to do anything”). Frank Zappa used this incident, or at least the legendary version of it, on his Fillmore East album as the basis for the track _The Mud Shark_ but for some reason credited it on stage to Vanilla Fudge rather than LZ. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/17 "2005-10-25T05:43:16Z")
Van Halen did in fact include a clause in their concert contracts that a bowl of M&Ms be provided backstage with all the brown ones taken out. It was actually a very clever move on their part. [http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.htm](http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.htm) ---
**Author:** ![revolver\_4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@revolver\_4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/revolver_4)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/18 "2005-10-25T06:47:30Z")
Not sure if it’s true or not: Cracker recorded the Carpenters’ Rainy Days and Mondays by singing it upside down. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/19 "2005-10-25T08:04:07Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Mick Jagger diddling Marianne Faithful with a Snickers bar, or David Bowie with anything. It was a _Mars bar_ of course! Or rather it wasn’t a Mars bar…well you know what i mean… I think it’s fascinating that that’s what the public mind at the time generated as the height of decadence. But then this is the culture that gave us the deep fried Mars bar. Apparently Mars bars hold a powerful sway over the British imagination. And Mick Jagger and David Bowie DID happen!!! Well, in my mind ☹ . ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/20 "2005-10-25T08:14:29Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Some member of this band using said fish to diddle a groupie? Yes, a legend, although according to LZ’s manager it was based on a groupie who was so excited to be in their presence (heheheh) she grabbed the nearest vaguely phallic object and proceeded to do it to herself (if I remember his quote right: “she came like 20 times in a row, no-one was forcing her to do anything”). > > Frank Zappa used this incident, or at least the legendary version of it, on his Fillmore East album as the basis for the track _The Mud Shark_ but for some reason credited it on stage to Vanilla Fudge rather than LZ. [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/mudshark.asp) has the quote. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769.md?page=2)