# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/21 "2005-10-25T09:45:25Z")
In the “almost too good to be true so it probably isn’t” category comes the story of Aerosmith who, on the eve of a big tour, played a club gig just to get the bugs out of their set. Having played the gig, they decided to change the running order of the show, moving the set closing tune up to the second number. So they light out on the road, and play thier big opening concert. As soon as the second number is played, Joe Perry hollers “Good night XXXXXX, you’ve been great” and leaves the stage. Oops! Probably just a tale, tho. mm ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/22 "2005-10-25T09:59:23Z")
Charles Manson was never shortlisted to be in The Monkees. [http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/monkees.htm](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/monkees.htm) Bob Holness did not play the saxophone solo on Baker Street. For the benefit of non-Brits, Bob Holness was the host of a long-running TV quiz show _Blockbusters_ and was also the second actor to play James Bond (pre-Connery). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/23 "2005-10-25T13:16:00Z")
An old, forgotten one: [Klaatu](http://tinyurl.com/89x79) was actually the Beatles recording under a fake name (though this was more an ill-advised publicity stunt that a true urban legend). ---
**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, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/24 "2005-10-25T13:22:20Z")
Jimi Hendrix never told Dick Cavett that Phil Keaggy was the best guitar player in the world. (I’ve heard Keaggy’s name replaced by a number of others, but he’s the most common fill-in-the-blank.) There’s also a story that Hendrix, after hearing Chicago in 1968, said “Your guitar player [Terry Kath] is better than me.” The only source for this seems to be another member of Chicago, so personally I’m skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/25 "2005-10-25T13:24:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Jimi Hendrix never told Dick Cavett that Phil Keaggy was the best guitar player in the world. (I’ve heard Keaggy’s name replaced by a number of others, but he’s the most common fill-in-the-blank.) There was an exchange between Cavett and Hendrix in which Cavett told Hendrix that he was considered to be the best guitarist in the world. This made Hendrix very uneasy and ultimately said he might be the greatest guitarist in this chair. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/26 "2005-10-25T13:57:16Z")
Phil Collins inviting the guy to the concert and then singing “In the Air Tonight” to him and the guy breaking down. Never happened. While “Tears in Heaven” was written by Clapton in honor of his dead son. . .his dead son’s GHOST never showed up in any movie. Do I even NEED to find a link to that one? I always heard that the little “pitter patter” part at the beginning of “Ramble On” was Bonham playing on his drumm stool, but I don’t know whether that’s true or not. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/27 "2005-10-25T16:18:22Z")
I don’t know if this falls under the heading of “urban legend”, but I was recently surprised to read that legendary songwriter Doc (“Hushabye” amongst others) Pomus is the brother of legendary divorce attorney Raul Lionel Felder. VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/28 "2005-10-25T16:26:34Z")
Well, back in in 1983, Page and Clapton DID share the stage–along with Jeff Beck. They were part of the group that toured to support Ronnie Lane’s MS Charity, A.R.M.S. On the night I saw the concert, Jimmy was the 3rd-best guitarist on stage. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/29 "2005-10-25T16:31:53Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Frank Zappa did not take a dump onstage. Or eat it. I’ve always heard this one about Alice Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/30 "2005-10-25T16:40:35Z")
Like the Klaatu legend, country singer [Orion](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:xl5e8qftbtn4) was alleged to be Elvis Presley. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/31 "2005-10-25T16:43:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > 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.) Nah. It wasn’t Rod Stewart or Elton John. It was Axel Rose and it was one gallon. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/32 "2005-10-25T17:07:02Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Nah. It wasn’t Rod Stewart or Elton John. It was Axel Rose and it was one gallon. It’s funny how these things change over the years and get updated for later generations. The version I had always heard involved Rod Stewart. > [@Trunk](#): > > While “Tears in Heaven” was written by Clapton in honor of his dead son. . .his dead son’s GHOST never showed up in any movie. Do I even NEED to find a link to that one? Actually, yeah. Unlike 90% of the ULs in this thread, I’ve never heard this one. What movie was the “ghost” supposedly in? If you’re talking about the supposed ghost in “Three Men and a Baby”, that movie came out in 1987 and the Clapton song came out in, what, 1991? If that’s not what you’re referring to, I’m now curious. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/33 "2005-10-25T17:13:19Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Nah. It wasn’t Rod Stewart or Elton John. It was Axel Rose and it was one gallon. No. It wasn’t Axel Rose. It was Donny Wahlberg from the New Kids on the Block and it was so much semen it clogged the machine. Each generation has its own version. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/34 "2005-10-25T17:17:49Z")
> [@Nutty Bunny](#): > > If you’re talking about the supposed ghost in “Three Men and a Baby”, that movie came out in 1987 and the Clapton song came out in, what, 1991? If that’s not what you’re referring to, I’m now curious. That’d be the one. From [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/tears.htm): > [@](#): > > The account has become part of an even stranger blurring of news coverage with remembered folklore : > > \*\*[Collected via e-mail, 1999] > In the 3 men and a baby legend, I heard it was Eric Clapton’s old apartment in NYC, and the little ghost boy is his son that fell out the window (30+ stories?) and died. \*\* > > Human memory is an amazing thing — it often takes two separate bits of remembered input that share one or more common elements and melds them to form a new “fact” that will henceforth be recalled as rock-solid truth. In this case, the shared elements of a New York City apartment and the death of a male child have injected the very real death of Conor Clapton into the apocryphal legend about a ghost boy who seems to appear in the film Three Men and a Baby. (That Three Men and a Baby was filmed on a soundstage in Toronto dissuades very few from believing some scenes were shot in a New York City apartment haunted by a dead child and that his image was captured in a few frames of the film.) ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/35 "2005-10-25T17:31:21Z")
> [@Nutty Bunny](#): > > Actually, yeah. Unlike 90% of the ULs in this thread, I’ve never heard this one. What movie was the “ghost” supposedly in? > > If you’re talking about the supposed ghost in “Three Men and a Baby”, that movie came out in 1987 and the Clapton song came out in, what, 1991? If that’s not what you’re referring to, I’m now curious. Well, they do mention at Snopes that it seems to have become conflated with the “Three Men and a Baby” legend. And, that’s how I originally heard it. [Scroll down.](http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/tears.htm) Anyway, anyone who believes a GHOST shows up in a movie probably doesn’t have too many problems with that ghost being from the future. Or maybe they do. Where exactly does stupid stop? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/36 "2005-10-25T18:06:40Z")
This one I heard straight from the source so it might be true (or slightly exagerated). Graham Chapman was doing a lecture tour of college campuses in the late 80s and I was able to go see him. He was great friends with Keith Moon and they were both big alcoholics. He tells the story about one time they were getting drunk in someones penthouse when they ran out of booze. Without a word Moon went out on the balcony. A short time later he comes back in the front door with an arm full of booze. He climbed out onto the ledge, made his way around the building to the penthouse on the opposite side, broke in and stole all the booze. ---
**Author:** ![bradministrator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a698b9/32.png) [@bradministrator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bradministrator)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/37 "2005-10-25T18:23:51Z")
> [@Push You Down](#): > > No. It wasn’t Axel Rose. It was Donny Wahlberg from the New Kids on the Block and it was so much semen it clogged the machine. It was Alanis Morrisette and it was 6 quarts of horse semen. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/38 "2005-10-25T19:06:36Z")
After Cream broke up, I heard several versions of how drummer Ginger Baker was so burned out from speed that he: had to tape the sticks to his hands, was in an institution and could no longer speak, had not slept for a year, and was dead. None of it true. Sam of Sam and Dave now claims he fired Jimi Hendrix. Jimi had just left the Isley Brothers, and S&D needed a guitarist. On his first night onstage, Hendrix broke into a psychedelic solo. Sam told him to knock it off. On the next number, he did it again, and Sam told him, “Unplug, get off the stage, and don’t come back.” ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/39 "2005-10-25T19:11:52Z")
I’ve always wondered about the semen ULs. I mean, how do these make it around…don’t these people realize just how much a gallon of semen is? I mean, a full milk jug…we’re talking approximately 950 cumshots. Umm…yeah. (and yes, I converted the average volume of ejaculate to gallons) ---
**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, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769/40 "2005-10-25T19:13:17Z")
> [@Jman](#): > > I mean, a full milk jug…we’re talking approximately 950 cumshots. Umm…yeah. (and yes, I converted the average volume of ejaculate to gallons) And you’ve embarrassed me - I can’t even convert gallons to litres, jizz or no jizz. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-n-roll-urban-legends/327769.md?page=3)