My brother !
Charlie Watts
Steve Goodman
Ginger Baker
Ann Miller
Mickey Rooney (in Sugar Babies on Broadway.)
Rick Danko (saw the Band in 1993), Johnny and Joey Ramone (met both after a show in 1991), Jim Jones from Pere Ubu, David Bowie, Chuck E. Weiss. There may be others but I’m blanking on them.
Forgot to put Ricky on my list. Saw him at a Sesquicentennial festival in West Bend, Wisconsin in the mid-80’s.
A few that haven’t been mentionend:
Johnny Clegg
Barney McKenna and Eamonn Campbell of The Dubliners
Jeff Hanneman of Slayer
Jesse Pintado of Napalm Death
Philip Chevron of The Pogues
Karl Dall and Ingo Insterburg (though probably only German posters will recognize them)
Ray Thomas (Moody Blues)
Jon Lord
Link Wray
Ronnie Montrose
Greg Lake
Keith Emerson
Jim Rodford (Argent, Kinks, Zombies)
Bob Mayo (Frampton)
Jerry Garcia
Charlie Watts
Richard Wright
BB King
Lonesome Dave Peverett
Rod Price
Vince Welnick (Tubes, Grateful Dead)
Michael Hedges
Well, just thought of another one. Saw Jeff Healy around 1988 at the legendary Zeche in Bochum, just after “See The Light” had come out. He was the newest Blues sensation, and he was really great. One more who just died much too soon.
Yeah, the great thing about being old is we’ve seen some great bands (for less than $10). The bad thing is we lose track of who and when.
I’ll be back after I go through my list… that I put…somewhere?
Since posting early in this thread three years ago, I can add at least two more people to my list:
Neil Peart (of Rush)
John Prine
And as I sit here listening to Jefferson Starship’s “Red Octopus” album, I’m reminded that I saw Papa John Creach once in concert many years ago.
Hah!
Yes indeed. I didn’t see the Ramones a bunch of times because I was a scenester, or ahead of the curve, I saw them because CBGB didn’t check IDs and you could get in for two bucks, and get a beer for a buck. And even given all that, the drinking age (in my day) was 18, and if you’re over six feet tall at fifteen, in NYC, where nobody cared back then anyway, nobody checks IDs.
We didn’t know it was a scene. We just knew they’d let us in.
That’s another for my list.
John Prine
David Bowie
Peter Tosh
Edgar Winter
Johnny Winter
BB King
Charlie Watts
Keith Emerson, Greg Lake
Bob Marley
Thought of another:
Danny Joe Brown (Molly Hatchet)
I’m in my early 60’s and have seen hundreds of concerts. Pretty soon they’ll be more performers I’ve seen dead than alive.
I didn’t realize the Winters were dead. It doesn’t look like Edgar is dead. But I’m pretty sure I saw Johnny Winter at the Stone Pony.
Oops, my bad. I think the last time we did this I thought John Mayall was dead. Nope. Still alive!
(time passes)
More to add in the intervening 3 years, and a couple I’d forgotten:
- All deceased members of The Band
- Dr. John
- Richard Wright
- Jimmy Beaumont (of The Skyliners)
- Bill Burkette (of The Vogues)
- Chismo Charles (a local Pgh performer, but who nonetheless deserves mention.)
Neil Peart, many times.
I’m sad to think that a lot of my favorite musicians are getting to the age when we’ll start losing them, but Neil was too young.
The only one I can think of is Layne Staley lead singer of Alice in Chains on their first tour opening for
Van Halen.
Well, shit. That means I saw Eddie Van Halen. Forgot he was gone.
A few of the usual ones listed, Neil Peart, The Ramones without DeeDee, Jerry Garcia, plus Carl Anderson as Judas and Richard Harris as King Arthur live on stage. Also got to meet a lot of exploitation filmmakers and actors too numerous to mention.
Had a few near misses. I was on transfer to Chicago and my friend and I discussed seeing Stevie Ray Vaughn on his upcoming show. He had his accident on his way to that show. I also missed John Entwistle because he died a few days before the tour was about to start. Dimebag Darrel was shot in the rock club just down the street from me, barely two miles away.
I didn’t actually see him perform, but I ran into Robert Goulet a few years before he died, and had a pretty decent chat with him.