Took me until 1:30 am, but finally got a bunch of framed autographed albums on the wall. It looks halfway professional, too! All of the autographs were obtained personally by me, and of course my mind wandered all evening while putting these on the wall:
I caught Bo Diddley coming out of a limousine, before he went into the Hollywood Palace to play a show. He was really condescending to the autograph guys with their index cards, but he saw my Have Guitar, Will Travel album and signed it real nicely.
Link Wray was the opposite when I put the rarest Link Wray album in front of him. He did such a slash-and-burn autograph on the front that I actually brought the album back a second time a year later, he did the same slash-and-burn autograph on the back cover, too!
Most of these people I played lots of gigs with. It seems like a fever dream now, but there were years where I played multiple gigs with the Collins Kids, the Trashmen, Wanda Jackson, Nokie Edwards of the Ventures, Chris Montez, and yes—I got to play with the two original Fendermen the only time they ever reunited! (Thanks, DW)
I met Lemmy a bunch of times. Never got to play with him, but I got his autograph and Joan Jett’s autograph the same day at Bumbershoot in Seattle, twenty-five years ago. That was a good day.
Willie Nelson on the tour bus. I got to go to Merle Haggard’s house. And I might be the only person who ever got Russell Williford’s autograph on the cover of Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps. Williford is the guitarist pictured on the cover. He was in the band about a month, just long enough to pose for an album cover and appear in the movie The Girl Can’t Help It. I played with him at the Richmond Folk Festival in 2010.
I guess all old guys eventually put up walls of crap like this to remind them that they did a bunch of cool stuff over the years. I feel no shame in that. I remember the look Larry Collins used to give me when he would really dig into a wild guitar solo, and I remember when we played together at Lincoln Center in New York, in the pouring rain. Larry gave me a maniacal look and said, “IT’S A GOOD DAY TO DIE!” It’s been a fun ride!
