Famous People You Have Met

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi again.

Wow, I just realised how old this thread is. More than ten years between the last post and today.

I realised while reading, as some now deceased folk were being referred to in the present tense.

Pax/
Dean

 

[keithb7]

Michael Anthony. Sema Las Vegas. Pretty distracted. He seemed too busy and was short with folks around him.

Nalle Colt Pre-show we met. He toured me through his entire gear set up. We talked amps and guitars. Very cool and personable. Down to earth.

Deke Dickerson. Helped him set up his gear and amps at a show in Vegas. Cool guy.

Larry Collins. (The Collins Kids) Super nice guy. We chatted in his dressing room back stage. Pleasant. A gentleman.

 

[teleplayr]

Todd Rundgren, Leon Russel, Rhino & Lee Dorman (Iron Butterfly), Steve Smith, Rev Jones, Neil Schon, Greg Bissonette, SRV, Rod Evans (Deep Purple). I'm sure there are others I can't recall right now.

 

[Skyhook]

he was in town for a Sci-Fi convention and agreed to tape a promo for us

"Promo" wasn't what I read when I first skimmed your text!

 

[Skyhook]

Not many but here goes:

Terry Walley & Graham Price(of Crazy Cavan):
I went to their show(awesome gig) and then hung around afterwards. There was this woman who desperately just "had" to get backstage to meet the band and she was removed(in tears) by security. I reasoned that since the joint didn't have a backdoor I could just
wait to achieve the desired result and lo and behold... Terry Walley & Graham Price materialized from the backstage area and started hanging out in the bar. I discussed the (insane)price tag of Fjällräven -branded clothing with Terry and mentioned to Graham that I also played bass(which I did heavily at the time). He said "Oh God... I hope you're better than me!". Then Terry took me backstage to get autographs from the rest of the band. Moral of the story(directed at the removed woman): "Good things come to those who wait".

Steve Hogarth(of Marillion):
I was at a festival where Marillion was supposed to play and went well ahead of time to that stage to get a really good spot.
I came just in time for the Marillion soundcheck and guess what... it wasn't being done by any techs.
Marillion themselves did the soundcheck! They were playing random jams and adjusting levels meanwhile.
Well... after that thing was done, Steve Hogarth noticed the tiny group of fans(me included) at the front of the stage
and came down to have a chat and do autographs. He seemed nice enough.

Away(of Voïvod):
Met him before a Voïvod gig I was hanging around looking toward the stage and then suddenly Away was standing behind me doing the same.
I turned to him and said "You're Away, right?", which he of course was. He listened graciously to me gushing about how awesome I thought
it was that the drummer of one of my favorite bands(Voïvod) had played drums on one of the albums(Sideways) of another one
of my favorite bands(Men Without Hats). Really patient guy.

 

[brookdalebill]

Eric Johnson
Frank Marino
Steve Morse
Billy Gibbons
SRV
Dickey Betts
Dan Toler
Johnny A
Jimmy LaFave
Wanda Jackson
Junior Brown
Rick Trevino
Lee Roy Parnell
Dennis Quaid
Jerry Jeff Walker
Bobby Whitlock
Mike Judge
Stu Cook
Robben Ford
Glenn Tilbrook
Pat McDonald
Barbara K McDonald
Frosty
Herb Remngton
Johnny Gimble
Ray Benson
Johnny Bush
More Bandy
Gene Watson
Steve Wariner
Brenda Lee
Kentucky Headhunters
Freddy Powers
Kim Mitchell
Elvis Costello
Danny Gatton
Tom Brumley
Cindy Cashdollar
NRPS
And a few others I can’t recall.
All cool, all nice, all professional.
I met them either at my music store jobs, or as their opening act in local bands.
I even played with/for a few as a substitute side man.

 

[EugeneWeemich]

Time for a little name-dropping. What famous people have you met over the years, and what did you think of them? Did your opinion change after the encounter?

here's my list:

Alan Shepard: met America's first man in space in a bookshop. i was in awe; he was very "down to earth".

William Shatner: met the fictional spaceman several years ago. the tv station where i work aired the original Star Trek series back then. he was in town for a Sci-Fi convention and agreed to tape a promo for us. he ended up directing as well. very sure of himself. nice rug.

Red Skelton: met him back in the late 70s shopping in a department store. he was "on" as they say in the business...cracking jokes and cutting up with the folks who recognized him. you couldn't help but laugh, and he ate it up.

Butch Patrick: met "Eddie" from the Munsters while taping an infomercial.... this was about 10 years ago. he was friendly and professional. still looked like Eddie. he had a pushy, annoying girlfriend with him, though.

John Walsh: met the host of America's Most Wanted the year the show began. he came to a premiere party at our station (Fox affiliate). the man is INTENSE!

Bruce Campbell: from the "Evil Dead" movies, among others, and some of you might remember his series "Brisco County Jr". great guy. right away, you felt like he was an old friend he hadn't seen in a while.


what are your brushes with greatness?

very cool list!

 

[Old Deaf Roadie]

I can't remember all of them. 40 years working in audio, I have met many. Following are some of the most memorable:

Don Malarchy & Dick Winters (Band of Bros. fame)

SRV (x2)

John Lee Hooker

Buddy Guy

Hubert Sumlin

Pine top Perkins

Buckwheat Zydeco

Dr. John

Johnny Clyde Copeland

Johnny Winter

Tony Bennett

George Strait

Clint Black

Travis Tritt

Willie Nelson

Reba McEntire

Suzy Boguss

Tony Mendez (of ARGO fame).

Dick Butkis.

Jim McMahon ('86 Chi. Bears)

Too many campaigning politicians.

Bill Walton

The guy who surfaced the U.S. nuke boat under a Japanese school ship, forgot his name, but the incident sure made int'l headlines...

Ritchie Valens' family

Maria Elena Holly (at the Surf Ballroom!)

JP Richardson, jr.

Frankie Ford

Bobby Vee

Sonny Curtis

Joe B. Mauldin

Jerry Allison

Tommy Chong

Buddy Rich

Bumped into David Sanborn in an elevator.

Cary Grant in the same elevator as David Sanborn, different day.

BB King on the sidewalk getting ready to board his bus, same hotel as Sanborn & Grant, different day.

Crossed paths with the entire Lynyrd Skynyrd tour at a truck stop diner in western Wyoming, 1995-ish. They were very gracious.

George Clooney

Lady Gaga at a brew pub on the Oregon Coast.

Tommy Thayer from KISS at that same brew pub, and on the beach, and he as a judge for a local United Way fundraiser. Super nice guy. He has a house nearby.

VP George HW Bush while I was serving in the Navy, 1983-ish. He toured our squadron while deployed to Iceland. Could see what the Secret Service was packing under the overcoats with the infrared system...just, wow....

Nancy Wilson sitting in a car outside Safeway.

Krist Novocelic (sorry for the name butchering)

Adam West

 

[Chester P Squier]

I once played piano right there in front of Count Basie, but am barred from providing details. It's a secret! This was a very long time ago.

When I was working in a store in north Louisiana I sold something to legendary football coach Eddie Robinson. He was a nice guy.

I also waited on Houston Astros pitcher J. R. Richard.

I didn't really "meet" Pistol Pete Maravich. We were just returning library books into the outside book depository at the same time.

I encountered singer-songwriter Keith Getty in the corridor of our church when he and his wife Krysten were singing there. I can't remember if I said anything to him or not.

 

[Jared Purdy]

Time for a little name-dropping. What famous people have you met over the years, and what did you think of them? Did your opinion change after the encounter?

here's my list:

Alan Shepard: met America's first man in space in a bookshop. i was in awe; he was very "down to earth".

William Shatner: met the fictional spaceman several years ago. the tv station where i work aired the original Star Trek series back then. he was in town for a Sci-Fi convention and agreed to tape a promo for us. he ended up directing as well. very sure of himself. nice rug.

Red Skelton: met him back in the late 70s shopping in a department store. he was "on" as they say in the business...cracking jokes and cutting up with the folks who recognized him. you couldn't help but laugh, and he ate it up.

Butch Patrick: met "Eddie" from the Munsters while taping an infomercial.... this was about 10 years ago. he was friendly and professional. still looked like Eddie. he had a pushy, annoying girlfriend with him, though.

John Walsh: met the host of America's Most Wanted the year the show began. he came to a premiere party at our station (Fox affiliate). the man is INTENSE!

Bruce Campbell: from the "Evil Dead" movies, among others, and some of you might remember his series "Brisco County Jr". great guy. right away, you felt like he was an old friend he hadn't seen in a while.


what are your brushes with greatness?

I use to be a commercial photographer, and occasionally dabbled in events. In 2000 and 2001 I was a staff photographer for the Toronto International Film Festival, and that afforded me the opportunity to meet a lot of the "Bold Face". Those I met, and had the pleasure of having a chat with: Robert Duval, Richard Harrison, Alec Baldwin, Philip Seymore Hoffman, Kevin Klien (had dinner with him at the Life as a House after party), Mary Steenburgen (also had dinner with her), Daryl Hannah (partied with her and her friends), Farah Fawcett, Sarah Jessica Parker and Gwyneth Paltrow. I had an odd conversation with Mathew-I'm-So-Full-Of-Myself-McConaughey. Weird dude. There's a bunch of others, but the passage of time has fogged my waning memory!

In the mid 80's, I had the pleasure of sharing the stage and jamming with Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Levon Helm and Richard Manuel. At another musical event I had the pleasure of meeting Clarence Gatemouth Brown and at another, a band that I was in opened for and then jammed with Roy Harper.

 

[Flyboy]

I met Englebert Humperdinck in a Krystals in Cribdeath Iowa once. Weird..

I read that as 'I met Englebert Humperdinck doing crystals.....' until I re-read it.

There's truly a town called 'Cribdeath'??

 

[Mjark]

The entire Jefferson Airplane 1967 as they were going back into the venue while we were waiting for someone’s dad to pick us up.

John Glenn at Starbucks.

Steve Morse at NAMM

Bill Carson at NAMM

Bill Schultz Fender CEO also at NAMM

John Sebastian - I was playing a 6 string banjo at the Deering booth at NAMM and someone else started with me. I was shocked to say the least.

 

[brookdalebill]

The entire Jefferson Airplane 1967 as they were going back into the venue while we were waiting for someone’s dad to pick us up.

John Glenn at Starbucks.

Steve Morse at NAMM

Bill Carson at NAMM

Bill Schultz Fender CEO also at NAMM

John Sebastian - I was playing a 6 string banjo at the Deering booth at NAMM and someone else started with me. I was shocked to say the least.

I forgot about meeting John Sebastian at the summer NAMM Show here in Austin circa 2008-2009.
I met James Burton there, too.
Both men were very cool.
I got a handshake from JB.
I may wash that hand some day.

 

[studio1087]

Croz - ny son - me.

I've hung with David about 10 times. He's a dear friend of my old father in law. I've also met Stills and Nash.

 

[Harry Styron]

This old thread would be shorter and more interesting if it listed the famous people that we in a band with, got sued by, were married to or were intimate with. Shaking somebody's hand doesn't offer much to be vicarious about.

 

[Digital Larry]

From NAMM & my 4 years in the music biz (30 years ago):

Slash
Duff McKagan
Pat Metheney
Charlie Haden
Phil Collen
Joe Gore
Jerry Garcia
Neil Young
Alex Lifeson
Jack Casady
John Entwistle
Scott Page (Pink Floyd sax)
Rick Derringer
Jerry Donahue

Random/unplanned
Frank Zappa
Joan Baez (both on the street in San Francisco)

After show lineup and hihowareyah
David Lindley
Ike Willis (Zappa vocalist)

Did the sound for live shows at college
Jorma Kaukonen
Stan Getz