Nicest / most personable musician you've met?

Met Ronnie. He was such a gent I couldn't believe he was in Sabbath.

 

Love Bruce. Wish he and the Range would reunite.

 

Richie Havens.

So honored to meet him in 2004, and I wish he was still with us.

 

Larry Carlton, Chris Duarte, Pat Metheny. All were personable, easy going and friendly.

 

Maybe I was just young and naive when I heard that quote, but I just assumed it was a direct reference to the "brown paper bag" In Through The Out Door cover!

 

The best opening act for Woodstock. I still get chills when I watch him sing Handsome Johnny.

 

Elvis? Really? I haven't met him myself, but I've heard nothing but good things about him offstage.

 

I've met plenty of great musicians most of you have never heard of, but when it comes to bigger names, I have to go with Abbey Lincoln. I saw her at the Regattabar in Cambridge, MA about 20 years ago, After the show, I went up to speak with her bass player, who was obviously young but had some great lines. After chatting a bit, Abbey came over and asked what we were up to and proceeded to gush about how great it was to have people show up to listen to her sing and her band backing her (she made it a point to indicate that it wasn't just her, it was them as a whole). After some 30 years already under her belt, she felt a need to be sure that she expressed how glad she was to have folks come out. We spoke for a good five minutes and she just seemed like the most genuine human being I've ever met. She exuded warmth and sincerity.

 

Paul Butterfield. May he RIP.

 

Andy had always been nice in my communication with him.

Love the 'Tators"
It is a real shame about the fallout between the boys.
Here's hoping they eventually put it all behind and make up. Life is to short.

 

Agreed. Too bad they can't get along.

Just read yesterday that Dictators NYC are recording their first single.

 

Eric Anderson. As much of a gentleman and friendly as he could be. Went out of his way to give credit to other folks he worked with too, like Rick Danko. Self effacing to a fault.

 

Met Bob Dylan at an after-Sabbath (Saturday night after sunset) meal at a close friend's house in St. Paul, MN in the early '80's. His close friend Larry Keegan had brought Dylan over and they were all having a deep discussion on Judaism. Kind-of-as-a-joke, I asked Bob to sign a copy of my "favorite Dylan album -- Great White Wonder". He sort of smirked, but ended up signing the cover which I still have and treasure.

 

Richie Havens was a very sweet soul.

When I was around 18 (this would have been in '83 or so), I met him in Greenwich Village one afternoon by sheer happenstance via a mutual acquaintance. I had a piano-key tape recorder with me, and I asked him if he'd mind answering a few questions on tape for the college paper. It was kind of a presumptuous and probably annoying request, but he said sure go ahead. For about 25 minutes or so, he spoke about all kinds of stuff: nuclear winter, Ronald Reagan, activism, the responsibilities of the Baby Boom, what happened to Woodstock-type ideals, and all kinds of topics on which he had articulate and well-thought ideas.

When we were done, I tried to play it back, and dagnabbit wouldn't you know it, the freakin' batteries were dead.

So what does Havens say? He says "there's a store on the corner, go over there, get some batteries, and we'll do it again. I'll be here". So, I went to the store, got the batteries, and he went through the whole interview again, this time for 40 minutes. He was funny, enthusiastic, candid, and wise in his remarks. Anyone listening to it would never guess he had just gone through it all before. He asked for nothing in return, wished me good luck on my budding journalism career (which never got off the ground, to be honest), and was very friendly and accommodating through the whole ideal.

Unfortunately, when I played what I thought was a brilliant interview that highlighted a new generation gap and the concerns of both generations that provided some middle ground, the pimply guy who served as the paper's editor told me "nobody cares about Richie Havens or Woodstock anymore, and most students here like Reagan." And that was that, the tape was filed in a desk drawer, never to see the light of day.

I'll never forget his generosity that afternoon though. I actually met him once again, many years later. I don't think he remembered me, but he was every bit as cordial and friendly as he had been the first time.

 

Given HDM's latest FB post, I would doubt it:

Andy Shernoff Who is so angry that we use the word dictator in our name even though we have spent our whole lives in the band

He is now threatening our European promoter for posting videos

He has already called up and be rated Ricky Byrd for going to see us live

he has already called up one of the booking agents of the club we played in and told her how does she Dare book us ?

she has no respect for rock-and-roll history

Of the songs he wrote there are young fans all over the world excitedly posting songs that we do that he wrote while he pulls them off of Facebook and disappoints them

he sits home and for plays in front of 12 people at a local East Village pub

this is an angry angry man who oh so badly wants to be a control freak but actually is freaking out because we are the dictators and we are playing all over the world and he has no control at all

and everybody calls us the DICTATORS anyway

he is freaking the **** and we are making new records he sits home making the records nobody gives a **** about

nobody except the 12 people patting him on the back telling him what a genius he is

 

Margo Timmins is an incredibly nice person. We had a great chat after a Cowboy Junkies concert about 10 years ago. Talked about musicians we admired... she's talented as all get-out and she is a wonderful person!

 

I have been very fortunate to have met a great many musicians. All were pleasant. The worst of them was simply professional. I have never had a negative experience meeting a musician.

But John Easdale is just a really regular guy. I have a son on the autism spectrum so I wind up either working or attending a lot of concert fundraisers. John has a daughter on the spectrum. I met him at an event and he was very pleasant and warm. Met him again at another event & reminded him of the organization I worked with. He was, again, very friendly & took a few minutes to chat. At a third event he remembered me (I think because of the context of the event itself) & we spoke a bit about our kids. At the most recent event he remembered my name and immediately asked about my son. Never hurried. Very personable. A good guy.

Very strange experience having a musician you are a fan of and admire as a songwriter know your name and inquire about your family. Just the nicest guy.

 

Just two more quick stories. It's always interesting meeting artists who have reputations for being difficult.

Robert Gordon had a reputation for being surly and kinda mean. I don't know if that is true or not. I met him in his dressing room before a gig & he was pleasant & a regular guy. Chatted a bit. Nothing like his rep.

A local radio station holds a yearly show in which an organization that I volunteer for benefits. During this particular show I was acting as representative for this org & asking the artists to sign guitars for later auction. Vanilla Ice was one of the performers. To be frank, I had heard that he was an a$$ and was prepared to be treated poorly. Not the case at all. Unbeknownst to me, someone shot a photo when I was explaining to him who I was and what I was asking for. He is leaning in and clearly really listening. He said he would be happy to oblige and spent almost two full minutes, not only signing the guitar with a flourish but drawing a series of pictures. He made that guitar worth something. He took a great deal of time when all he had to do was quickly scrawl his name and be done with it. A real gentleman.

After those two experiences, I no longer trust stories of bad reputations.

 

Gerry Marsden is a scouser & scouser's never shut up.

 

Back in the 80's, I worked for a radio station in NYC. We sponsored the big outdoor concerts on the Pier on the west side.

On the night Pat Matheny played (to about 4000 fans), I was near the gate when I heard someone say "Matheny's here!" I looked expecting to see a tour bus. Instead, I saw a small brown Datsun. Matheny was driving,and the rest of the band were in the passenger seats. So yeah -- that's about as unpretentious as it gets!

Later that evening I met Pat's parents. They were thrilled when I gave them some stickers with their son's face on them.

 

Iommi strikes me as a gentleman as well, and Ward and Butler seem nice enough.

 

I met Ray Manzarek from the Doors in DC about about 10 years ago. I was walking down the street at dusk and he was standing in an alley smoking a cigarette with folders full of sheet music under one arm. Talked with him for about two minutes and got a picture with him as well. He was a really nice guy. Ends up he was playing the 9:30 club next door so we went in and enjoyed the show, what a great night that was.

 

Shabbat.

I'd love to read what he said about it. Or he just kinda blow it off?

 

These two fellas. I was at their concert in Buenos Aires and was called backstage by a friend of mine who played in one of the support acts. He wanted me to translate for them because no one else around spoke fluent English. Ended up chatting for a whole hour with them to the local musicians dismay, who were ignored the minute Klaus Fluoride and East Ray Bay heard me open my mouth.

 

Phil Keaggy. Extremely nice and I had an actual conversation with him and he LISTENED!!