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Shows
Nov 30, 2009 18:05:08 GMT -5
Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:05:08 GMT -5
NY Dolls
Comment from Sharon Lawrence - "As I recall The Dolls opened for Skynyrd several times and LS was at first somewhat appalled by their 'looks'. Then as they saw David and The Dolls were 'okay', there was conversation and David and Ronnie were quite complimentary of each other. Joe may have his own thoughts on this."
Joe: In my tenure, we did ONE show (two nights) with the Dolls. It was in Springfield, Mo on October 12 & 13, 1973. I'm not sure that we actually did the two shows because the attendance was so weak but that's what the promo material says.
They were atrocious. They could not play.
They were atrocious. They could not play.
Sounded so nice I had to say it twice. (laugh laugh laugh)
Oh yeah, the look too, cross dressing trashy hooker junky chic.
This really highlights a characteristic of the music press, that it is very geocentric. The NY music writers love the NY bands and the west coast writers love the west coast bands and they are deaf to everything else. There were a few open minded exceptions.
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Shows
Nov 30, 2009 18:07:09 GMT -5
Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:07:09 GMT -5
Q - Did Artimus and Bob ever play together in the '70s?
Joe: The first time Artie and Bob played on the same set was after Artie was first hired. The band had practiced with Artie for about a month and they decided to see how he'd work in a live situation by playing a benefit show at Sargent Peppers. It was probably a favor for the owner of the club also.
Sgt. Peppers was a club in an older grocery store strip center. The space the club was in used to be the drug store. The date of the show was about the end of July or first of August, the hottest part of summer, in Florida. The benefit angle was bring a couple of cans of food and get in free
The place was packed. The AC was clearly inadequate (nice word) for the heat and crowd. It was so F'n hot and humid that duct tape would not stick to itself after you peeled it off the roll.
Artie lasted about two songs before Bob had to come up and take over. It wasn't a very long set. Ed was the next to leave because his fingers were so soft and pruney from the humidity. His fingers looked like he'd been soaking in the pool for an hour or so. His strings were cutting them like soft cheese. Leon didn't last much longer before he passed out on stage. I carried him out the back door to fresh air and made sure that he got some attention to make sure he was OK. Ronnie, Allen, Gary, Billy and Bob finished the set such as it was.
We left a few weeks later for the UK for about a four week tour with Bob on Drums.
Artie stayed behind and worked on learning his parts and in the end did an outstanding job.
Life was interesting back then.
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Shows
Nov 30, 2009 18:08:15 GMT -5
Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:08:15 GMT -5
Q - There is a tempo difference in Searchin'. The Bullets version is more upbeat while the One More From The Road version is a lot slower. Was it Dowd's mix that was sped up or did Ronnie prefer it a little more laid back?
Joe: Remember that OMFTR was put together from three shows over three nights. I recall that during the sound check rehearsal on the second day, Dowd and Ronnie were talking about how everything was too fast the first night. They made a deliberate effort to slow the tempos the second night and also the third night. They picked the version they liked best for the album.
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Shows
Nov 30, 2009 18:08:50 GMT -5
Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:08:50 GMT -5
Joe: Aerosmith were actually decent people. They opened for us at a small show in (I think) Peoria, Ill. In his own way, I think Steve Tyler may have taken a lesson on stage presence from Ronnie. Ran into them about a year later staying in the same hotel in NY. Rode up the elevator with them and they even recognized me. Made me a fan. Next time we played with them they were headlining at RFK Stadium.
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Shows
Nov 30, 2009 18:10:09 GMT -5
Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:10:09 GMT -5
Joe: The albums never conveyed the energy of the live performances. Unlike many other bands, the live version of Skynyrd was much better than the albums.
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Shows
Nov 30, 2009 18:11:25 GMT -5
Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:11:25 GMT -5
Joe We did a show with the Kinks. It was at a nice little theater in Fresno, Ca. (I think). We were opening for them and booked to open for them for two shows at Winterland a few days later. They were like soft little marshmallows melting on the stage following Skynyrd. They were like soft little marshmallows smashed into the pavement by a southern steamroller of rock and roll leaving nothing but little grease stains. They were playing silly little love songs while Skynyrd played soulful songs of longing and despair, hope and aspirations and was making the audiences emotions rise and fall as if they were bouncing a balloon back and forth.
The Kinks canceled the two Winterland shows the next morning.
I know that some of you folks may really like the Kinks and I think some of their early material was influential but overall I left that show thinking that they were really over rated. It might as well have been Herman's Hermits or Freddie and the dreamers headlining, they would have melted too.
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Shows
Nov 30, 2009 18:12:40 GMT -5
Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:12:40 GMT -5
Joe The "coming out party" was for the whole roster of Sounds of the South Records. Skynyrd was third on a four act bill. The top of the bill was Mose Jones, they were Al's favorites. I wasn't there but I was told that they opened their set with MCA, kind of a reach out and grab them by the lapels, shake them up a little and tell them to "LISTEN TO THIS" in Skynyrd's own subtle way.
I guess Al Kooper put Mose Jones on top and Ronnie just said "sure". Mose Jones were nice guys but I don't think they really had a clue. Like they really wanted to follow Skynyrd. I'm sure Ronnie didn't care, it just gave him a show to steal. It was never spoken aloud but Ronnie always walked off stage with a "follow that" grin, unless he was pissed because he thought someone F'ed up.
Ronnie was pretty particular about the set list. He explained it to me one time, get their attention, keep it up for a while, slow down in the middle and then bring it back up and leave them wanting more. Don't know if Ed had any influence on that but Ronnie had been doing it long enough he'd probably already figured it out.
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Shows
Nov 30, 2009 18:13:57 GMT -5
Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:13:57 GMT -5
Q - What was the biggest crowd you remember the band played in front of?
Joe: Probably at the festival in Sedalia, Missouri. It was a huge outdoor show, they had two stages. There were around 500,000 people.
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Shows
Nov 30, 2009 18:15:14 GMT -5
Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:15:14 GMT -5
Q - After Ed left the band, did the band expand the set list to longer than an hour?
Joe: It stretched out a bit with "T for Texas". Never much longer though.
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Shows
Nov 30, 2009 18:16:41 GMT -5
Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:16:41 GMT -5
Q - Who was responsible for writing out the set lists when Skynyrd played live?
Joe: As I recall, the set list was Ronnie's work. I remember him talking about starting with MCA to grab them by the collars and say LISTEN TO THIS, keeping it up for a few songs, slow down a bit then start a build up to the finally and leaving them wanting MORE!!!
Who put it down on paper, I couldn't say.
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