[Dixielandjazz] Requests not to play and huge tips!

[Bob Romans]

GREAT STORY! I love it! But I'm gonna watch my behind around YOU from now 
on, Reverend! :~)
You are EVIL!!! :~)
deacon in Lodi!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <TCASHWIGG at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 2:51 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Requests not to play and huge tips!


>
> I was playing on a Festival in Belgium with Chuck Berry, Little Richard, 
> and
> Bo Diddley and Fats Domino & Percy Sledge amongst many others.
>
> Chuck Berry who has been known to be a jerk for many years, was about to 
> go
> on and play for the greatest and fairest promoter I ever worked for.  He 
> was
> paying Chuck $25,000.00 for his show.  Chuck walked over to where the 
> promoter
> and I were talking backstage and told the promoter:
>
> I do a one hour show, not a minute more, If I get an encore I get $3000.00
> extra, and if I get two it's gonna cost you $6,000.00 got it?  He walked 
> away to
> join the band.
>
> The promoter who never trashed anybody said what an a---hole, to which I
> agreed, and told him not to worry about it, as I owed Chuck Berry a pay 
> back for
> many years for someting he did to me as a promoter, and he had long 
> forgotten
> even who I was even standing in front of me.
>
> The promoter wanted to know what I was going to do, and I just told him to
> trust me, and it's better if you don't know anything about it, just make 
> sure
> you are out in the audience when Chuck does his last song of the hour 
> show.
>
> Chuck went on and I told the stage manager to build a ramp fromt he front 
> of
> the stage down into the audience discreetly while Chuck was up there
> performing about six feet above the audience.
>
> Having worked and or promoted many shows with Chuck Berry over the year I
> knew his routine show perfectly and knew exactly when it was going to be 
> over, he
> would do his little duck walk across the stage and reach back and yank the
> guitar cord out of the amp and wave to the audience.
>
> I got St. Gabriel's ready to go and came up the ramp backstage for his 
> last
> number, and when he yanked that cord out I blew the whistle and we started
> playing Saints and marched right out onto his stage and down the ramp into 
> the
> audience with all Hell breaking loose, as they thought it was part of the 
> show.
> Chuck never knew what hit him and man was he pissed off.
>
> We worked our way through the crowd of ten thousand folks and went back up
> the ramp to the stage again just before the next act was coming on, we got 
> a
> thunderous ovation form a great audience which was really enough reward.
>
> When we got backstage the Promoter came over to me and slipped a roll of 
> cash
> in my pocket and said it was the greatest trick he had ever seen pulled 
> and
> loved how it went off so professionally and well to serve it's purpose.  I
> counted the money when I got back to the dressing room and it was 
> $3,000.00.
> Chuck uttered a few obscenities at him and stormed out of the festival 
> grounds
> vowing to never come back and blocking his face from any of the 
> photographers
> from making any photos of him.
>
> Cheers,
>
> It just don't get much better than revenge and a great tip too.
>
> Tom "Be Nice" Wiggins
> Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band  and sometimes Circus.  :))
>
>
>
>
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