A couple of brushes, not with people as famous as the ones mentioned here:
In the late sixties, my Dad was finishing his last TDY in the Canal Zone, & we flew back to the States. We came in to the airport in Atlanta. While we were waiting for our next flight, my Mother noticed a couple of guys walking past with long hair & beards. She told me that she was sure they were in a band. She asked, & sure enough they were part of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs("Hey There Little Red Riding Hood"). They were in town to play a stadium. We asked where Sam was, & they told us he was on the upper level, checking on their booking. I took off running for the escalator, & when I was about half way up, I saw Sam coming down on the other side. I shouted out to him, & immediately turned around & started to run down the up escalator, to the consternation of all the people trying to go up. Sam made it to the lower level, & stood there watching this goofy kid causing such disruption. So I finally make it down & he was nice enough to give me an autograph, even though he was not having a good day. It turned out their booking was cancelled.
Many years later:
I was in a local band in San Antonio. We may have not been the best, but we were enthusiastic, at least. We agreed to do a few opening slots for a local concert promoter, for the "exposure"(read free). One was for Sugarloaf(Green Eyed Lady)& as we were doing our set, I saw a nondescript guy in a army green t-shirt & khakis standing backstage watching us. After we finished, we were removing our gear from the stage(no roadies then!)& I saw the same guy again & he said to me "nice set". I just assumed he was a roadie for the main act, smiled my thanks & moved on. Later, as we were "celebrating" in our dressing room, I heard Sugarloaf begin "Green Eyed Lady". This is one of my all time favorite songs, so I ran back to the stage to watch & listen to them play it. I remembered from their setup on what side of the stage the B3
(Hammond Organ)was, so that's where I went. There was the guy in the army green t-shirt, also known as Jerry Corbetta. At one point he saw me watching & kind of gave me a little smirk. The thing that impressed me most about him, other than his obvious talent, was that after the room was cleared & the doors locked he came back out & sat down at his keyboard & played for a good while, clearly for his own enjoyment, but we all benefited from it.
Last one, I swear! This one is a little more timely:
I was in a yet another local band in San Antonio, playing at a nightclub. Inbetween sets I was walking through the tables, talking to people & friends. At one table I stopped at, a guy told me "I like the band", with a big British accent. I smiled & thanked him & I moved on. Later I saw him talking to the guitarist, & wandered over. He told us he was the drummer for Ten Years After. He said they were playing the Municipal Theater the next night & would leave tickets for us at will call if we wanted to come. I thought...Sure...I believe you, Not! For the hell of it we went to the show, & sure enough, our tickets were waiting for us, & nice seats too! We got to talk to Alvin & the band after the show, & its one of my nicest memories.
