Re: Lead Guitar Players (Again).

[Mike Curtis <wd6ehr@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> 
> I've always had more problems with drummers than guitar players. Too many
> of 'em have shown some validity in the old saying that "there are musicians
> and then there are drummers".

Which reminds me of what happened last month.

I went to the Doctor, because I was getting these blinding headaches..  
After a CAT scan, he told me I had a serious cranial malfunction, and 
they'd have to remove my brain and send it back to the shop.

Last week, he called and said "Your brain is fixed - come in and pick it 
up."  I told him, "No way, dude - I got a great gig with a band as a 
drummer!"

BaDup!

> And there are lots of people out there who own harps and give harp players
> a bad rep. You know, the clown that found a harp in a sewer drain(which
> instantly made him a musician) and wants to sit in with the band. Every
> "real" musician has come across this particular creature. Every time I'm in
> a new jam situation, I have to re-prove myself. "Oh, you play harp? My
> sister's kid's got a kazoo." And words don't cut it - the harmonica MUST do
> the talkin'.  It used to bug me but it's an old boring story so I just take
> it in stride and let the harp speak.

I've seen the same thing with every instrument - guitar, drums, keyboard, 
horn, violin, and especially vocals.  But I suppose the harmonica is more 
subject to abuse because many bands use it to make noise on a solo, i.e. 
Yardbirds, Beatles, Romantics, and a list of harmonica infamy too long 
and painful to recount.

I was playing at a society gig one evening, and the hostess came up to 
sing.  She sang "Carry me back to ol' Virginee", and was really off 
key.  An older, very distinguished gentleman sat in front of the 
orchestra, and wiped a tear from his eye as she sang.  Inspired, she 
belted it out even louder (and more off key.)  Afterward, she approached 
him and asked "Pardon me, sir, but are you a Virginian?"  "No, Ma'am", he 
replied, wiping his eyes once more, "I'm a musician..."

 --  mike curtis
wd6ehr@xxxxxxxxxx