The Logic Off Topic list

John Matthews wrote:

> Well, maybe Tom Morello is a blistering soloist- but in a very
> different way
> than the "Mike Varney" bunch, who I  detest.
>
> When I say something like "Hendrix is a guitar god", to me that means
> as a
> rhythm player, songwriter, composer of riffs, accompanist, as well as
> a
> soloist.
>
> Personally, I take some of these groupie stories with a pinch of salt.
> How
> much is true and how much legend??
>
> Cheers
>
> John
>

 I can say I would tend to believe the groupie stories. Having had first
hand experience of how LZ interacted with people in general back in
their heyday. One night in  about '71 or '72 they turned up in a club I
was playing in. I was invited  to join their table, for a drink, by
Jimmy Page. I saw their manager in action fronting groups of girls and
saying  to them 'any of you girls wanna f**k R*****P****?' Just like he
was organising a game of tennis or something. He was saying it so
anyone within 20 feet could hear quite clearly, not quietly at all.
Other people at the table were joining in by pointing to girls and
calling out something like 'what about you, luv ?' or words to that
effect.
 I think what they were about was showing they had the power to be more
outragous than any other band around, and get away with it. Because the
girls weren't shunning them, they were buying it. I have seen many
stars of that era in action, and known a few of the groupies, and I can
say I never saw anyone behave so boldly in public. [In the green room
was a different matter]
  LZ must have been right chuffed when frank Zappa actually wrote a song
about their exploits, which solidified the legend, which I believe,
they  quite consciously cultivated.
 [postscript:  I don't know about more recent history, but in the 60's
and early 70's there was a strong culture of what was called
'monstering' among musicians, Which meant lots of musos were trying to
top each other with more outrageous acts of depravity.]


oink