Kakki wrote:
>What an amazing story! To think that one of >our list may have stumbled
across The Richard >- wow! The evidence looks pretty good that he >may be
one and the same.
Woulda, shoulda, coulda. It would have been a great plus if this little
visit with Richard had happened before I ran into Joni in S'toon this
summer. In jogging Joni's memory of Sid, I should have mentioned the
Spikedrivers rather than only giving the physical description of Sid as a
Jerry Garcia look-alike to ring her bell. (Geez, I just hated taking up
her time, you know? ;-( ) Had I known more details of the Spikedrivers at
the time, I could have possibly solved the mystery of Richard's identity
for us and him too. (although he didn't seem to be at all haunted by not
knowing.) I would have liked to have seen Joni's facial reaction when I
gave her Richard's last name. Sigh....
>It's fantastic that you have struck up a >friendship with these two early
Joni pals.
I gotta say, I think one of the reasons Richard was as open as he was, was
because of our give and take about our most recent Joni events, Toronto
(him) and S'toon (me), within the first minute of our conversation. He
appreciated and related to my relaying of how I very consciously steered
clear of hounding, pestering, or trying to "catch" Joni in S'toon, when I
probably could have made for myself plenty of real opportunity, and also
just how deeply bothered I was to realize what Joni, the living, breathing
person, is put through because of her icon status and the effect she has
on people. He said, even he, a legitimate old friend of hers, had had his
reservations in Toronto too, for all my same reasons, when weighing if he
wanted to try to get his note backstage to Joni. So I think knowing, right
from the get-go, that we shared a common ground dislike for anything that
remotely resembles "star stalking or obsessive fans" (his words), was a
real plus for our visit. ;-)
>Maybe we should all collectively write the >next Joni biography ;-)
Haha, well at least for now, don't expect to much contribution from "my
sources". ;-) To get an idea of Sid's personality and manner, imagine if
you will, what it would be like trying to have a good, free-flowing
conversation with comedian Steven Wright when he's got on his stand-up
persona. ;-D I know Sid's got some fascinating tidbits in him, not just
about relaying early Joni stories, but he had mentioned to me years ago,
dinking around on guitars with Dylan in NYC, but to drag it out of him
would probably be a torturing experience FOR ME. LOL! He'd rather talk
about himself, so I'd end up having to constantly re-direct his focus and
be pushy and probing to get to the JC - and to be pushy and probing just
ain't me. By far, Richard would make for the more enjoyable and
enlightening JC conversations - I gathered that he had had a strong
affection for her. So hopefully I'll get another chance to visit with
Richard if he comes to see Sid again. ;-) However, Sid did say he would
write up something and send it for me to share via e-mail, but knowing Sid
for about ten years now, I'm not holding my breath. ;-)
Oh btw, Richard has a WONDERFUL singing voice. When I was there, Richard
and Sid were rehearsing to play for either an open mic or small gig Sid
had arranged for that night. They performed for me one of Richard's tunes
- I thought lyrically it was kinda weak, but their guitar work together
and Richard's singing were beautiful.
>Thanks for sharing,
You're welcome - it was my pleasure. ;-)
Penny
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