Just wondering does anyone here know anyone famous?
I always try to imagine what a celebrity is really like by trying to 'read' their faces and facial expressions.
So does anyone here know a famous person and if you do.. spill the beans. What are they like?
I worked for CBS (now Sony) records for a while back in the '80s, and had a chance to meet a large number of famous people, including several that are recognizable by just about everybody in the Western world. There is a difference between "meeting" and "knowing" them, and there are only a small handful of famous people that might even remember my name.
But the one thing I've noticed about famous people, at least in Rock & Roll, is that they often have multiple personas. One being their rockstar persona, and another being their personal life persona, and they usually keep those fairly separate.
Trad musicians are a different matter. And even the biggest "stars" often have regular jobs, and many of them seem to be a bit uncomfortable with the concept of "fame"...
Why should they have much in common? Think of Bono or Christy Moore, Michael Flatley or Kevin Burke, the Chieftains and the Corrs.
Apparently some American stars like to be in Ireland because people don't make such a fuss about them there. A very healthy attitude.
I might have posted this story before, I can't remember, but it's a good un:
A friend of mine was playing at Celtic connections a few years ago and she was wearing a t-shirt she'd made in the sequinned Madonna style with little silver stars spelling the name "Liz Carroll". She bumped in to Liz Carroll in the hotel bar and Liz said to her, "blimey, what a coincidence, my name's Liz Carroll".
This is the same as asking:
Does anyone here know anyone who is a vegetarian lesbian/ black and living in Poland/ muslim/ from Norwich/ in a wheelchair/ who plays euphonium/ drives a 'bus/ eats sausages for a living/ enjoys a good toss/ who has pink hair/ picks their nose/ wears lonf trousers/ drives a car/ goes to Florida for thier holidays/ explores the Antarctic et cetera etcetera et bloody cetera....and what are they like?
What a stupid question! You ought to get out more! Everyone regardless of category is unique. Prejudice is what you have if you judge someone by knowing which boxes they tick and not actually meeting them!
Arrgh! I'm gonna quietly play my uke now! Thank you!
My brother is a rock guitar player in Florida, and has met and jammed with Carlos Santana on many occasions. He tells me Carlos is very humble, kind, and anxious to help new musicians get started.
When I was younger I dated Edie Brikell's roomate, Amy. Edie was the New Bohemians singer who married Paul Simon. I used ot go to Edie's shows and she'd come out on the breaks and hang out with me. Made all the fellas completely green with envy.
She was actually a pretty cool girl. One of the best songwriters I ever met in person. I talked to her like she was a regular person, though. Even thought she hadn't yet gotten famous nationally, she was a local celebrity in Dallas and everyone fell all over themselves to get a word with her, so I guess that I was Amy's friend and talked to her like a regular person is why she always came and found me on her set breaks.
I've met alot of famous jazz and blues musicians. They're all great guys. I've hung out with McCoy Tyner and got him telling stories about playing with John Coltrane. I've shot pool with Pharoh Sanders. He's a great guy. He had this big Lincoln Town Car that he drove around in and we'd pile in after the Sunday night jams and go to this all night pool hall he knew. That's why I started playing jazz, actually. I was a teenager and that just seemed like the life to me back then.
I met Albert King at a blues festival in Texas. I played in a band with his cousin Tom "Pops" Carter for years back in Texas. All the old blues men say they are related to BB King or whatever, but when we were walking around the festival and this fella shouted "Hey, Tom! How you doing?" and it was Albert King talking to my friend Pops, well, I was impressed to say the very least. He's a great guy, too.
Our friend Mitch Marine played drums with Tripping Daisy back in the 90s. They were sort of famous.
Come to think of it, I've met lots of famous musicians. Most of them are pretty great guys.
In my hazy L.A. past, I would on occasion find myself in the near presence of über-famous people from the multiverse of pop entertainment. Here's the analogy:
Say a child goes to the zoo for the first time at age five or so. He/she quickly discovers that real animals are slow, smelly, and dingy compared with the cartoon animals he/she has loved on the big and small screens.
Hah, Nate, I once got run over by RIchie Allen (outfielder with the Phillies). My dad and I were late getting to the stadium (this was back when they stilled played at Connie Mack) and were hurrying through the concession hallway when Allen came busting through a door on his way to the locker room. He'd just struck out on three pitches and was steaming. I was about 10 years old and in the wrong place at the wrong time. He bowled right through me like I wasn't there, cussing and ranting about his at bat. Then he realized what had happened, turned back, tossed me back on my feet, saying "Sorry kid," and stormed off into the locker room.
My dad grew up in Brooklyn. He used to deliver groceries to Dodgers' pitcher Dazzy Vance, who usually gave tickets to the game as a tip.
My grandpa and my uncle used to go to the old Connie Mack park. My uncle has some color home movies of a game there from 1958. He took half an inning with the Phils batting. I'm too young to have been there myself. It was the Vet for me, and now that's gone too.
bowburner, I've been in bands that were popular locally. It's kinda fun when people you don't know stop you on the street or at the grocery and tell you about how much they liked your show last week or something like that. And how everyone seems to know you whether you've met them before of not. Its very easy to make friends that way.
And Pops, the old bluesman I played with was a local icon. We used to go around together all the time, and it would take Pops half an hour just to leave a bar because every single person between him and the door wanted to say hello and he would always stop and talk with them no matter who they were. Pops was great about that. He was very beloved in that town.
But it could be a problem if you actually had to get somewhere like to your gig or something. Me and Chris called it PGS or "Pops Ground Speed" to measure how long it could take him to travel 20 feet in a crowded room.
I learned to play "The Rights of Man" from Robert Waller, the guy who wrote The Bridges of Madison County. He wasn't famous then, though, so I don't know if it counts.
I met Ann Magnuson and Dave Rick from Bongwater when they played in Portland in 2001 - they needed a practice space and ended up using my brother's studio. I was really charmed by them - just nice people and very fun to talk to. I also got to chit chat with Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard in the lobby of the Space Needle Travelodge in 2003 while they waited for their van to show up. They were really cool too, and not afraid of talking to a couple of dorky fans. I was impressed at how they didn't look the least bit hungover (I know I did)
My brother used to go to High School with Rose Byrne (she was in Entourage and Troy with Brad Pitt) she's a nice normal sane person, no pretence...just normal.
"When I was younger, I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific."
Nawp. Fame would suck. Papparazzi stalking you everywhere, crazy rumours circulating about your sex life/diet/drug habits/cosmetic surgeries. Bleh. Anonymity is highly underrated.
I see photos of celebrities in magazines when waiting to see a doctor or dentist or waiting for my car to be fixed. I don't have a clue who many of them are or why they are famous. I could have met some of them and not known it. Does that count?
When I was working at the BBC and was younger and less tactful I set up a recording for an old chap in my studio who introduced himself as Charlie Chester... and then went on to say, "You probably haven't heard of me". To which I replied, "Oh yes I have actually. You used to be a comedian".
I accidentally asked Wendy MacIsaac (not realizing she was WM) if she did other kinds of dancing besides just the Cape Breton - didn't even phase her of course. She's nice as well as talented.
Apparently Brendan Gleeson lived in Sydney for 8 months at the exact time I was in Ireland - I heard he was lovely, they had a great time with him around. It just figures that I'd be away!
I took John Williams and his then-partner to a very odd pub in Red Cross in Co. Wicklow one night back around 1990. The drive back to Laragh with no headlights or wipers at the end of the night was interesting. Very nice couple they were. Ran into them again a bit later in Doolin. There, that's my claim to fame, ha ha.
Yaalhouse...relax man. You picked up my question so arseways its quite funny. I'm not a complete tool, I fully realise that its as unfair to stereotype 'famous' people as it is any other person.
My question was more specific than a broad generalisation.
When I said "does anyone here know a famous person and if you do.. spill the beans. What are they like?" I didnt mean what are famous people like, I meant what are they (the celebrity in question) like.
I was talking about lawn maintenance once to a nice old guy in a baseball cap while waiting for a concert to start. When it did, I discovered he was the main attraction, Joe Derrane, a very nice man (and quite knowledgeable about lawnmowers and such, I might add).
I did a mandolin workshop with the guitarist out of a very well known trad band. There was him (the tutor), a banjo player, and me on the octave mandolin. After a few minutes he said something like '...you'll never be able to play like that...'.
I felt sick to my stomach and just wished that the next 58 minutes would end.
Horrace, I had a very similar experiance with a well know sliabh luachra fiddle player, he told me I was "outside the tradition" because I wasn't from Ireland.
"know anyone who is a vegetarian lesbian/ black and living in Poland/ muslim/ from Norwich/ in a wheelchair/ who plays euphonium/ drives a 'bus/ eats sausages for a living/ enjoys a good toss/ who has pink hair/ picks their nose/ wears lonf trousers/ drives a car/ goes to Florida for thier holidays/ explores the Antarctic...? " 5 years ago this would have described me perfectly- except for the part about the wheelchair- i can walk just fine- and most people think i'm an alright guy.thanks for asking. anyway,what a preposterous question!! Go to willie week or elkins or someplace,take a lesson with some famous musician and then you can start your own personal precious little Cult of Personality-SHEESH!!!
Sound or not???
Sound or not???
Just wondering does anyone here know anyone famous?
I always try to imagine what a celebrity is really like by trying to 'read' their faces and facial expressions.
So does anyone here know a famous person and if you do.. spill the beans. What are they like?
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by session savage
Re: Sound or not???
oh and please dont make this a slagging or insulting post. not that anyonw on here would ;)
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by session savage
Re: Sound or not???
They are just regular people. You like 'em or not. I'm not saying who, that would be silly
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Sound or not???
The folkie community is so small that I am sure many people on this website know "famous" people.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Sound or not???
Yeah I know they are just regular people but I'm just curious. Just wondering if my preconceptions are misconceptions.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by session savage
Re: Sound or not???
hang on ... we're not talking about "famous" fokies are we? Lordy me, I hope not ... there is no such thing.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Sound or not???
Fred Penner's my grandma's cousin.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Tasia
Re: Sound or not???
Who?
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Henk Bos
Re: Sound or not???
ooh, a name-dropping thread!
I worked for CBS (now Sony) records for a while back in the '80s, and had a chance to meet a large number of famous people, including several that are recognizable by just about everybody in the Western world. There is a difference between "meeting" and "knowing" them, and there are only a small handful of famous people that might even remember my name.
But the one thing I've noticed about famous people, at least in Rock & Roll, is that they often have multiple personas. One being their rockstar persona, and another being their personal life persona, and they usually keep those fairly separate.
Trad musicians are a different matter. And even the biggest "stars" often have regular jobs, and many of them seem to be a bit uncomfortable with the concept of "fame"...
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Sound or not???
Why should they have much in common? Think of Bono or Christy Moore, Michael Flatley or Kevin Burke, the Chieftains and the Corrs.
Apparently some American stars like to be in Ireland because people don't make such a fuss about them there. A very healthy attitude.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by kuec
Re: Sound or not???
I might have posted this story before, I can't remember, but it's a good un:
A friend of mine was playing at Celtic connections a few years ago and she was wearing a t-shirt she'd made in the sequinned Madonna style with little silver stars spelling the name "Liz Carroll". She bumped in to Liz Carroll in the hotel bar and Liz said to her, "blimey, what a coincidence, my name's Liz Carroll".
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by llig leahcim
Prejudice...
This is the same as asking:
Does anyone here know anyone who is a vegetarian lesbian/ black and living in Poland/ muslim/ from Norwich/ in a wheelchair/ who plays euphonium/ drives a 'bus/ eats sausages for a living/ enjoys a good toss/ who has pink hair/ picks their nose/ wears lonf trousers/ drives a car/ goes to Florida for thier holidays/ explores the Antarctic et cetera etcetera et bloody cetera....and what are they like?
What a stupid question! You ought to get out more! Everyone regardless of category is unique. Prejudice is what you have if you judge someone by knowing which boxes they tick and not actually meeting them!
Arrgh! I'm gonna quietly play my uke now! Thank you!
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by yhaalhouse
Re: Sound or not???
My brother is a rock guitar player in Florida, and has met and jammed with Carlos Santana on many occasions. He tells me Carlos is very humble, kind, and anxious to help new musicians get started.
I, however, don't know anyone you'd call famous.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: Sound or not???
When I was younger I dated Edie Brikell's roomate, Amy. Edie was the New Bohemians singer who married Paul Simon. I used ot go to Edie's shows and she'd come out on the breaks and hang out with me. Made all the fellas completely green with envy.
She was actually a pretty cool girl. One of the best songwriters I ever met in person. I talked to her like she was a regular person, though. Even thought she hadn't yet gotten famous nationally, she was a local celebrity in Dallas and everyone fell all over themselves to get a word with her, so I guess that I was Amy's friend and talked to her like a regular person is why she always came and found me on her set breaks.
I've met alot of famous jazz and blues musicians. They're all great guys. I've hung out with McCoy Tyner and got him telling stories about playing with John Coltrane. I've shot pool with Pharoh Sanders. He's a great guy. He had this big Lincoln Town Car that he drove around in and we'd pile in after the Sunday night jams and go to this all night pool hall he knew. That's why I started playing jazz, actually. I was a teenager and that just seemed like the life to me back then.
I met Albert King at a blues festival in Texas. I played in a band with his cousin Tom "Pops" Carter for years back in Texas. All the old blues men say they are related to BB King or whatever, but when we were walking around the festival and this fella shouted "Hey, Tom! How you doing?" and it was Albert King talking to my friend Pops, well, I was impressed to say the very least. He's a great guy, too.
Our friend Mitch Marine played drums with Tripping Daisy back in the 90s. They were sort of famous.
Come to think of it, I've met lots of famous musicians. Most of them are pretty great guys.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: Sound or not???
I went to University with Fred Penner.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by jigtime
Re: Sound or not???
There was this baseball pitcher Mark "the bird" Fidrych who told me to eff off once.
actually what he said was much worse, what he said was "**** off"
so I replied "you still talk to the ball muther ****er?"
then went back to the bandstand for the next set
talk about a brush with fame, eh?
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: Sound or not???
In my hazy L.A. past, I would on occasion find myself in the near presence of über-famous people from the multiverse of pop entertainment. Here's the analogy:
Say a child goes to the zoo for the first time at age five or so. He/she quickly discovers that real animals are slow, smelly, and dingy compared with the cartoon animals he/she has loved on the big and small screens.
The meerkat and the ocelot were/are exceptions.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by NEW Pure Drop® Ear Canal Oil
Re: Sound or not???
Hah, Nate, I once got run over by RIchie Allen (outfielder with the Phillies). My dad and I were late getting to the stadium (this was back when they stilled played at Connie Mack) and were hurrying through the concession hallway when Allen came busting through a door on his way to the locker room. He'd just struck out on three pitches and was steaming. I was about 10 years old and in the wrong place at the wrong time. He bowled right through me like I wasn't there, cussing and ranting about his at bat. Then he realized what had happened, turned back, tossed me back on my feet, saying "Sorry kid," and stormed off into the locker room.
My dad grew up in Brooklyn. He used to deliver groceries to Dodgers' pitcher Dazzy Vance, who usually gave tickets to the game as a tip.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Miss Lonelyhearts
Re: Sound or not???
What would you be like if you were famous?
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by bowburner
Re: Sound or not???
I once stood next to Tony Benn in a public urinal.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by benhall.1
Re: Sound or not???
that's a great story, Will
My grandpa and my uncle used to go to the old Connie Mack park. My uncle has some color home movies of a game there from 1958. He took half an inning with the Phils batting. I'm too young to have been there myself. It was the Vet for me, and now that's gone too.
bowburner, I've been in bands that were popular locally. It's kinda fun when people you don't know stop you on the street or at the grocery and tell you about how much they liked your show last week or something like that. And how everyone seems to know you whether you've met them before of not. Its very easy to make friends that way.
And Pops, the old bluesman I played with was a local icon. We used to go around together all the time, and it would take Pops half an hour just to leave a bar because every single person between him and the door wanted to say hello and he would always stop and talk with them no matter who they were. Pops was great about that. He was very beloved in that town.
But it could be a problem if you actually had to get somewhere like to your gig or something. Me and Chris called it PGS or "Pops Ground Speed" to measure how long it could take him to travel 20 feet in a crowded room.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Nate Ryan
Re: Sound or not???
I learned to play "The Rights of Man" from Robert Waller, the guy who wrote The Bridges of Madison County. He wasn't famous then, though, so I don't know if it counts.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by IC Keith
Re: Sound or not???
I'd be nice if I was famous.
Shame I'm never going to be famous
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by bowburner
Re: Sound or not???
I met Ann Magnuson and Dave Rick from Bongwater when they played in Portland in 2001 - they needed a practice space and ended up using my brother's studio. I was really charmed by them - just nice people and very fun to talk to. I also got to chit chat with Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard in the lobby of the Space Needle Travelodge in 2003 while they waited for their van to show up. They were really cool too, and not afraid of talking to a couple of dorky fans. I was impressed at how they didn't look the least bit hungover (I know I did)
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by airport
Re: Sound or not???
Andy Warhol said everybody is famous for 15 minutes.
So ss, how are you handling your celebrity status?
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Sound or not???
Tony Benn is a friend of mine. He does not hand around public urinals, at least not when he is with me.
I am waiting for JfiddlerH to post to say he knows me.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: Sound or not???
Ages ago I met Alan Stivell and Davy Spillane at a festival. I liked one of them and disliked the other.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Ramiro
Re: Sound or not???
I am famous but somehow I can't seem to convince people.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Free Reed
Re: Sound or not???
My brother used to go to High School with Rose Byrne (she was in Entourage and Troy with Brad Pitt) she's a nice normal sane person, no pretence...just normal.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by shoddy fiddle player
Re: Sound or not???
"When I was younger, I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific."
Nawp. Fame would suck. Papparazzi stalking you everywhere, crazy rumours circulating about your sex life/diet/drug habits/cosmetic surgeries. Bleh. Anonymity is highly underrated.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Miss Lonelyhearts
Re: Sound or not???
I see photos of celebrities in magazines when waiting to see a doctor or dentist or waiting for my car to be fixed. I don't have a clue who many of them are or why they are famous. I could have met some of them and not known it. Does that count?
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by GaryAMartin
Re: Sound or not???
When I was working at the BBC and was younger and less tactful I set up a recording for an old chap in my studio who introduced himself as Charlie Chester... and then went on to say, "You probably haven't heard of me". To which I replied, "Oh yes I have actually. You used to be a comedian".
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: Sound or not???
I accidentally asked Wendy MacIsaac (not realizing she was WM) if she did other kinds of dancing besides just the Cape Breton - didn't even phase her of course. She's nice as well as talented.
# Posted on August 19th 2008 by airport
Re: Sound or not???
brendan gleeson. great guy, great musician.
# Posted on August 20th 2008 by tradmoosic
Re: Sound or not???
Apparently Brendan Gleeson lived in Sydney for 8 months at the exact time I was in Ireland - I heard he was lovely, they had a great time with him around. It just figures that I'd be away!
# Posted on August 20th 2008 by shoddy fiddle player
Re: Sound or not???
Does Hootie and the Blowfish count ? Well mostly Hootie anyway...Not so much Blowfish...
# Posted on August 20th 2008 by lamh trom
Re: Sound or not???
I took John Williams and his then-partner to a very odd pub in Red Cross in Co. Wicklow one night back around 1990. The drive back to Laragh with no headlights or wipers at the end of the night was interesting. Very nice couple they were. Ran into them again a bit later in Doolin. There, that's my claim to fame, ha ha.
# Posted on August 20th 2008 by bindicat
Re: Sound or not???
Yaalhouse...relax man. You picked up my question so arseways its quite funny. I'm not a complete tool, I fully realise that its as unfair to stereotype 'famous' people as it is any other person.
My question was more specific than a broad generalisation.
When I said "does anyone here know a famous person and if you do.. spill the beans. What are they like?" I didnt mean what are famous people like, I meant what are they (the celebrity in question) like.
# Posted on August 20th 2008 by session savage
Re: Sound or not???
I was talking about lawn maintenance once to a nice old guy in a baseball cap while waiting for a concert to start. When it did, I discovered he was the main attraction, Joe Derrane, a very nice man (and quite knowledgeable about lawnmowers and such, I might add).
# Posted on August 20th 2008 by AlBrown
Re: Sound or not???
I've asked both John Joe Kelly and Dennis Cahill (not at the same time) what they did for a living. They were totally unphased. Very nice guys!
# Posted on August 20th 2008 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Sound or not???
I did a mandolin workshop with the guitarist out of a very well known trad band. There was him (the tutor), a banjo player, and me on the octave mandolin. After a few minutes he said something like '...you'll never be able to play like that...'.
I felt sick to my stomach and just wished that the next 58 minutes would end.
He was a humourless ******.
# Posted on August 20th 2008 by Horrace Bampton-Morris
Re: Sound or not???
Horrace, I had a very similar experiance with a well know sliabh luachra fiddle player, he told me I was "outside the tradition" because I wasn't from Ireland.
# Posted on August 20th 2008 by reaghan
Re: Sound or not???
reaghan
He sounds like another humourless ******.
I hope it wasn't Mat C. He's always been a bit of an unsung hero for me.
I've been working on my poor technique... have you thought about applying for Irish citizenship?
# Posted on August 21st 2008 by Horrace Bampton-Morris
Re: Sound or not???
"know anyone who is a vegetarian lesbian/ black and living in Poland/ muslim/ from Norwich/ in a wheelchair/ who plays euphonium/ drives a 'bus/ eats sausages for a living/ enjoys a good toss/ who has pink hair/ picks their nose/ wears lonf trousers/ drives a car/ goes to Florida for thier holidays/ explores the Antarctic...? " 5 years ago this would have described me perfectly- except for the part about the wheelchair- i can walk just fine- and most people think i'm an alright guy.thanks for asking. anyway,what a preposterous question!! Go to willie week or elkins or someplace,take a lesson with some famous musician and then you can start your own personal precious little Cult of Personality-SHEESH!!!
# Posted on August 27th 2008 by pipewatcher