BILL MEETS SAILING
* A funny Bill Hafener story. A couple of years later, Bill jammed with us at Mystery Fez. Thinking back to the Steve Antos night, especially since Bill was/is such a fantastic guitar player, we had high hopes for the jam! And it was great! "We Both Wobble" with a Skel? "It's All Right" with a Skel? "Beating A Dead Mouse"? Puh-leeze! It was like having Frank back...except it was Bill!
So we're rocking the Fez hard and having a good ole time doing it, but at some point, in the middle of the session, Bill groused, "Alright, alright, when are we gonna get to this 'Sailing' I've heard so much about?" "Oooooo! Wooooah! Sailing! Yes, Bill, we will play Sailingl!" We all get settled in, put our makeup on, tune up, get ready for a long one. "But first, I Know Your Name! Then Sailing!" (that's how it worked, you just didn't start "Sailing"! You slipped into it, you found yourself in it, you chose door number three, the road less traveled.....let it be known, LOOB listeners, from 1990 on, every single time we played "I Know Your Name", we always gave each other that look on the last chord, like....well....shall we?..........we'd be locked in that look....until the moment passed us by, and Hubie would go lax, song is over, let's take in the applause......it almost always was a no, had to be the right time and place!
Anyways, so we're there playing this "Sailing" with Bill Hafener, and Ted's slowly rocking back and forth, and Lawrence's head is bowed over the keys like a monk, his eyes are shut, and I'm all....whatever....emoting on the drums........"Sailing" is in the room....... Hubie's chords are carrying us along.... at first, we're on eggshells, delicate, fragile....until the mood is just right....then we relax into it, and all is tranquil, a whisper in the wind, we are in in that special space, we are at peace, a glowing kernel of serenity, fetal, calm, the slings and arrows of life far away, though the music retains a slight touch of melancholy and sadness...we're in the middle of something deep.....deep.....and going deeper..... and deeper still.....
...so after about 15 minutes of this shit, Bill has had enough, he just starts wailing out, ripping stabbing, distorted blues licks all over poor "Sailing", waking everyone out of their stupor, everyone's heads jerking around like pigeons, "whaa...whaa....what's goin' on?" Bill grinning sideways, "Sailing" is lying there bloody on the floor, oh, 'twas a sorry sight, dear friends, a sorry sight!
Touché, Bill!! Hey....I get it! Damned if he was going to play a fucking open G chord all night! "This is what I think of your little 'Sailing'!" (fart).
I wonder if we ever even got to the last verse!
(Ted still plays with Bill in Cowpatch! Sounding great, guys!)
(Ted still plays with Bill in Cowpatch! Sounding great, guys!)
