Put me in the backseat and they took me for a ride..... Yeah the radio was on can't you dig the locomotion?

A very long time ago I was put in the backseat and was taken for a ride. After I ended up quitting Powell High School after a stupid incident of being involved in the egging of the Volkswagen Beetle of the Principal Jim Monroe and more or less being told I would not graduate I ended up having a job as a dishwasher at The Best Western (now a Days  Inn) at the corner of Merchant's Road & Central Ave Pike.

For a restaurant job it was OK but both me & my brother Roy worked there and part of the perks was some of the bartenders there would let us get drunk on nickel beers (if ordered from the restaurant) while the bar was open and if we had to breakdown a banquet room that had a portable beer keg we would pump off a gallon or 2 to enjoy after work!
 At the time I was driving my 2nd car I owned a 1964 Chevy Malibu SS that I would have to start by kick starting by dropping the Powerglide  transmission in low once it built up a little speed. It was a bondo buggy but I still loved it!

                              ( Not the actual car I owned but the same model)
 One of my co-workers who was a cook named Randy & his g/f (I can't remember her name but we will go with "Suzy" to stay with the theme of the blog) and their friend & co-worker nicknamed Fergie (her last name was Ferguson) had decided that since my 18th birthday was coming up they decided that they would celebrate it with me. Little did I know I was going but it would end up at The Knoxville Civic Coliseum four days later I would be taken for a ride in the back seat of Randy's Capri (with the side window busted out)

and taken downtown to the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.......

to see THE AMAZING BLUE  ÖYSTER CULT along with ANGEL & SAMMY HAGAR!

 

Of course it is said that if you can remember the '70's then you wasn't there holds true for most of the evening as I do know I was drinking & smoking that "Evil Weed" (and might have even had some Vitamin A on the side!) but I do remember that Sammy Hagar did have an leg injury that did not stop him from performing (I think that the local promoters had him billed as Montrose but I could be wrong)...... that Angel was all dressed it white and had the pretty hair that Frank Zappa would make famous with his song "Punky's Whips" and they was promoted by Casablanca Records as being the positive image in contrast to the negative image of KISS was portraying.

 I do remember being on the floor for Blue Öyster Cult pretty well much under the big mirror ball hanging in the center of the arena. (of course it was general admission & smoke filled!)

And then the lights went down and through the pa came the following words.....

"HELLO KNOXVILLE! FROM NEW YORK CITY THE AMAZING BLUE ÖYSTER CULT!"

I remember in the 8th grade at Powell Elementary School that one day a fellow classmate Jeff Callahan brought in the first album and was knocked out by the artwork!

And much like the artwork with the stars in the background when the lasers was pointed at the mirrorball the arena was full of green "stars" and when they projected to the back of the coliseum when they criss-crossed they would form cubes in the smoke filled venue! It was not that much different than portrayed in the movie The Stoned Age

So now as I prepare to do a couple of Blue Öyster Cult shows in Nashville & Columbus we both have something in common.....

                                                      "ON THE ROAD FOREVER!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                     

 

 

 

 

Waiting in line....

You have to listen to all the blowhards ramble on about Metallica. Very entertaining!

Crashing in a room full of strangers after seeing Alice In Chains in Milwaukee

I really need to use this page more.... regardless if it is seen or not!

A funny thing happened on the way to Lost and Found Records.....

When I went to pick up a vinyl pressing of Alice Cooper's new album "Welcome 2 My Nightmare" in hopes of having Dick Wagner to sign it on a planned road trip to Michigan (a later blog post will follow) the store owner Maria asked if I want to talk to a reporter about some of my "Tales of the road" and I didn't think it would be a big deal so I said I'll talk to her. I passed on my phone number (or I called her....can't remember which) and a few days later I met Allison Rupp at Panera Bread in West Knoxville and basically shot the shit with her for about an hour I felt it went pretty good but I was also a bit nervous that I may have revealed too much about myself as I did go into some detail about my "Bootlegging" past/present and with my apprehension of being true to myself after Jason left Metallica in 2000 as I did feel like I was being pulled on both sides but it was for naught as Allison did an EXCELLENT job of telling "my story" without putting too much focus on just me.

Below is a link for the article....
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/nov/26/knoxvillians-passionately-follow-their-favorite/

Ticket Stub Collection.....

By no means is this a complete album of my ticket stubs as I am not very organized but it gives you a very good ideal of the many shows I have attended (and in the case of many of the shows after Halloween 1985 also was taped by me too!)...... there will be more to be added as time passes by. At the moment I only have the free account so I do not know what my limitations are as to what is visible to the general public as I can only see the last 200 images. I have no problem with sharing them as long as credit is given when due. I hope to have a companion set in chronological order in the future. As it goes with some shows where I was on "The Guest List" there is no stub to scan as it was sometimes nothing more as a stamp on the back of my hand so the complete list will never be known.

Explore at your own leisure!

Jerry aka "The Govner" 

The Govner's Flickr Account

December 8th.....

How I found out John Lennon was shot.... I was in basement of Doug E's parents house sitting in a circle "gettin' baked" with some other friends and was watching Monday Night Football when this came on....


Howard Cosell announcing John Lennon's death

Fast forward to 2004...... I wake up to find my e-mail box full of messages from my friends wondering if I was OK as if I was living in Ohio more than likely I would have been at this show.....
Dimebag shooting report



I never got to see John Lennon but I have seen Pantera 16 times and taped all of them...... they are posted at DIME

With all the vintage Bon Scott era AC/DC released over the last few years.....

Why haven't there been an "Deluxe" issue of  Powerage released with the original UK raw mix found on the first pressing of the UK version included as bonus tracks (along with the classic September 2nd show from 1977 from the Old Waldorf in San Francisco that was broadcasted over the airwaves) for us old school fans?

09/03/1977 Old Waldorf San Francisco CA setlist

Just sayin'....

33 years ago today.......

Also on the bill..... UFO & The Motors for a mere $4!

My latest obsession......

I have been driven to digitize my old analog bootleg recordings to digital to share over the Internet via bit torrent. Part of it has been from the positive reception that was given to The Dan Lampinski Collection that was recently uploaded over at dimeadozen from a chance meeting of a couple of Boston Yes fans. Not only was the recordings some of the best of the day but it introduced a lot of vintage Rock and Roll to a fan base that was not even born at the time they was made!
 But a bonus for me is to listen to recordings I have not listened to for years (and in some cases decades!) and being able to distribute them as I see fit! I used to be big into the tape trading but after a while it got to be a hassle with dealing with unreliable traders (plus it was very costly & time consuming too!)...... and I was getting pissed off when some of my recordings would be misrepresented or even worst the quality would drop considerably from generation to generation. I also felt like I was letting people down sometimes if I couldn't made a trade because they had nothing I wanted or they wanted too much from me than I was willing to give.
 But with torrent sites like dimeadozen or The Trader's Den it is now a no-brainer as I am in total control of ever step of the process! I can remove glitches, split the tracks perfectly, adjust the balance and increase the levels without unwanted distortion or clipping.

It also gives me something to do while I surf the web.....

Drive By Truckers my brother Roy & my friend Paul...

June 22, 2007 - Friday 

Tonight I went down to the free Thursday night concert that is known as "Sundown In The City" that is held in Market Square in Downtown Knoxville. I have been a fan of DBT since I discovered the double cd "Southern Rock Opera" shortly before they signed with Lost Highway Records and with the line up of Patterson Hood, Mike "Stroker Ace" Cooley, Jason Isabell, Earl Hicks & Brad "EZB" Morgan. After falling in love with this excellent concept album of what it was like to grow up in The South in the 70's when "Arena Rock" was king! I could go on and on about this album but that is not the point of this post. I also discovered the albums that was originally released on the "Soul Dump" lable. A song that hit pretty close to home for me was the song "The Living Bubba" which was originally recorded on the 1998 album "Gangstabilly" and was on the live "Alabama Ass-Wuppin' " cd.
THE LIVING BUBBA
I wake up tired and I wake up pissed
wonder how I ended up like this
I wonder why things happen like they do
but I don't wonder long cuz I got a show to do
I'm sick at my stomach from the A.Z.T.
Broke at my bank cuz that shit ain't free
but I'm here to stay (at least another week or two)
I can't die now cuz I got another show to do
Don't give me no pity don't give me no grief
Wit till I die for sympathy
Just help me with this amp and a guitar or two
I can't die now cuz I got another show to do
Don't give me no preachin' no self servin'
I ain't no angel but nobody's deserving
I can dance on my own grave, Thank You!
but I can't die now cuz I got another show...
Some people keep saying I can't last long
but I got my bands I got my songs,
liquor, beer, and nicotine to help me along
and I'm drunk and stubborn as they come
chain smoking, guitar picking, til I'm gone
I ain't got no political agenda
Ain't got no message for the youth of America
'cept "Wear a rubber and be careful who you screw"
and come see me next Friday cuz I got another show...
Some people stop living long before they die
Work a dead end job just to scrape on by
but I keep living just to bend that note in two
and I can't die now cuz I got another show...

For background info about Gregory Dean Smalley please check out the following link... http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/181%20/the_living_bubba

On September 27th 1999 I lost my younger brother Roy to AIDS. It was a bit of a struggle for him but he kept busy until the end. He bravely face death and through all the pain he tried to keep busy. What little money he did get went for his meds.....my sister Lorraine took care of him & helped with the basic needs (food & cigarettes) and I made his car payment every month. So you see how I relate to the lyrics of "the Living Bubba".....and anytime I hear it performed live I always get choked up and the tear ducts well up.
A very good friend of mine in Detroit by the name of Paul is at this moment is very sick and it is looking grim. Much like my brother & Gregory Dean Smalley he is trying to make for "one more show"...... I was able to make it up to Detroit to see Heaven And Hell, Megadeth & Machine Head @ Cobo Arena with him (see pics). He was able to get his recorder in when I couldn't so he "covered" me when I couldn't even though he must have been in terrible pain and being extremely tired to boot! Paul wants to go and see Marilyn Manson & Slayer next month and I hope he will.....

So...tonight when The Truckers played "Bubba" instead of thinking of my brother I was thinking about Paul's health and I heard the song in a whole new way.

Please God....let him have "another show".......

The Last Hurrah.......

June 30, 2007 - Saturday

As I wait for Heather to pick me up.....I reflect back on the time that has gone by and of what will be missing in the future. Today I will be going up to see my dear friend Paul for what could be the very last time. It is a reunion of sorts........ as Dave is allready up there and I will be riding up with Heather (who flew up from Atlanta to Dayton) & Debbie (who lives in Tipp City,OH) to hang out with him. From what I understand he has taken a turn for the worst so I hope I am able to keep it together while I am there.
 The 5 of us used to follow Metallica around in the Midwest at almost every stop in Ohio, Indiana & Kentucky with many more states added into the mix. It was made easy by the fact that Jason Newsted took "a liking" to us as a group and went out of his way to help when we needed it. Then at the end of 2000 things started to change.......the factory I was working at got bought out & shut down, Heather moved to Florida before settling in Atlanta, Jason left Metallica and in 2001 when I traveled up to Detroit to see The Extreme Steel Tour with Slayer, Pantera & Static-X Paul complained about his teeth hurting him. His dentist suppected it was something else and it turned out to be Luekemia...which untli recently he has managed to keep in check. Now it has gotten into his liver and there isn't much that can be done for him.

So now it appears I am facing my own personal "The Big Chill" moment......and I think how empty life will be without Paul's presence on this earth. Not that I was super close to him but it was always a delight to hang out with him and I will always have fond memories of the shows that only him & I did. But I am a greedy bastard and I want more of them. I hope that today will be a good day for all involved....it will be bittersweet to say the least but it is also a "necessary" thing that must be done before Paul goes off to his next "road trip'......

Just got a call from Dave......

July 16, 2007 - Monday 
Current mood:  sad

Dave talked to Cheryl today and it appears that Paul's vital organs are shutting down. She is having to give him morphine drops to ease the pain and hospice will be bringing in a hospital bed tomorrow. He hasn't eaten anything in 2 days. As it stands right now Dave and I are making plans to go visit him this weekend as we both feel he won't live to see August come. Being as I have been through this before with my father & brother Roy I need to be there to give Dave moral support as him & Paul became very close while Dave was living in Michigan....... and I feel an "obligation" to be there for Paul too as he has been like a brother to me. It will be one of the most depressing roadtrip I will ever have to make but it must be done. Just as I have asked you all to have good thoughts and pray for Paul please don't forget to include his mother Cheryl and keep me & Dave in mind also as we both will be pushed to our breaking point.

 

 I want to thank anybody who has expressed a kind thought as it helps me deal with the helplessness that I had felt with Paul's illness that is not much different than the helplessness I felt with the passing of my own brother back in 1999. I will get through this somehow. I hope that all the rest of Paul's friends will remember the happy times we had together going from one Metallica show to the next for as long as we remember those moments his spirit will never die.

 

Jerry

A change of plans.......

July 18, 2007 - Wednesday 

It looks like I won't be going to Detroit this weekend after all. Dave has to wait until Thursday to pick up his load as somebody has caused a delay so he won't be coming back from Detroit to his home as he will be there already and he wants to spend some time with Paul and not on the road. I haven't decided if this is a good thing or not but will choose to look at it as it being "The way it is suppose to be" and leave it at that.

Update from Dave.....

July 21, 2007 - Saturday 

It's not looking good. After he left last night to "take a break" from what I can only imagine was a "bittersweet" day with many highs & lows Dave got a call from Cheryl because Paul went into a seizure. He is stable now but he has that "long distant stare" that a lot of people get when they know the end is near. Dave is on his way home now but I'm afraid that he has seen Paul for the last time.

 Of course I do not want to see Paul die..... but like it was with my own brother and both of my parents it would be selfish of me to ask him to live one more day with all the pain and suffering he is going through. I am happy that the old "Roadcrew" did manage to get together one last time to be with Paul which happened to be a very good day for him in his current state of health. It was almost like we was back on tour with Metallica before Jason left the band and we all lived within a 4 hour dive of each other!

 Please keep the "happy times" that we had with Paul close to your heart and he will never  "Fade To Black"......

 

 

Jerry

30 years later.......

July 28, 2007 - Saturday 
Current mood:  cheerful

As I was getting prepared to get ready for my trip to see Slayer & Marilyn Manson after getting my DAT out of the pawn shop I stopped to get gas for the trip and take a dump as I was still a bit away from my home and couldn't wait. On my way out I got a Coke Zero and somebody asked me "Are You Jerry Brown?" and I said "Yes" and knew him from a long time ago but didn't make the connection but it was a former co-worker I worked with at The Cracker Barrell when they just opened up the Merchants Road store which was their 12th back in 1977! It was Tony Nowell, who with his brother Tim who introduced me to AC/DC when "High Voltage" was first released in the United States! And for that I am grateful as it has been a major moment in my life that took me down the path I am currently on. After losing a close friend this week it was good to re-connect with somebody I haven't seen in about 30 years! I gave him my info and will see what happens.

Sometimes things happen just to keep everything in prospective...... just as I ran into an old friend I know that in time I will see Paul again in the future when I get off of this bus and get on the next one.

The 1982 World's Fair Knoxville Tennessee!

April 29, 2007 - Sunday 
Current mood:  amused

Yeah....me & my brother bought season passes! I don't remember a lot of it as I spent more time drinking than I did checking out the exhibits & pavilions! I did go the opening day when old Ronald Reagan came into town for Opening Ceremonies....and was staring into a machine gun when I tried to get a view of the motorcade leaving by The Henley Street bridge! The fireworks every night was awesome and they had some cool rides and (at the time) state of the art arcade games too like "Lazer Tag" which was an interactive game. I still have one of the tokens somewhere but I'm sure it isn't worth very much as World's Fair collectibles are more or less worthless!

And my brother Roy also went with me to a few days of drinking "The Beers of The World!"

It was 25 years ago today......

March 18, 2007 - Sunday 
That Randy Rhoads played his last show @ The Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee....the next morning he would be dead. I remember I was staying with my sister at the time and she woke me up about noon and said that "Ozzy Osbourne was killed in a plane crash" and I said "Yeah....and last week The Go-Go's was in a car crash" (which was a popular rumor of the day) but unfortunetly it was Randy that was killed. I was so stunned by this that for years I forgot that UFO was the opening act!
I got the ticket signed by Ozzy in Dayton in 1992....

Some links.....
http://home.flash.net/~ulknatme/
http://www.80srockconcerts.com/?p=12
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=68250

http://www.metropulse.com/news/2008/jan/31/randy-rhoads-you-cant-kill-rock-n-roll/

It was 30 years ago yesterday.....

 November 24, 2007 - Saturday
 Current mood:  nostalgic

..It was 30 years ago on November 23rd 1977 that I saw a concert that changed my life forever.... AC/DC on the "Let There Be Rock" tour! I was turned on the AC/DC when I used to work at the Cracker Barrell on Merchant's Road in Knovxille Tenessee (the spot where the original store was is now an Applebee's since they built a bigger store a block away) by Tim & Tony Nowell who also worked with me and the album "High Voltage" was a new release at the time. A few months later "Let There Be Rock" was released and I can remember being a first day buyer at a store that was called "Records N' Things" which was owned by a couple of hot sisters that we would now call a "MILF" who was well stocked in 8-track tapes!
 Anyway..... when the local newspaper had an ad for a "budget" concert (I think the tickets was like $4 in advance!) at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum for AC/DC UFO & special guests The Motors I had to go! At this time there was very little airplay for any of these bands so I guess that is why the tickets was so cheap. I had known about UFO from a bootleg 8-track that had a couple of the songs from "Force It" (Shoot Shoot & Let It Roll) along with Nugent  (Motorcity Madhouse & Stormtroopin') Jeff Beck (Freeway Jam) and a few other songs I can't remember so I knew I was going to have a good time! I went with some friends I used to hang out with at the time (Steve "Tub" Fine, Linda Annette & Gary Pike) and we had plenty of "libations" (Jack Daniels Redbud & downs) so I was pretty well wasted enough to not walk but straight enough to remember! We went to the back corner of the Coliseum where we could get high without getting hassled (it's not a huge place....maybe 9 to 10 thousand capacity at the most) and chilled during The Motors set until they played the song "Emergency" which got on my nerves!
 The next band up was UFO.... who was touring for the "Light's Out" album. They was billed as a co-headliner so they got to play about the same time that AC/DC did (which I'm assuming was about an hour each.... but you know how time is distorted when you are high!). A great show and Michael Schenker was on fire! Come to find out later that Paul Raymond was arrested that night when Phil got him to play the piano in the lobby of Hyatt Regency (now a Marriot namesake) which was next door! Or so is what Phil Mogg said when I first asked him about that show when I seen them in Milwaukee at the Metalfest during the "Walk On Water" tour!
 By time AC/DC got on stage I had "rubberlegs" so I was stuck where I was sitting. "HOLY SHIT" is what I was thinking after I seen Angus tear up the stage! I had never seen anybody so possessed in my life! He I was and I could hardly move and he could stand still if his life depended on it! Then during the song "Rocker" Bon took Angus around the main floor on his shoulders during his guitar solo! Needless to say that the next 2 tours I would see them in this venue ( 1978 opening for Alice Cooper & 1979 Highway To Hell headlining) I made sure I was on the floor!
 The rest of the night I can't really remember.....but I do remember that during one of my "lost" night of partying that at the  Best Western at Merchant's Road (now a "Days Inn") I do remember being at some kind of party after a concert with a band who wanted some booze after "last call" and I knew a place on Clinton Highway called "Snow White" where you could get liquor anytime you wanted it (as long as you answered "no" to the question "are you a policeman/cop") through a sliding door. I also remember waking up hungover (on the floor naked) in a room with a bar waitress who was with another dude who was passed out. I can only assume it was a band member who may have been with her. At the time I never been laid (at 19 years old) and since my ass wasn't sore I hope that I lost my cherry that night!
 I still wonder if it could have been sharing the same woman with the same band I saw 30 years ago the same night but I will never know. And this is something I have never revealed to anybody. I guess that was just part of growing up in the 70's!

On The "Highway To Hell".......

October 24, 2008 - Friday 

 

I'm making my final preparations to join the "Yellow Route" to see the "surprise" AC/DC show this Sunday night. I can't really afford to do it but with a little luck I will be able to sell a few lps I have on Ebay to help defer the expenses. I look forward to this trip as I have lost the will to do distant shows since my friend Paul passed away last year but both me & Dave are looking forward to roadtripping on the fly again!

Wish me luck getting in the caravan this morning!

Jerry