Have you ever met a rock star?
And sorry, no, running into the dedicated “tailgates and substitutes” staff does not count.
When I talk about meeting a rock star, I’m looking for stories about chance encounters, random meetings, and even organized events that resulted in good tales to tell. I know there are stories out there, because I’ve heard them from you. I’m thinking of a certain someone whose dad ran into Prince at the height of “Purple Rain” fame when he made a quick stop at a Minneapolis convenience story, full entourage in tow.
Entire books have been written about encounters with rock stars. One of my favorites, “Encounters with Bob Dylan,” collects first-person accounts of running into the always enigmatic Dylan. He, perhaps more than anyone, seems to leave people with funny, odd or just plain bizarre tales to tell.
Recently Dylan fan Mikel Kelly passed along this anecdote in a story he wrote about his desire NOT to run into Dylan:
A co-worker of mine spotted him at the airport years ago and did not hesitate to greet him.
“Mr.Dylan, I really enjoy your music,” she said.
“Oh, yeah?” he countered. “Name three of my songs.”
She got so flustered she couldn’t think of any and he left her there flabbergasted and embarrassed.
Similarly, I remember a story written for the University of Nebraska-Omaha student paper back in the 1990s when Dylan was playing there. Two students said they saw Dylan walking out of the local Fuddruckers and approached him.
“You’re Bob Dylan,” one of them said. Dylan, whose hands were in his coat because it was winter, said nothing. “Can I shake your hand?” the young fan asked.
“No,” Dylan replied.
“Why not?” the student asked.
“Because my hands are in my pockets,” Dylan said.
One summer I worked at the Three Penny theater in Lincoln Park in Chicago. It was right next door to Lounge Ax. I never saw any rock stars, but a woman I worked with told me about the homeless man, wearing a hooded sweatshirt in the middle of a hot summer, who came to see the 1992 John Mellencamp movie “Falling from Grace.” Ever heard of it? Don’t feel bad. No one has.
The homeless man bought his ticket and sat down inside the nearly empty theater. A large man who was with him also bought a ticket, but stood in the back the entire time. When the movie was over, they left together. The ticket seller was perplexed until someone ran up to her as the odd couple crossed the street: “Do you know who that was? It’s Bob Dylan!”
Unfortunately, I have no Dylan encounter story to tell. I have been lucky enough to interview several people close to him, including Roger McGuinn, the drummer from his famous 1966 tour Mickey Jones and the Band lead songwriter and rock icon Robbie Robertson. I got the chance to ask Robertson if he recalled the infamous show where a fan, angry at Dylan breaking with his folk roots by “selling out” and playing electric guitar, shouted “Judas!” from the crowd. Robertson had no idea what I was talking about. More about that show in a future post.
There is no other performer I would like to meet more than Dylan. I’ve tried many times over the years, but I’ve found the closer you come to him the weirder it gets. For years, whenever I would seek an interview, the process was to type out three questions, fax them to Dylan’s publicist Elliot Mintz, and await a response. Each time, after about a week, Mintz told me the same thing: “Mr. Dylan has reviewed your questions. He will decline the interview request.”
As a side note, those unfamiliar with Mintz should check out the website he just created that includes hundreds of hours of interviews of rock stars over the years including Dylan, John Lennon and more. Just make sure to skip the overly long and somewhat creepy intro video:
While Dylan remains out of reach, I have had the chance to interview many rock stars over my career and have met a handful in person. I was lucky enough to interview Pete Seeger by phone twice. The first time I called, I had to wait for him to get on the line because he was out in the barn fixing a washing machine. How perfect is that? Even though he was 89 at the time, Seeger sang songs, told stories and was a great interview.
Probably the most entertaining rock star interview I did was with Kid Rock. Harley-Davidson set it up to announce he would be headlining the motorcycle maker’s 110th anniversary concert in Milwaukee. The PR people arranged a time for me to talk with him and indicated that someone would be calling to connect me with Mr. Rock. Sure enough, right on schedule, my phone rang. Caller ID showed it was a Michigan 248 area code. I answered the phone.
“Hi. This is Kid Rock.”
He was calling me from his home phone.
Rock went on to tell hilarious, profanity laced stories about the last time he played the Harley show and how the crowd turned ugly when the surprise headliner turned out to be Elton John, not Bob Seeger or Aerosmith as Rock said many of the fans had told him between sets they were hoping for.
“I’m friends with Elton. I was at his wedding. I love him, this, that and the other. But not for fucking Harley Davidson’s 100th anniversary!” Rock said.
But enough about me, now I want to hear from all of you. I know there are more close encounters stories out there beyond the one about Prince. I’ve heard you tell them! Now is the time to share.
tailgates and substitutes 