Two Louie Article

[L. Bird]

Repost from alt.music.who:

http://www.twolouiesmagazine.com/

As the World Turntables
by Buck Munger


DON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN


October 10th, The Who in Portland. I met the Who in 1967. They were
brand-new to America and I was along to maintain their Sunn amplifiers
built by Portland musician Norm Sundholm, the bass player of the
Kingsmen.


We all hit it off well. As a drummer I bonded with Keith Moon and his
best friend, bassist John Entwistle. They had just cashed their first
big check and bought a Bentley together in the UK. They installed giant
speakers in the grille and enjoyed riding around London in the wee
hours to pull up behind unsuspecting motorists and blast them with
"God Save The Queen."


They liked my E Type Jaguar. I was right out of the Marine Corps and
two years with the Phoenix PD. I left the cops for Hollywood to play in
Buzz Clifford's band. A guy named Gary Busey replaced me years later,
but that's another story.


John Entwistle became the foremost worldwide proponent of Sunn
technology and visited Portland often. In the 70's he played Alembic
basses that were distributed exclusively by L. D.  Heater in Beaverton,
which gave him another reason to visit. A couple of years ago he snuck
into town and rented the Roseland for two weeks to put together an act
with Nancy Wilson and Todd Rundgren. He frequently bunked at the Two
Louies mansion. John always brought his bass and found his way to some
club to sit in. One night, he walked in on the newbie Dan Reed Network
at the Last Hurrah and climbed up on the stage to play. New tapes of
that performance have surfaced recently, and are headed for YouTube
soon.


Lots of Portland musicians have great Who stories.


In the 70's, when the Who were touring in support of Quadrophenia
Portland keyboardist Gregg Perry and I were traveling with the band for
Gibson and Moog. I was rekindling my relationship with the lads from
years earlier, and nobody was happier to see me than tour manager Bobby
Pridden. When I originally met the band he was the only roadie,
"Plum" Pridden was a Cockney street kid singularly responsible for
getting all the gear to the stage, set up, broke down and on to the
next venue. In the Sunn days he welcomed my help schlepping the gear
and flashing my company credit cards at the bar.


By the time Gregg and I caught up with Plum in '75 he had become an
icon of the band, now onstage with the lads, in headphones, twisting
knobs and cueing the intros.


At the beginning of the tour, in recognition of his new status with the
group, Pete Townshend presented Pridden with a black tee shirt with the
words "Arfur Brain" emblazoned across the front. Bobby wore it for
every performance. Backstage visitors wondered. A new band? Another
rock opera?


"Half A Brain" in Cockneyspeak...


Realizing this shirt could be a significant piece of rock-n-roll
history, backstage at Winterland in San Francisco, we secured it with a
trade for a MiniMoog.


THE REST OF THE STORY... Gregg Perry sez..."So I wore "Arfur
Brain" for a while at Wrinkle shows and eventually traded it to
Patrick O'Hearn (bass) with the guarantee that he would wear it on
'Saturday Night Live.' He was playing with Frank Zappa at the time,
during the 'Sheik Yerbooti' era with Terry Bozzio (drums) and Dale
Bozzio (vocals). Patrick, Terry and Dale went on to form Missing
Persons. And the 'Arfur Brain' tee was worn all over the world."


Gregg Perry went on to play keyboards with Johnny & The Distractions.
They recorded two albums for A&M Records.


As fate would have it, Bobby Pridden married into the English
aristocracy, levels above the social strata of his mates in the band.
Nowadays he wears a long frock coat and runs the crew like Fagin with
his boys.


When Keith Moon died, that was the end of the Who.


That's what John Entwistle thought. He said it in public and private.
When Entwistle died and Pete Townshend took the band out the next day
with a replacement bass-player that was it for me.


October 10th, I might however, have to have a beer with Lord Arfur
Brain.