The Night GG Allin Came to Town

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

So who's going to be there Friday night? Saturday night? I'll be there tonight!

We were bored, there was nothing going on.
Might as well stay at home and drink until we pass out again.
Then drink some more when the morning comes.
Memphis was sinking into the Mississippi.
We were doing our best just to ride it down.
Till the night G.G. Allin came to town.
"Honey, I dont believe this,"
the old man at Ferguson's Cafe kept saying to his wife.
As he read aloud The Memphis Star and their account of what went down that night
"It says He took a shit on the stage and started throwing it into the crowd.
But He was gone before the cops could come and shut him down."
Gone before the shit came down.
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town.
The Night G.C. Allin Came to Town.
Antenna Club, Memphis, 1991.
Punk Rockers Paid $12.00 to be Shit On!
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town
"It says He took the microphone and shoved it up his ass!"
The old man and his wife were aghast
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town.
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town.

[Mr.Whippy]

Me.  Both nights!

[chaz]

I saw a GG concert once and am glad I got to see it.  If you're a fan of the absurd it was a hilarious experience.

He was icky though.  A friend of mine got into a fist fight with him during the set.  A total laugh riot.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

My college roommate in 1988-1989 used to pore through phone books to find the listed phone numbers of semi-obscure punk rock figures. He'd then call them, pretend he was a writer for a fanzine, and conduct a mock interview with them. I'd be laughing my ass off on the other side of the room. I'm not sure how my roommate always managed to keep a straight face.

One of the people I do remember him talking to was GG Allin. I wish I could remember the content of the conversation, but all I remember is my roommate mentioning a show that GG had done at the QE2 Club in Albany, NY and GG commenting that yes indeed, he did remember that show, and that he liked the club. I emailed my roommate, who seems to have a much better long term memory than me, to get some details.

Needless to say, neither of us had a girlfriend at the time.

[HoyaSaxa03]

saturday.  my liver couldn't take back-to-back nights of DBT.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Drama at last night's show in Charleston...

I think Company I Keep was the second or third song Patterson sang. Toward the end of the song, he kinda stopped for a few seconds , guitar in hand (which I thought was just for dramatic pause or whatever) but then I could see his eyes kinda rolling back and then he just went down. He didn't fall forward or anything, just collapsed down to the floor. He didn't fall too hard, but it definately scared everybody for a few seconds. Damon immediately came out and Shonna went over to check on him. Everybody kept playing and Patterson just looked real confused for a few seconds and picked right back up with "Sometimes I DEFINATELY feel like SHIT!", kinda just strumming on his guitar sitting on the floor. I don't think he was drunk. He even said at the beginning of the show something like "Yall don't be mad if I just fall out up here. I've been sick for three weeks and haven't even been drinking because I've been so sick". Something like that. I felt soooo sorry for him. After he fell out, he was sitting in his chair and he kept apologizing and said "I'm gonna sit here and rest for awhile so I can give yall a kick ass encore. This is gonna be like a Dirt Underneath show for me" Cooley went up to him afterwards and probably asked if he needed to stop the show. Patterson just shook his head, smiled and said "No, I'm alright". He wasn't able to give us his encore, so Cooley rocked it out for us. He did sing several more songs sitting down and had a smile on his face for most of the show. It was definatley scary for a few minutes and I think it says a lot that he finished the show for us.

[HoyaSaxa03]

i kind of wrote off "A Blessing and a Curse"... listened to it twice today, and while it's still not my favorite, i'm coming around on it

am i right in assuming that DBT no longer plays any cooley songs?

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Iknow y'all wanted to hear more of this story...


As for my conversation with GG Allin, I can recall quite a few scattered lines, from my initially yelling, "I love you GG!" to his picking up the phone and yelling back, "I love you, too, motherfucker".  He had just played QE2 and talked on about how the local Albany band "The Neighborhoods" sucked and how he and his friends had stuck their hands up women's dresses at the club.  At that time, he was also advertising imminent plans to commit suicide on stage somewhere in NYC ("No doubt in my mind, I'm gonna do it!"), adding that he would do it in central park if he couldn't get booked elsewhere.  I also identified myself as his "number one fan" (not true, to this day I have yet to listen to any of his songs), to which he replied, "Huh?  I have one?".  All in all, he seemed like a down-to-earth guy, albeit mentally ill.  The only other punk personage I spoke with was Dennis Danell of Social Distortion.

My college roommate in 1988-1989 used to pore through phone books to find the listed phone numbers of semi-obscure punk rock figures. He'd then call them, pretend he was a writer for a fanzine, and conduct a mock interview with them. I'd be laughing my ass off on the other side of the room. I'm not sure how my roommate always managed to keep a straight face.

One of the people I do remember him talking to was GG Allin. I wish I could remember the content of the conversation, but all I remember is my roommate mentioning a show that GG had done at the QE2 Club in Albany, NY and GG commenting that yes indeed, he did remember that show, and that he liked the club. I emailed my roommate, who seems to have a much better long term memory than me, to get some details.

Needless to say, neither of us had a girlfriend at the time.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

If by "Cooley", you mean "Isbell", then you would be correct.

I think popmatters hit the nail on the head with this one:

I mean, this was the dude who had written ?Outfit? and ?Danko/Manuel? and ?Goddamn Lonely Love? and ?Decoration Day? and ?The Day John Henry Died? and ?Easy on Yourself? and? Oh, yeah, right. He wrote ?Easy on Yourself.? The single worst song on any Drive-By Truckers record since about 2001, this inert arena rock boredom-fest was probably the biggest reason for the general disdain fans felt for A Blessing and a Curse, Isbell?s final album with the band. I guess, in retrospect, this was Isbell?s resignation? His signal to the band about the direction he was headed?away from those sirens, out of the ditch, and back into the middle of the road?

i kind of wrote off "A Blessing and a Curse"... listened to it twice today, and while it's still not my favorite, i'm coming around on it

am i right in assuming that DBT no longer plays any cooley songs?

[HoyaSaxa03]

hah, please confiscate my laminated drive-by truckers fan club card

If by "Cooley", you mean "Isbell", then you would be correct.

[walkonby]

i love bloodkin, but have never listened to dbt before.  going sat, and i hope i enjoi the band.  i will give them a chance and stay the whole set.  i can't wait to see all these large hairy guys that someone on here said mainly makes up their crowd.   

hey, what happened to julian?  maybe his homeless neighbor got him?

[azaghal1981]

I planned to go tonight but am still recovering from my and Joe's long night in NYC last night. Tomorrow for me.

[Vas Deferens]

hell no, Charlie ain't happy....~~~

[britton]

how the hell are they gonna have a DBT show without Patterson?  at this point I wish I was going for the sheer curiosity...

[SPARX]

Drama at last night's show in Charleston...

I think Company I Keep was the second or third song Patterson sang. Toward the end of the song, he kinda stopped for a few seconds , guitar in hand (which I thought was just for dramatic pause or whatever) but then I could see his eyes kinda rolling back and then he just went down. He didn't fall forward or anything, just collapsed down to the floor. He didn't fall too hard, but it definately scared everybody for a few seconds. Damon immediately came out and Shonna went over to check on him. Everybody kept playing and Patterson just looked real confused for a few seconds and picked right back up with "Sometimes I DEFINATELY feel like SHIT!", kinda just strumming on his guitar sitting on the floor. I don't think he was drunk. He even said at the beginning of the show something like "Yall don't be mad if I just fall out up here. I've been sick for three weeks and haven't even been drinking because I've been so sick". Something like that. I felt soooo sorry for him. After he fell out, he was sitting in his chair and he kept apologizing and said "I'm gonna sit here and rest for awhile so I can give yall a kick ass encore. This is gonna be like a Dirt Underneath show for me" Cooley went up to him afterwards and probably asked if he needed to stop the show. Patterson just shook his head, smiled and said "No, I'm alright". He wasn't able to give us his encore, so Cooley rocked it out for us. He did sing several more songs sitting down and had a smile on his face for most of the show. It was definatley scary for a few minutes and I think it says a lot that he finished the show for us.

3 weeks. Is there a more serious health problem than they're letting on?
I sure hope not but that sounds odd to me.