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You Can’t Always Get What You Want

By Troy Michael
March 4, 2011 – 3:55 pmNo Comment | 21 views

Last night I had a dream I got a gig as one of the Rolling Stones backup muscians. I would stand next to the back up singers strumming guitar chords. Our first gig was in a very small, very dank basement club. It must have been the 1970s because of the clothes people were wearing and Keith Richards looked somewhat life like.

My first gig, I was so excited and nervous as I saw Mick Jagger pull up in a shitty AMC Pacer with a couple of girls. He was bitching about the heat not working then walked right past me and Keith, who was very nice to me. The show started and it was almost like a church gather as Mick went up and down the room of people while I stood in the back trying not to screw up the chords of “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up.”

During the intermissionw, I sat aroud just taking it all in when Keith and Ronnie Wood came up and talked me about guitars. I showed them the beat up clunker I was playing and Keith said “try this, it will sound better,” and he gave me one of his Gibson Studio Les Pauls. It was beautiful and sounded great.

As we closed the next set, B.B. King showed up and jammed with us on a blues song. I just couldn’t believe what was happening. After the show I didn’t even have to load up my gear, some grizzley grey haired roadie did it for me.

Backstage, which was tiny and dirty, I started feeling sick and I threw up this brown watery bile and Keith comes in and says in his thick mumbled English accent that not to worry I must have gotten some bad drugs. WHAT? I didn’t’ know I took drugs! Someone must have slipped it in my drink. I laid there, on the concrete floor next to a pool of vomit as all these people came in and out.

I finally wake up and I hear these guys talking about how great Soul Asylum is. Did I pass out for a decade? I casually mention that Dave Pirner was one of the nicest guys I ever got to interview. As I turn around I see a row of guitars all over the place and see some kids talking with…Dave Pirner!

I introduce myself to Dave, he doesn’t remember me, and he asks me if I can give him a ride to the guitar store - he needed to get some strings. So me and Dave pile into Mick’s beat up AMC Pacer (with no heat) and head to the guitar store. There we look around and Dave picks out a guitar and buys it just out of the blue. As we look around he also buys a bunch of CDs and DVDs for some reason. I’m looking at the gutiars and Dave asks me if I want anything. I tell him no. But he insists on buying me a guitar for driving him to the store. I look around and they have 1980s Kramer guitars (think George Lynch style) and I told Dave I’d like one of those, and he laughs and says in his baritone voice “NO.” He goes over and grabs a Fender Telecaster Thinline model just like he plays and says, “this will due just fine” and buys it for me.

End of dream.