Re: heartbreaker's in buffalo
Posted by:
bassplayer617
()
Date: January 28, 2005 04:32
kahoosier, here is a point in which you and I can agree to disagree. Ronnie, as near I can tell, is a guy who holds the notion that everyone should get along all the time (much as I think), and especially in a band (or other work) situation. Needless to say, it's an idealistic, if not naive, point of view. However, I can readily identify with it, having played in bands for years, and now in an office environment. You become the mediator, and this creates its own stresses.
Steve, I'm in one of those situations right now, as lead worker and essentially second in command in my work unit. The job is really tough now, as some people have left and their positions are not going to be filled. The remainder have to take up the slack.
Ronnie was put in a similar position in 1975--his initial spot was as a fill-in, and even after he quit the Faces, and this uncertainty stuck with him until the 1994 Voodoo Lounge tour, as others have stated.
He didn't have the protection of a Civil Service Agency, as I do. Despite the protections offered by the Musicians' Unions in various countries, Ronnie's job was for years unsecured.
I don't know about you, Steve, as an MD, but for a guy whose living depended upon playing music, the pressure had to be simply overwhelming, and I do not blame him for reacting by taking comfort in substances. How would the world accept him as another ex-member of the Stones if he had decided to quit the band during the hiatus of the mid-80s, especially as he was not officially a Stone in Mick or Keith's eyes? He had no leverage--none--so he, by being a nice guy, was stuck in limbo for several years, until the 1989 tour. He DID work, and I saw him in 1985 in a Pittsburgh club, playing with Bo Diddley's band, but he was just going thru the motions, even during his solo spot. I managed to catch his eye once, and his expression was blank--no smile, no acknowledgement whatsoever. He was not happy with doing this--it was just a fill-in.
No, I don't blame Ronnie for his bad habits--his alleged friends manipulated him and he got stuck in the middle of the fight between Mick & Keith.