I was in NYC once for a gig and had to catch a cab from Trump Tower to the airport in Newark. (Fortunately, the band paid for THAT.)
My cabdriver was a man named William Yon. William had worked for years as the Back Door Man at the world famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, and when he found out I was a musician from Georgia, he asked me “You ever heard of Otis Redding?”
Shyeah.
William had not only known Otis Redding, but had seen his debut at the Apollo, along with shows by James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Joe Tex, Gladys Knight, and hundreds of other performers. He told me stories all the way to the airport. I wrote his number down somewhere. I need to dig it out and see if he’s ready to write a book!
Anyway… as I was getting out of the car, he said “Otis could sing, yessir. But oh MAN, was he a terrible dancer!!” He drove off laughing.
I had forgotten about that until TRex posted this film at firedoglake last night:
Great singer, yes! fantastic performer, absolutely… terrible dancer…. well… yeah, kinda….
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