How he got past our security I do not know, but we told him to get straight out. He was dressed in silk pyjamas, had huge shades on and was trying to high-five everyone. Here we were in our dressing room before that gig, when in walked this clown. It seemed quite good, very Zeppelin-esque, so we agreed. We checked them out, and they had a song on the radio called Dream On at the time.
But my view was excellent – fantastic legs!īTO were due to play a show in Boston and the local promoter asked if we’d mind having a young band called Aerosmith open for us. I was watching the show on a raised platform, and Tina got changed at the side of the stage, while the Ikettes held up a blanket round her. I also saw Tina Turner naked, but that was by accident. What could I do but rush straight to my room and relieve myself! As I stood there, she wriggled out of her costume, stood there for a second and then said: “This is what you wanna see!” and promptly turned round right to face me – I got a major eyeful of her nude. When she finished her stint, Eartha asked me to repeat the process. So, there I was, holding up a coat while this beautiful woman got naked. So, she collared me and asked if I’d hold up a coat round her while she changed into her stage gear. Eartha Kitt was appearing, and the dressing room facilities were poor.
I did a telethon in Toronto – one of those marathon TV charity experiences. We’d check into a hotel and find out The Who were there, so we’d call up one of the guys at 3am and when they answered we would say: ‘Bugger off!’ then hang up. And that phrase ‘bugger off’ was our in-joke. The two bands actually became great friends. So, change your name, it’s confusing people.” Pete Townshend looked at us and replied: “There’s The Yardbirds and The Byrds. They were being filmed for German TV at that show, so we had to wait around for about four hours.Įventually, we get to meet them and say: “Look, we were here before you. So, we were in London and The Who were playing at The Marquee club. When I was in The Guess Who, we found out about this English band called The Who and were determined to force them to change their name. It had the letters ‘TCB’, with a lightning flash through it. This was the man who changed my life! But when Elvis died, one of his entourage gave me a solid gold pendant that he always wore. I was devastated when I found out what had happened. So off they went to meet the man.įirst thing he said was: “Where’s Randy Bachman, the guy who wrote that song?” They said: “Er, he didn’t wanna come along”. Well, the rest of the band were told about the meeting, but things were so bad between us that they never told me. Elvis heard it on the radio and liked it so much he adopted it as his anthem.Īnyway, when BTO were falling apart, we were offered the chance to meet Elvis. Years later, I wrote the song Takin’ Care Of Business for BTO. It was thanks to seeing Elvis doing Tutti Frutti on TV that I gave up the classical violin and took up rock’n’roll.
I never got to meet him, but that’s a story in itself. They always thought I was lying!” Elvis Presley “At last I can prove to my grandchildren that I was on the same bill as all those great bands. He was just so grateful, because as I said there’s no recorded evidence that it ever happened. I met Bo Diddley just before he died in 2008, and I went up to him and said: ‘Mr McDaniel – his real name is Elias McDaniel, and it seemed a bit odd to be calling him Mr Diddley – do you remember playing the Seattle Pop Festival? Well, I’ve got a handbill from it that I’d like to give you’. There were also no posters, only a few handbills. Now, nobody ever filmed or recorded the festival, which might sound amazing, but it was true. Everyone was on the bill: Led Zeppelin, Ike & Tina Turner, The Doors, The Byrds. In 1969, The Guess Who played at a three-day event called the Seattle Pop Festival.