Buddy Cage comments on the Jack Greene/Opry fracas

[JB Arnold]

Buddy saw this thread and asked me to post this. (BC is a HUGE trad country fan, and has Jack Greene at the top of his favorites list. One of the few things I have over Cage is that I saw Jack at the ISGC 3 years ago, and he didn't, and he's still jealous.)

Here's his take..


Hey John! You might pass this on to the Forumites. Steiner knows.
I was about 17 years old and had already heard a devastating amount of Tx. Trb. recordings - I had driven Ron Sr. into the old Andrew Jackson w/a deck of new steels for the DJ convention; Weldon's, E's and one or two other's. The trip from Burlington, NC was one thing, high on speed - but the brain freeze was compounded by the fact that Ronald and I had stayed up for a week getting these steels in shape for delivery.
I needed a drink. In 1963 they would serve you as long as you weren’t wearing short pants. So, I headed for a hospitality room. I ran into one guy who said there was a HR down the hall and a.a.m.o.f. it was the Decca room and the TT’s were dong a performance. Now, I REALLY needed a drink! I rocketed to the room 2 hours ahead of their downbeat, commenced to slake my thirst & get a real close seat to the stage. In comes this guy, walks on the stage and starts setting up a trap set. He’s wearing TT Nudie duds (tall s.o.b. I’m thinkin’- I’m a short s.o.b. incidentally) Then, I get it..it’s Jack Goddamned Greene!!!!!! Wow. [The Last Letter!!!] Oh man!I'm dyin'!!!!!!
He sees me sitting down there and says, "Hey kid!" My bennied brain snapped in half. Me: uh-huh??? He says, "Here, hold this for a minute will ya?" His freakin’ hat! So, I stumble up and take the 10g (LV roll, btw), sit back down and place the treasure carefully in my lap. I’m tripping my brains out with this hat and I look down into the crown and it has this label - The hell this is yours! This hat is made expressly for Jack Greene.
He’s tightening his snare head, looks down at me, sees the look on my face and breaks up - the biggest smile you can imagine!!! Don’t you know, he knew what that moment meant to a little kid like me?! We both started laughing - he said, "Come to see the steel player?"
Just a little kindness to a weird little kid. Not much to some but it meant the world to me. Thanks for all the moments, Jack Greene!! You & Jones ARE the best singers in country music!
Peace & Love
Buddy Cage
East Village, NYC
8/19/02 5:28:45 PM

There you have it.

JB


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"All in all, looking back, I'd have to say the best advice anyone ever gave me was 'Hands Up, Don't Move!"
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