Poor little "discriminated against" Bo Rice would have had a nervous breakdown if this had been playing when he ordered his food.
Tosser.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-q8Gtr4coM
For I told you I was trouble - a Wild Cherry story
PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC WHITEBOY - OR ELSE. Rock n Roll is not supposed to be life threatening.
A TRUE WILD CHERRY STORY FROM THE TENNESSEE HILLS - just for fun - no SCN meaning involved. This was the Fall when PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC was top of the charts.
I wrote this up for a site where tour production people tell their stories so I share it for your entertainment only. These were some dangerous Whiteboys
Back when I had a Pro Tour Sound & Lighting production company we got a call from a J.Geils Band sound guy & friend who was touring with WILD CHERRY.
He said to expect a visit from a promoter who booked WILD CHERRY and several other bands for an outdoor "Woodstock-like" event near Rogersville TN
7 Weeks later - the evening prior to the event (something we had forgotten) a Lincoln Continental pulled up at our shop - around 5pm and a huge guy steps out and enters.
"I've been told we have to have all this stuff or Wild Cherry will not play".He said as he showed a standard Contact rider: a platform for the sound & light consoles, a couple of spotlight towers and sound wings for speakers. "You've probably come to the only place in 1000 miles that could possibly do this on such short notice." I told him. We had the Charlie Daniels Band truck in our lot and a call got a promise from a friend to stay late so we could load the deck and scaffold.
"This late I have to quote a price of $7,000 - half now and half on arrival at the site prior to set up" I said - half hoping he would balk at the high price and we could go home. The guy pulls a fat roll of bills, counts out $3,500 & signs the contract. We headed out loading gear and made it to the Rogersville exit off I-81 by 9AM in time to meet the guy's brother in law who would lead us to the concert site. After 20 minutes in one of the poorest rural Appalachian counties we hit a dirt road. 8 miles later we pulled up to a small farmhouse at the foot of a nicely sloped hill leading to a ridge top.
Not a bad natural amphitheater I thought until I spied the new stage built at the
TOP OF THE SLOPE. Nuts I thought - who would put the stage up top when the bottom with the audience on the slope is the obvious solution? This was around 10am and some people were putting finishing touches on a roof over the stage 12 feet off the deck - far too low for the lighting trusses.
The "Woodstock-like" event was scheduled for 4 pm this brisk late Oct evening. We only had 5 hours and the promoter with our pay was nowhere in sight so we tried to catch up on a little sleep. Around 1pm - still no promoter - a police car pulled in & I said. "Hey guys. You notice there are no porta potties or other sanitary facilities, no security, and the potential for disaster" ?- The people milling around were drinking moonshine looking more and more menacing since we were not setting up. The cops told me they were the security and not to worry.
3 hours later the promoter showed up with the additional $3,500 even though the time to start was now and almost no one had shown up. We hastily set up the towers and mixing platform 2 hours after the set start of the show featuring a local band followed by Stillwater, Grinderswitch, & Wild Cherry. It was getting dark and the temp was falling so the 30 attendees who had arrived in cars parked in the field as if this was a drive-in movie. We suggested skipping the opening act - a big mistake.
Wild Cherry had been paid $25,000 - Grinderswitch and Stillwater some 5 to 10 grand each - and we had our $7,000. A $50,000 loss for the promoter and his investors. The show went on and the 3 opening acts played.
And then I saw the strangest thing I've ever seen at a rock concert besides the audience in cars.
WILD CHERRY was marching up the hill to the stage followed by a Granny Clampett looking character - holding a shotgun pointed at their backs.
At that point, Wild Cherry's manager, the J. Geils soundman and I approached the 2 police officers on site and we gave them $300 each to stay until we had safely loaded all our gear.
After being forced to play at gunpoint WILD CHERRY was playing every song they ever knew.
Turns out the Grinderswitch manager told the promoter's mother - the Granny Clampett with the shotgun that WILD CHERRY had evidently walked out on a show in W.VA when the promoter failed to provide some of the items on the contract. They loaded up and left the show's promoter high & dry. Here in Rogersville, Wild Cherry had been in the farmhouse - used as a band room with beers and snacks when they walked back out to the bus to dress for the show. When the bus engine started for heat but the granny Clampett thought they were leaving and she got on the bus with the shotgun and threatened to shoot them if they failed to get up that hill and play.
Show ended and we began to frantically load the truck. After finishing with the mixing platform the truck was backing up the hill to the stage and one of our guys was separated from the group. He was then surrounded by 7 or 8 guys from the opening act who were angry over his suggestion to shorten the show. They came after him armed with chains and tire irons - We all backed up onto the stage and grabbed Mic stands with the round iron weighted bases for defense -
THEN A GUNSHOT RANG OUT and the cops we had paid to stay left when the music stopped.
The crew jumped off the stage into 3 vehicles brought to the show by friends and hightailed it toward I-81. AT the Stuckey's by the exit we got on payphones to try to get some help. The younger brother of one of our crew was missing. We had to go back to the concert site. A friend got in contact with the Hwy patrol and a car with two troopers met us and we followed them back to the dirt road at the county line. A county cop car met us with THE SAME GUYS WE HAD PAID THE $300 EACH. From the conversations we overheard, they were related to the troopers and we had no choice but to follow them since the Hwy Patrol would go no further.
At the concert site, the guys who had attacked us were still around drinking moonshine by the bonfire. We fanned out calling for the missing brother and found him intact but shaken. The 2 Wild Cherry equipment guys were sporting black eyes and bloody faces. A rack of electronics lay in pieces by the stage crushed by a truck. We finished loading and helped the other crews when we noticed the cops had left again and the attackers were heading our way.
Back in the vehicles, we headed for the gate with the CDB truck between us and pursuing locals - our truck driver would not allow them to pass on the dirt road. Shots were being fired from their vehicles.
We got away - shaken and subdued - and we dug two or three slugs out of the side of the CDB trailer and the tractor cab. I got a call from Rolling Stone and a write up in the next issue.
Never take $$$ from a WILD CHERRY producer is the only moral I can think to share.
I still have nightmares and have not heard many stories like this even in the wild world of rock n roll shows.
OR GO TO THE HOLE 
