A Stray Cat Struts by Slim Jim Phantom Read Free Book Online

he had witnessed and got a lot of insider answers. He knew I was genuinely interested. He was honest, and I related to his man-in-the-band point of view. Like me, he was an equal member of a famous band that had a very strong front man. I had the feeling that we shared the belief that we loved our lead singers and were happy that they were there but didn’t really want to talk about them too much. We all sat in the van and shared bad road food, and once you’ve seen a guy naked enough times, it’s hard to take him too seriously. In New York, we’d say, “What am I, chopped liver?” I’m sure there is an English equivalent. I’m sure the singers all have their own opinions on us, the humble rhythm sections. It’s all part of the dynamic that makes for a good rock-and-roll band. Bill was always careful not to bad-mouth anyone and just answered the questions honestly. I still adhere to that myself; I try to never say anything disparaging about my band members to outsiders.
    I was honored to play drums on the B side of Bill’s solo hit single “Je Suis un Rock Star,” a track called “Rio de Janeiro.” It was another one of those moments when I thought it was all a bit unreal. I was in Massapequa six months earlier, and now I was in the studio recording with one of the Stones. During the dinner break at the session, Bill took the engineers, guitar player, and me to a nice French restaurant. He was a kind of gourmet rocker and ordered food and wine for everyone. A few people joined, and it was always a cool little gang around any of the Stones.
    I was the youngest one there, wearing my usual outfit from those days of sleeveless T-shirt, black boots with chains around them, leather jacket, and bandana around my neck. No one ever suggested wearing a tie or batted an eye, even in a chichi place. As with a lot of things, I’d be more conscious of these types of things now. The idea of being in a fancy restaurant with the sleeves cut off my shirt is a little horrifying, but in that moment I never thought of it once. However, my upbringing in Irish-Catholic New York had provided me with excellent table manners. We were never wealthy or went to many restaurants, but my mother and nana had really stressed proper etiquette. Even if it had been learned by a jab under the table or a stabbed elbow, I was prepared for this. I may have looked a little wacky, but I was very polite and knew which fork to use for the salad and which spoon for the soup, but when the appetizers came, I had no idea of what to do with an artichoke. Bill sensed my mild panic and embarrassment. He slowly peeled off a leaf, dipped it in the sauce, and ate the bottom of the leaf. I followed his lead, and although I thought it was a lot of work for a little payoff, I really liked it. When it came to the heart, I watched again and quickly mastered the art of the artichoke. Still to this day, it’s one of my favorite things to order at a restaurant, and I have Bill to thank. Like Mick in the office with the coke, Bill never let on that he knew, never busted me. It’s a very admirable quality in someone. We went back to the studio, finished off the track, and had a good session. I’ve got my name on the record sleeve of a track by one of the Stones. One more crazy accomplishment that I never counted on.

 
    4
    LA to Tokyo
    I don’t know if Mick and Keith would have been able to produce the Stray Cats record as had been discussed. It seemed hard for the two of them to get to the same place at the same time, and the whole thing was moving very slowly. We eventually signed with Arista Records with Dave Edmunds producing. Dave was a well-respected singer and guitar player who had a big worldwide hit with “I Hear You Knocking.” He produced and played all the instruments on his own records. He was in Rockpile with Nick Lowe. He was maybe better known in Europe but had a cool cult status