Legendary Texas Blues Drummer Dies at 62
B.B King once exclaimed, “Man, I can set my watch to your time!”
I heard this sad news this morning. I actually knew Uncle John. I met him when I was tour managing a band that he was drumming with. He was a real character – and he always said himself his real claim to fame was throwing Stevie Ray Vaughan out of his band. It seems Stevie liked to drink when he was starting out, so Uncle John told him to clean himself up and come back after that if he still wanted the gig. I guess Stevie did alright for himself, even without Uncle John’s help.
Uncle John played with Johnny Winter in Woodstock and if you have the newer version of that concert on DVD (where they included Johnny Winter) that’s Uncle John on drums.
Obviously he had a million stories to tell and he was a great storyteller. He loved the road and he used to ride ‘shotgun’ as he called it (passenger seat) when I was driving them but he was quick to take over when necessary. He’d been to Europe many, many times so was perfectly at home over here.
He was also quick to size you up as a person. I suppose years on the road will do that to you. I got along well with him. There was no bulls*** about him and he didn’t appreciate it in others.
He was funny, gracious and a real road warrior! The music business will certainly miss him, as will his many friends.