Fact #32586
When:
Short story:
Full article:
John Steel [The Animals] : Eric (Burdon) had introduced us to John Lee Hooker's stuff. 'He was a real hero to Eric. And he was a lovely fella. But he had this terrible stammer - never when he sang, but he could barely speak. It amazed me that he could sing and play like that when he was practically crippled in his ordinary speech.
I remember much later we went to see a gig he did in London. By this time we were doing well and he was backed by Tony McPhee and The Groundhogs. So we just met him for a drink after the show. The waitress wanted his autograph and she gave him a little book of bill stubs to write on. He got flustered and he started to write, and it was obvious that he'd been taught at some time to write his name. But his name was all he could write and if he got in a state, he couldn't even manage that. Well, he kept getting his signature wrong and he'd tear off sheet after sheet. Soon there was a whole mound of them on the table. We were saying, 'Don't worry, man, just give it back to her ," but he was determined to get it right. "N -n-n- n-no, m-m-m-man, I'll g-g-g-g-get it, I'll g-g-g-get it..."
He made it in the end, but the floor was knee-deep in litter. He was a nice fella though. Eric kept in touch with him for years afterwards. John used to send pictures of himself standing in front of his new wheels and photos of his house and all.
Tweet this Fact
I remember much later we went to see a gig he did in London. By this time we were doing well and he was backed by Tony McPhee and The Groundhogs. So we just met him for a drink after the show. The waitress wanted his autograph and she gave him a little book of bill stubs to write on. He got flustered and he started to write, and it was obvious that he'd been taught at some time to write his name. But his name was all he could write and if he got in a state, he couldn't even manage that. Well, he kept getting his signature wrong and he'd tear off sheet after sheet. Soon there was a whole mound of them on the table. We were saying, 'Don't worry, man, just give it back to her ," but he was determined to get it right. "N -n-n- n-no, m-m-m-man, I'll g-g-g-g-get it, I'll g-g-g-get it..."
He made it in the end, but the floor was knee-deep in litter. He was a nice fella though. Eric kept in touch with him for years afterwards. John used to send pictures of himself standing in front of his new wheels and photos of his house and all.