Robert Gordon

My wife and I had the chance to catch Robert Gordon and the Gang They Couldn’t Hang (Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols, Chris Spedding of Roxy Music, and Slim Jim Phantom of Stray Cats) last weekend at the Oneida Casino in Green Bay. I actually got to see him up close – I tell the story below in a post I originally made to the HoodooVoodoo Lounge discussion board:

“Those of you who are Robert Gordon fans are going to be appalled at this opening, but... I had never heard of the guy before! I know, I know, I'm pretty uninformed! I had no previous reference to compare Gordon's performance to, so I'll take the easy way out on that I enjoyed the show a lot. I do, however, have a story to relate about the break between Gordon's two sets.

He announces he's taking a 10-minute break, and the Gang breaks into a medley thing. I'm remembering snippets of various artists, such as Hendrix and Clapton. It was almost as if they were a local bar band, trying to win over the crowd by giving them something they'd recognize. So while this medley is going on, Gordon comes down into the lounge - not backstage. He orders a drink at the bar. People approach him, shake his hand, have a word, return to their table. Once his drink arrives, he turns around to find a place to sit down. My wife and I had a table to ourselves. He walks over and asks if he can sit down! I said, "Of course, please do."

Then he pulls out a black zippered case, about the size of a large wallet, takes out a pair of glasses that looked very 1955, and a cigarette, and asks, "Do you mind if I smoke?" I said, "No, not at all, go right ahead!"

So anyway, he lights up while the Gang is playing away – by now they were into their own hits - and he leans over and says, "Not bad for a bunch of old guys, huh?"

I replied, "I thought you were gonna say 'Not bad for a bunch of kids'!" He laughed, and we went back to listening. (Not very snappy dialogue, I know, but it's kind of hard to chat when the music's going.)

At this point I'm fully aware of the fact that I'm living a classic fan moment, but I can't really appreciate it because unfortunately, I haven’t been a fan of the guy for the last thirty years! Maybe he sat by us because he has 'fan-dar' - the ability to detect someone who won't spazz out when they meet him

He finished his cig and went back by the sound board to talk to Phil, the guy who books the talent at the casino. The crowd gets a little rowdy - one guy yelled, "Where the hell's Robert Gordon?" So now he's probably about 20 minutes into his 10 minute break, and he comes back into the lounge area...and sits down next to me for another cigarette!

Then Cellphone Camera Guy shows up. At first I wasn't sure what the guy asked Gordon; it was kind of loud in there. I noticed Gordon nod kind of curtly, then the guy asks someone to take the picture. Does she know how to work the camera? Of course not, she's a total stranger! So it took awhile. I don't think Gordon was too thrilled, but he was at least polite to the guy. After the guy left, Gordon finished the second cigarette, and he went back up on stage.

And that was my brush with greatness. It was a great show, and now I have a new artist to follow. It is too bad this little encounter couldn't have happened to an already-fan instead of me! But I believe that everything, even little stuff like this, happens for a reason. Maybe someday I'll find out what the reason was!”

It’s been running through the back of my mind all week. I really appreciate that Gordon is still out there making music for his fans. He seemed like he was enjoying himself, except maybe for the extended snapshot episode.

The Casino used a publicity photo that looked something like this –

And here’s what he looks like today –

I’m guessing most days, Robert Gordon could walk down the street and nobody would bother him. In a room full of people who came just to see him, it stands to reason that he’d have a tough time getting a drink without somebody approaching him.

I wonder what it’s like to live the life he’s living.

What This Thing Is All About

The first message board I got seriously hooked on is now defunct; it used to be located at briansetzer.com, but there’s no longer a board there. One of the people who posted there, burner1, told about seeing Carl Perkins at a book promo event years ago. Burner1 said, “He had a way of talking that made it seem perfectly understandable that a rock’n’roller could have a strong faith in God.” (Confession: that was a paraphrase. I don’t have access to the original post anymore.)

The inspiration for this blog is drawn from that post. I’ve always loved 50’s-style rock’n’roll, in its many forms – Buddy Holly, doo-wop, the R&B influenced rock of Little Richard and Chuck Berry, even the teen idol stuff of Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell. The music that I’ve really developed an appreciation for in recent years, though, is the style known as rockabilly, the way they played it back at Sun Records in Memphis.

I’m also a Christian. By that, I mean simply that I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again on the third day, so that we might be reconciled to God. Through Jesus, my sins are forgiven.

I think for many people, the Christian faith seems incompatible with music like rockabilly. I’m hoping to use this forum to share my thoughts on my faith and my favorite music. I also hope to have you join in a discussion, via your comments, on just how compatible or incompatible they are.