Devils & Blue Dresses: My Wild Ride as a Rock and Roll Legend

happy.
    The Knack: Doug Fieger is the brother of one of my best friends Geoffrey Fieger. We are both proud of you Doug.
    Billy J. Kramer: I got to know Billy very well on the oldies packages put together by the agent Wendy Kay. His is an interesting story. In fact, I’m sure that anybody I’ve mentioned has an interesting story, because fame is so hard to reason out.
    Patti LaBelle: Alan Stroh first took me to see Patti because he wanted me to see what the competition and expectations would be like in my own career. What I learned from Patti was that when you are on stage you give 100 percent. All of the time.
    Brenda Lee: Before I was old enough to drive I hitch-hiked twenty-seven miles to see her appearance where she lip-synched “I’m Sorry.” I was in love with her voice. When she finally left through the rear door where I had been waiting, I lost my courage and watched her drive out of my life.
    The Left Banke: I befriended the player whose father worked with the symphony and helped them make their string arrangements. They were better than they got credit for. Jesus, The Four Tops covered one of their songs.
    Gary Lewis and the Playboys: We did mostly Wendy Kay oldies shows together. Over the years, I got to know the band very well. They always made me sound good when they backed me up. Gary was different. He was, and is, a “keep to himself” person and in spite of my constant reaching out to know him, he prefers his privacy. I don’t know if it’s the famous father syndrome or what, but Gary is one of the ones who decided it was not worth continuing to chase his dreams and settled for living out his career based upon his past accomplishments.
    Huey Lewis and the News: Besides what I have documented already, Huey also has the ability to act. Last time I saw one of their shows was at Lake Tahoe at a casino.
    Jerry Lee Lewis: The Killer. I saw Jerry at a small performance in a small club on the East side of Detroit where he stopped his drummer from jumping off the stage to kick my ass. I also saw him go head to head with Little Richard in an arena and got pissed off, because that’s what Little Richard would do to him. And, I opened for him the night we all glanced up to watch the beginning of the first war in Iraq on TV. One of the first records I ever owned was given to me as a Christmas gift. It was “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”
    Little Anthony and the Imperials: I was on the same show with him on three different occasions. He still has his chops.
    Little Richard: I’ve met him, made a lot of money for him, played on the same bill with him, and know more about him than he probably knows about himself. It was his voice that taught me about energy. He definitely doesn’t suffer from a lack of ego.
    Nils Lofgren: The Rock Palast Show in Germany.
    Los Lobos: A fine, fine group. I like their cover of “Devil With a Blue Dress On” in Spanish, and “Jenny had a Pony.” I met two of the guys in Arizona at the hotel we were staying at.
    Trini Lopez: One of the first singers Alan Stroh took me to see. Not because he was special, but because my manager wanted me to experience standing ovations at Basin Street East in Manhattan.
    The Lovin’ Spoonful: We did a show in Florida together. I thought they were one of the best American groups I had ever seen. I remember our engineer at Bell Sound in New York brought us into the control room to hear an early preview of “Summer inthe City,” and we flipped out. It was such a radical change from “Do You Believe in Magic,” which was out just before that.
    Lulu: Thanks for being a good friend to my wife Susan during our night of terror with three of The Beatles––minus the good one, John Lennon.
    The Mamas and the Papas: Cass Elliot was the member I befriended. She loved life and it was hard to understand how she lost it. What a powerful voice.
    Martha and the Vandellas: Interestingly enough, Martha for a while sat on the city council for the city of Detroit. But, I’ve shared stages with her my entire career.
    The Marvellettes: It depends on which of the two available Marvellettes you are talking about.
    The MC5: Wayne Kramer is my connection to that group. Wayne and I have worked together quite a few times in different forms over the years.
Ramblin’ Rose
. If anybody wants to question the authenticity of this book, Wayne would be the guy to talk to.
    Cash McCall: Straight from the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars.
    Melanie: I didn’t even know