Zappa was such a professional.
He wanted a three-hour rehearsal.
The equipment got there about half an hour
before the show was supposed to start.
We waited and waited and waited all day long;
it was really nerve-wracking.
And when it got there, he got to see the crew,
you know, were at their very best: just hustling,
setting up, built that mountain of speakers
that he was hauling and hauling.
And he got a 17-minute sound check and I figured
that he was going to keep on going until he
was satisfied.
Well, he got 17 minutes and his road manager
Marty Perellis ran his finger across his throat
and Zappa stopped immediately.
And he uttered a, "Some excuse for a sound
check."
Zappa was in a bad mood it seemed to me and
I hadn't spoken to him yet; I said "Let me
try to disarm ya," I thought and, "Would you
like to meet your opening act?
He's blind, deaf, and crippled."
And he said, "What does he do?"
I said, "He plays the piano and stomps on
the board and sings Ray Charles and George Jones."
And he said, "I want to meet him right now."
Yep.
I whispered to Zappa as we approached him,
I said, "Remember he's kinda deaf."
And he was so stunned when he saw him that
he just kinda mumbled.
And Blind George said, "Huh?"
And he said, [louder] "Did you hear our sound
check?"
And George bellowed back, "Yeah you were too
damn loud!"
[laughter]
Oh, and Zappa took him on the road for the rest of that tour!
