Oh Maggie

AAAWWW, is this the traditional Father/Daughter dance? I think not. Tis Margaret and Pierre, the bride and groom. You gotta think there may have been a few misguided implications at that ceremony. Anyhoo, on my way to the airport the shuttle made one last stop, and this is more than one unoffical, armchair historian can take, as we happen to be parked in front of the Harbour Castle Hotel. THE Harbour Castle Hotel. Did I mention the Harbour Castle Hotel?
Said Inn is where the Stones layed their heads whilst they performed and made ha-ha at Toronto's El Mocambo Club in '77. Keith's infamous drug bust happened there. And Margaret Trudeau's so-called hi-jinx with Ron Wood took place in those very hallways...and...other places, I suspect.
At 22 and 30 years his junior, Maggie married Pierre Trudeau in secrecy in 1971. Six years later on their 6th anniversary and coincidentally the same day the two decide to go their seperate ways, Margo is spotted at the Stones' ElMo show and invited the band back to her hotel. Oh no, not THE hotel? Oh yes, the Harbour Castle. Dang it, and I'm sitting here parked right in front of it. I should run in and see if there are pictures on the wall of Keith getting hauled away in cuffs or a shot of Ronnie and "whomever" hi-tailin it up a side stairwell. Maybe they have The Keef Suite, you know, all dark with a faint wiff of hashish and artfully strewn batik fabrics.
Enh...probably not.

These days Maggie is an advocate for mental health management as she has suffered from a bipolar disorder most of her adult life and also serves as honorary president of WaterCan, organized to help develop clean water supplies to the disadvantaged.

Photo of The Trudeaus from www2.macleans.com
Maggie Back Story from archives.cbc.ca and from
Ronnie by Ron Wood

Knicked and Knackered

Milwaukee, long known for its brew city spats and dust-ups played host to the New Barbarians on one of only 18 stateside shows...period. Led by Ron Wood, this not so rag-tag troupe of co-minglers included fellow compadres Keith Richards and Bobby Keys, former Faces ivory tickler Ian MacLagan, voonderkine bassist Stanley Clarke and on drums, Zigaboo Modeliste of the Meters.
Assembled for purposes of promoting Wood's LP, Gimme Some Neck and as a form of community service as a result of Keith's 1978 Toronto drug bust.
It seems the Cream City melee was over Keith pulling a George Jones style no-show. But the date was made up for a year later by the New New Barbarians featuring Andy Newmark, Reggie McBride, Mackenzie Phillips and Johnny Lee Schell

Back Story from last.fm
Photo from macspages.com

Rock Pyle

This could very well be another laboring read on the influence of my older brother's college record collection. One would bring home the folksy, troubadour style, Kingston Trio then The Byrds then Judy Collins. The other would bring home the Stones, Cream Disraeli Gears and Blue Cheer. Meantime, the folks taste ran along the lines of the Mills Brothers, Sing Along with Mitch and the theme for Dr. Zhivago. The house seemed to swoon to music while my brothers took turns beating me to a bloody pulp. But as I rose from the liquid, it was the Stones and Byrds and maybe a touch of Dinah Shore that stuck with me, or because of my gelatenous state, stuck to me.
Rick Pyle never allowed me to fall on the Beatles side of the Stones/Beatles fence. And from there, I became a devout Keef, hit-the riff-hard disciple. It was Rick Pyle again who shed light on this other much more gifted Keith devotee, and soon to be sideman down the road, Waddy Wachtel. Waddy, he must be a Brit with a name like Waddy. Then I heard Linda Ronstadt's rowdy, Cali-style version of Tumblin' Dice.
Bud Cowsill urged Waddy and his band, Twice Nicely to head west to L.A. from their base in Connecticut. After 2 years of not much/not enough, Waddy began recording and producing the Cowsills, which lead to the swingin' door for artist's and musical directors, The Everly Brothers where he met Warren Zevon, which, lead to an ever growing laundry list of stints with Carole King, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt. Buckingham/Nicks and my personal favorite, the X-pensive Winos. How do you like that, Keith playing with Keith. Waddy Wachtel, besides Ron Wood is the only guitar player I've heard that can hand Keith back to himself. They
both perfectly exemplify rhythm-as-lead. Keith being a bit more artisan rootsey vs. Waddy's studied, no-nonsense chops.
If you've ever seen Martin Scorsese's Shout at the Devil...er no, Shine a Light, you'd be witness, I think, to the finest recorded performances on film especially on IMax. It's so freakin' loud, in a good way. I could feel myself wanting to stand up and cheer after my favorite songs. The mix and seperation is so clear you can pick out the nuance between Ronnie and Keith.
Those out-of-left-field rhythmic flourishes pop in and out. I'd like to think I can easily tell the difference between the two but I don't think I'd ever put money on it.
Waddy also had and has his hand in scoring films. He played on and in The Poseidon Adventure, FM (in Linda Ronstadts band), Up In Smoke, The Longest Yard, Joe Dirt, The Bench Warmers, House Bunny and Paul Blart Mall Cop to name a few. During a break while working with Adam Sandler, Waddy made a call to Keith to say;"Guess what, I'm playing with a comedian" to which Keith replied;" Yeah, aren't we all?"


A little Wikipeepee
Photo of Waddy from paulgilbert.com
Photo of Keith and Ronnie backstage 78' from morrisonhotel.com