say to the point of obsession, which is debatable. I find that whenever
I am single I always fall back on Henry. Like an old friend he's always
there for me. He never judges. He never chastises me for being away so
long. He just welcomes me back and we get to work.
Then I find myself a girlfriend and slowly but surely Henry gets
pushed back. His hollow cries against just about anything u can think of
go slightly unheard. I don't ignore him, I just don't feel him as much.
Basically Henry makes me feel less miserable.
Its not just his music I fall back on (though that is a big part of
it), I am also a huge fan of his spoken word performances. Henry goes
from country to country and town to town and talks. A lot. He can talk
for 3 hours and ur so riveted by what he says u don't feel ur ass
numbing in the seat. I know, I've gone and seen him. Not as much as I've
liked though. Damn girlfriends.
Anyway for those of us who don't get to see Hank on occasion he does
us the favor of recording some of his performances and releases them
either on cd or dvd or both. For the past ten years now I've gotten some
of my hard earned shillings together and bought said releases. I listen
to them, I study them, I take feverish notes, and pretty soon what he
says becomes mantra to me.
Im such a dork.
About a month ago I stupidly went to his website and with my wallet
burning my left butt cheek I purchased most of what I didn't already
have. So for the last couple weeks I've been on a steady diet of Rollins
tofu. I can't help it the man facinates me so much. He speaks and a calm
comes over me. He appears in movies and I can't help but smile. I read
his books and I envy his seemingly sad and lonely life.
A few months back I was listening to one of his spoken word cds and
it was a recording done on his birthday in 1987. He had just turned 26
the same age I am now. As he's talking a thought occured to me. "He's 26
years old. That means he had joined Black Flag and broken up with them
already. He has seen parts of the world I couldn't even make up in my
pea brain. He has performed in front of hundreds of people all across
our country." And then this little revelation "I am 26 years old and I
am a worthless drone." My accomplishments are not even a speck on this
mans ass of accomplishments.
Now since I've pretty much digested all of the man there is to take in
I thought it be pretty cool if I rambled off a few of my favorite
stories of his. He's a man who can turn a phrase but I figured why not
throw in a top 5 for shits and giggles. In order here we go.
5) The William Shatner Story- (Shock and Awe dvd + Talk is Cheap vol4
cd) This little ditty comes toward the end of his set that year. Fuckin
hilarious story about how fresh off a USO tour Henry gets a call from
Ben Folds to come on down to the studio to record a track with the good
Captain himself. Insanity ensues and u actually get to see Henry geek
out and show he can be just like the rest of us.
4) Being an Idiot- (the double disc dvd of Talking from a Box and Live
from London) Henry is one of the most self depricating people out there
and this story alone is proof. While on tour of I believe Australia
Henry acts a fool and ends up paying for it later. U have to remark
about the sheer honesty the man has for saying all this in front of a
couple hundred people and now the world. There's violence, humor, a
little self romance, and more fuckin humor.
3)Eric the Pilot (Eric the Pilot cd + You Saw Me Up There dvd.) Henry is
a world traveller. He has to get from gig to gig and sometimes things
can go a little awry. This tale is a classic road horror story. Think
about it the next time ur on a plane safe and in the air. Ull probably
find urself laughing like I did when I heard this.
2) Joe Cole R.I.P. (The 2 disc dvd) Back in his younger days of doing
the spoken word Henry was a little more serious and a lot more seriously
pissed off. So while he could have the audiences roaring with laughter
he could also bring it crashing down with ease. I always commended him
for having that kind of naked bravery on stage. Its kinda like how the
Richard Pryor show of the 70's would appear to be simple sketch comedy
but now and then they'd throw in a little drama for ur ass. Cool shit
and not easy to do.
Anyway, Henry a mere few months after one of his best friend dies is
on stage telling a whisper quiet audience and viewer in gripping detail
of the afternoon of how him and his friend Joe were walking home and got
held up by 2 men who promptly made them walk up to their house at
gunpoint and how Henry survived. Its a story that puts Henry himself
into perspective as it always seemed he never quite recovered from
that.
1) Iggy Pop (Live and Luna Park dvd) This actually appears as a bonus
feature and boy am I glad it does. This story is so great it needs to
stand alone. What I love about the story is it gives insight into Henry
as a performer and the lengths he goes to for a stupid cause known only
to himself. Fuckin brilliant. Henry tells it in only the animated way he
can and u have to surpress the laughter so as to not miss a golden
nugget. U can't help it though, its just too funny. He also does a
really good impression of Iggy too.
Later when I get onto a real computer ill look on the youtubes to see
if I can find any video to these or u can be like me and get swept up in
the Rollins wave and get crushed.
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