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In reply to the discussion: What's your verdict on Eric Clapton? Have you canceled his music? [View all]DFW
(54,498 posts)Way back in the sixties, I had a band that opened for some of my musical heroes, and got to meet others. One of my biggest honors was to open for one of my favorite bands at the time, the Youngbloods. Perry Miller ("Jesse Colin Young" ) wasn't interested in talking to anyone, Lowell Levinger ("Banana" ) and Joe Bauer were sour tempered, and Jerry Corbitt was the nicest guy you could ever want to meet. One out of four. I was devastated. But I still loved their music. My brother-in-law was once a roadie for Ray Charles, whose music I always liked. He was abusive in the extreme to his back-up musicians, sometimes even humiliated them on stage. I once hung out with Johnny Winter and his band backstage at a festival in France in 1970. Johnny Winter, like Jerry Corbitt, was a prince of a guy. His number two guitarist, Rick Zehringer ("Rick Derringer" ), was a nasty asshole. But he sure could play guitar.
Just like politicians, some of the people I wanted to hate, I ended up liking when I met them, and some people I considered heroes I didn't like at all when I met them.
There's nothing to be done about it. If a politician's (or media personality's) stance is diametrically opposed to my own, then that's the way it remains, no matter what I think of them personally. If I would stand cheer out loud at hearing someone's political stance, and then find them to be an asshole, that's no reason to go out and join the Republicans tomorrow. If I like a piece of music I hear, and then find out I can't stand the person making it, that doesn't change what I heard. That's just the way the world is.