Douchebag wrote:
Joe Orr Road Rod wrote:
I cannot patronize the Tossers since they abandoned my friend Bill in California.

This story may have been told to me before, but I would love to hear it.
My friend Bill who uses the stage name Rockin' Billy & The Wild Coyotes was a notoriously prickly guy. He's mellowed out a lot in his old age but he could be tough to deal with at times. He's by far the most talented musician/guitarist/songwriter I've ever been around. Nobody else is even close. He should be famous but he's his own worst enemy. Bill and I have always gotten along well. Even when we were drinking and fucking shit up. I had a knack for deferring to his talent while at the same time usually being able to steer him away from his worst instincts. That wasn't always easy. I'm sure he still thinks "Zydeco Baby" is a better song than "Flamingo". Look how wrong he can be.
Anyway, The Wild Coyotes were whoever was playing with him at any given time. There were several bass players- Lou Marini, a guy named Steve who played in the great punk band Dead Steel Mill and used the stage name Dagwood Sandalson, and another guy we called Petey Wheatstraw, the Devil's Stepchild whose real name I can't recall. The most consistent Coyote was drummer Steve Uppling. He still plays with Bill to this day but they've had their ups and downs over the years.
At some point Bill had a tour scheduled, I think through Texas and then out to California and some dates on the way back. He had no band at the time and he picked up two of the Tossers to do the tour with him. So they went out and played the shows and I'm sure Bill was drinking and being an asshole. He told me the story so obviously he wasn't going to be the bad guy in it. They were out in California and the car they had was a station wagon that belonged to one of the Tossers. I guess these two guys got to talking and decided that Bill was a complete jerkoff and they got in the car one morning and drove back to Chicago without telling Bill.

I'm not sure how Bill got home.