A few of our favorite things: Our friend, George

We met George on a quiet Wednesday evening at the Earl of Lonsdale pub on Portobello Road. He was sitting by himself on the leather sofa in the corner, reading a book about Warren Zevon. I was admiring the photography in the lounge, and he came over and told us all about the pictures, the history of the pub, and invited us to have a seat in his corner. Why not? The usual getting to know yous introduced us to a legendary London drummer with more than a few interesting stories to tell.

George moved from Scotland to Woodstock, NY in the mid-60’s searching for a chance to play his drums and achieve the American Dream...or at least have a lot of fun in the counter-culture of the period. He quickly befriended and moved in with Happy Traum in Woodstock, who introduced him to such local characters as Bob Dylan ("Bobby") and Levon Helms, who remains a friend of his. This was the beginning of a long life in the music scene, or just outside of it. From ‘shagging’ a certain ruby haired blues-rock legend during his time at Woodstock, to appearing on a music video with Ringo and Paul in the early 80’s to drumming with the Clash in a huge concert in Bologna, you could say that George has done and seen it all. He's been the drummer for the Pink Fairies, the Deviants, and countless big gigs and a central figure in London's underground rock scene.

These don’t even take into account his stories about John Lee Hooker, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards/Ronnie Wood (good friends of his and performed on his last album with his current band, The Dirty Strangers). We bought him another round of stout, and the stories kept coming. He told us the story behind the Band's breakup (blame Scorcese...). Naturally, he attended the famous party on Portobello in the 70s at the home of hippy socialite Sally Sparkle, with everyone who was anyone in the 70s rock scene (Mick, Rod, Ronnie Wood, Jimmy Page among them). His drums were the ones Sally borrowed for that party. Of course he met a little girl named Diana many times with her stodgy Uncle Spencer at Sally Sparkle's home. Sally was a cousin of the Spencer family. George is usually great with kids, but she was shy and tough to charm.



At the end of the night, he invited us to come see his band play that next Sunday at the Gold. We did, and it was great. It's obvious why he remains one of the most respected drummers (or beaters, as he calls himself) in London. We have since hung out with George on a number of occasions down on Portobello. He always has a new story to tell, and for some reason, he enjoys telling them to us. Most recently, we learned he once bought Liz Taylor a drink. She was in London, visiting her son, a "crap" saxophone player, who was doing a gig before them. They chatted, he bought her a gin and tonic. He found her to be a kind and classy broad.

We will miss George and his great stories, all told with a gravelly Scottish accent. We aren't sure when we'll be seeing him again, but he can count on receiving our Christmas cards. On the Dirty Strangers' next album, they are collaborating with poet John Sinclair. Just another notch on the belt for the man who has seen the backside of so many legends from the rear of the stage.