Jethro Tull  

November 29, 1989    

Houston, Texas   The Summit

"This was" one of the better days of my life.  I was lucky and had connections.  We ended up with backstage passes to the meet and greet, and were even allowed to sit in on the sound check.  There couldn't have been more than 10 people in the sound check.  It was awesome!!!  Afterward, we met Ian backstage and he sat with us and signed some things.  The show was phenominal, better than any in years IMHO.

Backstage I got introduced to Ian as "a friend of Mike Bone" (which I wasn't, I never met the guy, but he was the connection, so what the hell).  Mike Bone was President of Chysalis at the time, and really all I knew was an old girlfriend of his who pulled strings for me.  Hey, I ain't gonna contradict anyone, ya know?

I didn't take this picture, but I'm sure glad to have it.   When the guy showed it to me, I snapped it up because I though it really hit Ian's image at the time.  I think he should have worn the hat all through  the show, but both in Houston and in Oklahoma City, where I saw them two days later, he only wore the hat for "Strange Avenues", the opening song, and that's how I know what he's doing.

<--- Click on this picture!!!!

Ian singing "Strange Avenues"                        

Here's a shot of us backstage with Ian at "The Summit" on the Rock Island tour.  That's me in the red power tie (what was I thinking????).   That's my wife Laurie in white, and my best bud Paul and his wife Karla on the left. 

Two days later, me and my friend Richard Franklin went to Oklahoma City to see the show again, and everything happened again just like in Houston. 

<--Richard

We showed up with nothing but ourselves, and got backstage passes, got to see the sound check, go to the meet and greet, (where I was again introduced as "Jeff. He's a friend of Mike Bone". That's where Ian signed the picture above.   He looked at me odd when he saw it because he was wearing the same clothes and everything, and I think I might have been too (what WAS I thinking!)  Richard talked to Pegg about Bass stuff cause he was a bass player. Pegg disappeared for a moment and when he came back, he gave Richard a set of bass strings. Talk about cool.

They even gave us the tickets to the show!!!!!

Richard and I had a really great time in Oklahoma City.  The Civic Center is the best place I've ever been to acoustically (anyone else ever been there, that's right isn't it!)  Even "It Bites" sounded great.  In Houston, the sound was kinda muddy, and I wondered why Ian let those guys open.  But, in OKC, they were right on target I have to admit.  And Tull sounded like CD quality sound.  You could hear a pin drop.

What was really cool was when Richard and I went to the airport.   I was flying back to Houston, and Richard was flying back to Dallas.  And there were Martin and Ian waiting for a flight to Denver (according to Martin).  We didn't want to bother Ian, though, cause you know he's skiddish when he's out of his element, and so Richard and I yakked with Martin, who told us Ian got jumped from behind once and that made him a bit skiddish.  Anyway, just before we left for Houston, I just HAD to tell Ian how much we enjoyed the show.  He shocked the hell out of me as I left when he said, "Have a good trip back, Jeff"

Richard died two years later from diabetes.

This page is dedicated to my friend Richard Franklin (1967 - 1992)