polaroids – Sida 4

tomorrowcomesomedayblog:

“I was visiting in the San Luis Obispo
area in the early 70s and had heard about a club in Morro Bay that had
live music. The club was a hof brau owned by a Dutch family and was
located along the wharf area. Late one afternoon, I headed over there
with my guitar. As I approached the entry to the club, there was this
very intense guy wearing a funny looking cap, playing outside the
doorway to an audience of about two people. I could see inside the club
and there was a stage area and two guys were playing. I was wondering
what this guy outside the door was doing, so I stopped to listen. I
could tell he was playing in an open tuning, but I couldn’t tell which
one. After a few minutes, being young and brash, I got out my guitar,
tuned up slightly to match his guitar, and started playing leads along
with him. He shot me a sharp look but continued playing. After a
while, he paused, looked over at me with some approval, and asked me my
name. When I said it was George, his eyes widened and he sort of
laughed and said that was his name too. He played another piece which I
also played along with, and when we were done, he asked if I wanted to
go inside the club and play some more. I said sure, and we went in and
George asked the manger if we could sit in during the break. So, when
the two guys took a break, we got up and George announced we were a duo
named George & George and started to play an old blues song. So off
we went for several songs. Now, I had no idea who this guy was but
obviously he was professional and very skilled at manipulating the
crowd, who was responding with more and more applause. We continued on
for another hour to great reaction and then took a break. Meantime, I
don’t know whatever happened to the two guys who had let us “sit in” but
I never saw them again. The manager asked us if we could keep playing
the rest of the night. He would give us some money and food. We said
sure and on it went ‘till closing. At the end of the evening, there was
standing room only. The club owner asked if we would be available to
play five nights a week starting the following Tuesday. Now, at the
time, I was living in Sacramento, had only met George three or four
hours before, and had no place to stay, so of course I said yes. George
was staying with his sister and her husband in Morro Bay and I was
offered a room in the hotel the hof brau owners also operated. So it
was set.” +

– George Keller