That Time I Sang With a Famous Band
And Didn’t Even Know It
August 1970. I’m a week early to register for the fall semester at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Fortunately, the powers that be had anticipated this happening and so had scheduled lots of things to do to keep us out of trouble. Idle hands being the devil’s playground, or some such folk wisdom.
One of those things was an open mic night at the student union building. I had brought my trusty Gibson J45 six-string to campus, and I decided to give it a go.
I only knew one Gordon Lightfoot song. “Early Morning Rain.” It was a good choice: Gordo was from our neck of the woods (sorta), and the song was popular at the time. So I climbed up on the stage, nodded to the pickup band that served as backups, and started the song.
I was amazed how well the band played. They were quite professional in everything they did, from playing exactly as I had hoped they would.
We finished the song and I sang another one, this time by Arlo Guthrie. I introduced it by saying, “This one’s by Arlo Guthrie. You freshmen all know his name, and for you seniors, he’s Woody’s kid.”
Again, the band nailed it. I took my bows, thanked the band, and sat back down. I turned to a friend sitting next to me and commented, “Man, those guys are great!”
