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I've got one for you. I was doing my show one night and a guy came back and was talking to me. Very nice gentleman. After a while, he asked if I knew who he was. I said no. He said he was Rich McReady. I have to admit I am not much of a country guy and didn't know who that was. He asked about possibly performing in my bar but I told him I didn't do live music anymore because the venue is just not big enough to support it. He said we could work out a deal for a cut from the till to show me that it could be profitable for both of us. I told him I couldn't make a decision like that without sleeping on it and I would call him the next day. He left shortly thereafter.
The next day I did some research and found out he was from Seneca MO, about 20 miles south of here. I also found out he had just played at the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show. My sister happens to be a big wig in the charity that owns Reliant Stadium and the Astrodome and puts on that event so I called her. She told me he was a fairly big star but more of a second tier. I was duly impressed with his demeanor for a star and thought that I would maybe pursue this. After thinking about it, I decided to not screw up what I already have so I called him and told him no thanks.
A couple of months later he showed up again with a couple of people. His sound man came up to me and asked if Rich could sing a song. I of course said yes and suggested that he use my guitar I keep in the back for people who want to do their own thing. I made a big deal out of begging him to come up and sing a song. The crowd hooped and hollered and he finally came up. He decided to do Sweet Home Alabama. He played the intro and when it came to the part he should sing, he just kept playing and not singing. That is when I noticed he was so drunk he couldn't even remember the words to the song. He finally muddled through with the help of his girlfriend, myself, and the sound man feeding him words. I was very embarrassed for him.
Later when they asked about him singing another song, I politely told them no. We had a line of singers and wouldn't get around to his turn again before we closed. What I really meant was I wasn't going to let a big star get up and embarrass himself again.
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