David Kemper played alongside Garcia for over a decade, and then helped Dylan craft his comeback records 'Time Out of Mind' and 'Love and Theft.'
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After barely dodging the Vietnam War, Kemper moved to Los Angeles and found work as the stage manager at the Bank concert hall in Torrance. “It’s where all the bands from Pink Floyd to Ten Years After came to play,” he says. “I watched the whole British Invasion come over to America. And this was 1967, the Summer of Love. It was the time to be there.”
Chuck Berry actually called me on the phone after that and said, “Come to Phoenix. I need you now. They’ve set me up with a drummer that sucks. Please come.” I drove to Phoenix, did the gig, and drove back the same night. I’ve also recorded with Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. I agreed to do it. So I had this Learjet to come and go. I had grand ideas, but I didn’t book any dates because I didn’t want to be thinking about her project while doing other sessions. I like things simple. So I just took the Learjet to fly to Vegas, and then once the gig was over at the end of the night, they flew me home on it. And we landed at a local airport by my house.Yeah, that’s right. In fact, John Travolta was there. The opening artist was Kenny Rogers.
Yeah, he really did. We had a relationship where during the solos, I could stop playing and put my sticks down. And he would play what he called “clouds floating by.” We both would lay back and watch the clouds float by. Everybody else in the band just sat and just took a break for a while. And then Jerry would wind it up at the right time, and then we’d all start back in and go. It was that kind of relationship.
Bob Dylan came to a lot of the shows. He and Jerry and I would talk. It was just a wonderful experience.Melvin predated me. He plays a Hammond B3, and he knows how to work it. He was really, really important, and he knew how to keep out of the way when people were soloing or when Jerry was soloing. He knew how to how to build Jerry up. He was really smart that way. But we wouldn’t see him until we got to the show. Jerry and I may have spent two hours together before we got to the show.
It was a band that listened. That’s what you do if you’re going to improv. Listening was a lost art for a while, and Jerry really brought it back out. The thing about Jerry is that if you challenge him, which I would do often, you better be ready to receive the challenge back, but bigger. He loved being challenged, but a subtle kind of challenge, if you can understand that.from when Clarence Clemons was in the band. Do you have fond memories of those nights?
I said, “Steve, get it all out or forget about it. It’s OK. It’s over now.” He was just obsessing over it. Then when I did the work with Melvin, I saw the contracts and I knew what Melvin was getting. I wasn’t happy. I didn’t say anything to him. I just didn’t take any more gigs. So we fly to Bologna. We go to the gig. We walk on stage. We’re playing the first song, and I look and over to my left. In the back corner, I saw John Paul sitting there. He was resting his head on his hands. I was thinking, “Is this guy alive? Is he listening? He’s out there for everybody to see.” But Bob was on good behavior. I could tell. It was great. I enjoyed it completely.Yeah. Bob went, “I want to go and record an album in Florida.” He flew me down for the session.
Then he went over to one of those little portable walls they have in recording studios. They have fabric on the sides and wood around it. They serve as sound blockers. You can move them in front of an amp. He put a piece of paper on one of those near the drums and started writing. He said, “Just keep playing.” He kept writing and writing. I kept playing. Then he said, “Okay.”
I look and it’s George Harrison. I was like, “Jesus Christ!” If I had known it was George, I would have taken the wine glass and listened against the wall to hear what they were saying. But I didn’t know who was in there. George was probably in Boston for a doctor’s appointment. I’m not sure about that, though.
And so Jim came out. He rode in our bus. He’d have lunches with us in catering. He had his own bunk, but one night our bus broke down. So Bob said, “Come on, y’all. Get on my bus.” Jim had to come and get on Bob’s bus. He’s hardly met Bob beyond a quick hello.
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