Jimi Jamison singing I Can’t Hold Back with Survivor just popped on my iTunes Genius lineup. He used to hang out a lot at Alfred’s on Beale Street when I was the General Manager. The Willies played frequently and lots of famous rockers stopped by to sit in with them. Jimi was a regular and so was Joe Walsh who had a house in Memphis at the time. One night the place was packed and many people sat in including Joe Walsh, Jimi and Joe Strummer of The Clash.
Fast forward 20 years. I was at the Memphis airport and ran into Jimi. I reintroduced myself and we shared a few stories about our Alfred’s memories. He laughed about one in particular.
He said he saw Rob Caudill talking to Joe Strummer earlier in the night and they seemed to be having an intense conversation. Rob walked away and came to Jimi with a bewildered look on his face. Jimi asked Rob what was up. He told him that guy was claiming to be “Joe’s drummer”. Rob knew Joe Walsh’s drummer and was arguing that he was NOT Joe’s drummer. Jimi said he cleared things up.
He was gone a couple of years later. When I think about it I wish I would have talked to him for just a little while longer. That was the last time I saw Jimi.
After I Think About It... 