Grump's Corner - inaugural post

Welcome to the first edition of Grump's Corner.  Grump's Corner will feature stories from my dad....better known as Grump...and even better known as Bubba Grump....but actually now known as simply BG.  BG is a talented musician and his music adventures have led to some great stories which he will share on Nichols and Nonsense.

2 Degrees of Separation

In 1971,  I was at school at Tulane and so was Tom Petty’s keyboard player Benmont Tench.    His dorm room was across the hall from mine and we formed a band together called Tuna Fish Larry – played a few gigs locally.  Benmont was a vegetarian at time and we would go to  Burger King and order Whoppers without the meat.   We also used eat at the Camellia Grill a good bit.   He could actually study while he was playing his piano in the dorm room.

One night, we were down in Jackson Square playing acoustic guitars.  We walked over to Bourbon Street and were leaning against the wall of a building when a policeman came up and arrested us for “blocking a public thoroughfare”.     The cops threw us in the paddy wagon and then took us to jail where we were put into the drunk tank with a number of pretty rough looking dudes.  The cell had an open toilet in the corner – no seat.    Our friends bailed us out later that evening.   Benmont and I showed up for court a few weeks later but the case was dismissed.   Benmont’s father was circuit court judge in Gainesville and apparently made a few calls. 

I last saw Benmont when Tom Petty played at Oak Mountain about 10 +/- years ago.    He got me and my daughter, Anna Ruth, back stage so we could catch up on things.  It was good to see him.   Tom Petty was going to come over to Benmont’s dressing room to say hello to Anna Ruth but she ended up with an autograph on a scrap of paper instead …….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1D3Qwp87c0

Stay tuned for the next post.....Grump and Jerry Garcia