I went over to say hi to Rob and he introduced me to Wayne and Fred. I had made a radical purchase of some brown Beatle boots. Wayne was like `Where did you get those boots! Who is this guy?
We had all this kind of freedom and `get out of your head` kind of stuff and at the same time, we were trying to establish ourselves in the business. These two things are really difficult to bring together.
I had just broken up with my wife so I was searching for another way to live.
When I joined the band, being that I was going to take this up as a profession, I realized that there were no two finer guitar players in the world that I`d rather play with.
I think some time after 1969 or so, the band started to lose its light. But I`ll tell you what, boy- on the way up, it was happening.
Nothing ever sounds quite the way it does when you`re standing right in the middle of it.
I started out with nothing. I still have most of it.
We had all these things to deal with- houses full of people and John going to jail, guys from New York saying `don`t worry about anything.` So it was really confusing.
I was not a musician at the time. I had an acoustic guitar and I used to sing folk music and Bob Dylan songs. I loved rock and roll though.
The New Orleans I knew ain`t no more.