Clapton and The Guitar Center Part 1

We were working at Paramount Stage M - which is now closed. There is a lot of film music history at that stage. Think Psycho, Sunset Boulevard, Out of Africa. Clapton who never stops playing his guitar pauses to ask if I know of a good Ramirez guitar that he can buy.

"Excuse me, don't you have some dude on staff who buys guitars for you?"

He ignored my sarcasm and repeated the question. As it happened I was in the guitar center in Sherman Oaks a few weeks earlier and noticed two in their back room. We're talking the very expensive back room where it's so quiet you can hear the hum of money. In that room they hang the exceptional guitars. All pricey. Martins, Guilds, Gibsons and so on. I said, "Actually I do know of a couple at the Guitar Center" He asked me to call and see if they would bring them out to him.

So I was now brokering guitars for Clapton. Did it get any better than that? I called GC and asked them if they still had them. They said yes. One was 8k or so and the other about the same. (A vintage Ramirez can run into the 100k range - we are talking about the guitar played by Andres Segovia)

I asked Eric, "You ok if I use your name with the Guitar Center?" "Sure," He said. I called them back and asked for the manager.

"Um, Eric Clapton is interested in those Ramirez guitars, can you bring them to Paramount Stage M?"

"Gee, I dunno. We're not allowed to bring stuff out of the store"

I said "Guitar Center. Eric Clapton. Get it?"

He said "Hold on, I have to check with my boss."

I repeated ""Guitar Center. Eric Clapton."

He said "Yeah, Yeah, I get it but we aren't allowed, hang on"

To be continued.....

Clapton Part 2

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Clapton, Paramount Studios, Guitar Center

Moral Majority of One and the MPAA

Several weeks ago I took my 10 year old daughter to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Don't get me started but that film felt about ten hours long, and its convoluted story annoyed the hell out of me. Yes, I enjoyed the first one. I think Gore Verbinski is a very good, very slick (in a good way) director. And who doesn't love Johnny Depp? But Dead Man's Chest was product placement-consumption gone awry-everything that makes Hollywood smell like the inside of a an obese armpit. Ahhhh, I am veering WAY off the road. Rewind back to the trailers.

The theatre ran the trailer for

The Descent

It scared my ten year old.

Hell it gave me the heeby jeebies

A week went by and I kept thinking how that trailer should not have played with a kid's movie. I called a few friends and asked them if they ever noticed an R Rated trailer in a kid film. They said they had not. I gave it more thought and decided that it wasn't right. I called the MPAA and told them when I saw it, where I saw it. I told them I like movies. I want movies to make money. I work in movies. Two weeks later they called me and said the trailer was deemed objectionable and was pulled.

So - here I am, a moral majority of One experiencing instant gratification in the world of Political Action. It reminded me of the time I worked on a non union film and I reported myself to the union. That motivation to get off the film didn't work. The Union thanked me and told me not to worry about it. You win some.

Stuff Worth Saying

Because I linked to Gerad Jones' site

Everyonewhosanyone (I call it Literary Star Maps)

- He had a look-see at my blog and he became the first to leave comments. See

Clapton Comments

His comment, "It takes awhile for people to find your blog but if you keep saying stuff worth saying, they will." left me with more questions than answers.

One thing that matters is this: When I began this blog (August 17) I added links to icasualties.org where they link to the Department of Defense confirmations of US Casualties in Iraq. The death toll was at 2607. Today it is at 2621. What matters to me is no matter how much news we watch or read I don't think we are aware of the daily death tally. (At least I was not aware of it.) No matter our political proclivities I think it's essential to consider the consequences, the reality for their families and our own good (or bad) fortune as it relates to this creepingly exponential news. Maybe it's time to re-read Dalton Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun" Here's an excerpt

Jounny Got His Gun

Clapton The Meeting

I got a call that I would be working with Eric Clapton. It was a Sunday. I called the Hotel where he was staying and asked for him by his codename. I left a message on his voice mail. I instructed my family to do the following: DO NOT ANSWER OUR PHONE! I wanted Clapton on my incoming answering machine, what can I say?

Well, of course I broke the rule and there he was on the other line. I introduced myself. Told him about the work and asked if he wanted to meet over the next day to review the project. He said he'd come by the office the next day. The building (the same one where Ms. Hurley threw a small fit) is not an easy layout. So I instructed Clapton to go to reception. The next day I called reception and said I had a visitor coming. I didn't leave the name of the visitor. I told them to ring me when "The Visitor" arrives.

My office phone rings. It's reception. They have seen plenty of celebrities. The call went like this. "This is reception. A mister Er, Er, Eric Clapton is here." I walked through the labyrinth and met him. We walked back to my office. Before we got there I stopped and told him "Eric, I just wanted you to see the work and what you would be recording so that when you get into the actual sessions you would be relaxed, with no surprises." (I was nervous as hell)

Clapton smiled at me and said "Thanks mate, but there's not too much of life that makes me nervous anymore. But if it makes you more relaxed that's a good thing"

I sighed and thanked him. From that point on he was a zen master. After working with him I wanted to retire. That's how awesome he was. If anyone ever reads this blog I'll tell more Clapton stories....




More Of Clapton Here

Who I am

I've worked in films for a long time. I'm well known in my little world. These stories are moments I've shared with celebrities. I'm going to create mini vignettes of these stories on Video. It's all in fun. I'm still weighing the consequences of real names but after this many years does it matter? Is there some wisdom I can give? I suppose that depends on the questions. If you wanna talk about creativity I might have some answers. How to get started in the film business? How to stay married and work in Hollywood? How to keep from getting burned out, bitter and penniless? My friend grew up with this star's daughter



My friend said that they could always tell how the family was doing by looking for her wedding ring. If it was off ---


It was in the pawn shop....