John Beverley I hardly knew ye

[348]

One of my favorite characters from music history died today in 1979.

Before:
[Broken External Image]




After:

 

[RidgeHunter]

1978, Tulsa, Oklahoma– Sid Vicious, Paul Cook, Johnny Rotten, and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols in concert. Outside the show, a Baptist pastor protested the show, saying, “There is a Johnny Rotten inside each of us, and he doesn’t need to be liberated, he needs to be crucified.” Photographer Bob Gruenrecalled, “We had a long drive from Dallas to Tulsa through five inches of snow and ice. Sometime in the night we pulled into a gas station where there was a restaurant. I went in with Sid and sat at the counter. Before I knew it Sid had started a conversation with a cowboy and his family. They invited him to sit with them and Sid carried his eggs to their table. After the cowboy heard that Sid’s name was Vicious he started to challenge him. He crushed his cigarette out in his own hand, then he asked Sid what could he do. Sid just took his knife, cut his own hand and kept on eating as blood flowed on his eggs like ketchup. The cowboy grabbed his family and ran out.”

The Sex Pistols landed in New York on January 3rd and performed their American debut in Atlanta on the 5th. Just nine days later after whistle stops in Memphis, San Antonio, Baton Rouge, Dallas, and Tulsa, the tour ended ignominiously with a dispirited show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco - ironically, the only reasonably appropriate venue on the itinerary.

The Sex Pistols broke up only days after their final performance.

 

[flatwins]

Sex Pistols at the Cains. EPIC!