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Wednesday, September 13, 2006

My east coast swing is winding down. I'm in my hotel room preparing for this afternoon's interview with Paul Shaffer. It'll be at the Ed Sullivan Theater where "The Late Show with David Letterman" is taped. Shaffer has blocked out an hour for me and I'm very grateful.

Yesterday I interviewed Pat St. John of Sirius Satellite Radio. My first encounter with Pat was in the summer of 2004. I was traveling with Johnnie in Fairmont, West Virginia. It was Johnnie's 80th birthday and I was videotaping Johnnie for the documentary when Pat St. John called him, live on the radio, to wish Johnnie a happy birthday. I could only hear Johnnie's answers; today I got to hear the entire interview because Pat brought me a copy. It'll be in the documentary.

"If I could say anything about Johnnie Johnson, it was that he was one of the sweetest men I've met and one of the most talented men. If you don't have them, go out and get all his cds and re-listen to those records and other albums that he plays on. Listen with a new ear now that you've seen more about the man, Johnnie Johnson. Get into the music even more and realize how great this man was and how talented he was. Start with the "Johnnie Be Bad" album. It's just fabulous from start to finish. Any of the albums he appears on, his piano playing is just uniquely Johnnie Johnson. Johnnie was a very special man and a very special musician and he deserves to have this film made about him. Love you Johnnie Johnson, miss you man."

You can hear Pat on Sirius Radio from 6 a.m. to midnight on Channel 6 "60's Vibrations" from 6 a.m. to noon; Channel 16 "The Vault" from noon to six; and Channel 74 "Sirius Blues" from 6 p.m. to midnight. When in New York, you can check out Pat on Q104.3 FM. Thanks Pat.