How I Met Rock Bottom — Part Two

We met later to plan the album, and I gave him a cassette because back then that's how I wrote songs. Hit record, and me and my guitar — that was it. He listened, and the first thing he said was, "You write an inordinate number of songs about relationships." I had to laugh. Yep. He liked the songs. He picked the musicians, and we recorded at Audio Lab in Tampa, where I had recorded the first album. Greg Marchack was the engineer, and he was excellent again. We picked the song "Why Baby Why" as the title track. That was in early 1999. He told me who to send it to for reviews and airplay. I made a list, sent them out, and got good results.

Later that same year, he had planned a tour in Norway. He said, "Why don't you go with us. You can help drive the van." Again, I was so surprised and thrilled, I was like a kid at Christmas. He was doing a six-week tour, and I flew over and met him for the last three weeks. Jon Puhl, Robert "Freightrain" Parker, and Tom Bell were the guys in the band, all very seasoned and talented.

I'll never forget when I got there, Rock and a friend of his pulled up in a big 60s or 70s American convertible with the top down. I don't remember exactly, but I think it was a Cadillac. Beautiful car. He was playing the Hell Blues Fest that night. So, on 9/9/99, I landed in hell! And I loved it! Still have the T-shirt. At every venue they played on the tour, Rock had the audience in his hand after the first song. The band was very talented, as he would not have it any other way. They followed his every move. I watched as the audience laughed at his jokes and applauded every song. I was lucky to be there. And I was learning a lot about how to put on a show and how to direct the band with subtle moves and hand signs.

For the whole tour, he got me up to sing a couple of songs wherever he played, including the Hell Blues Fest, and he'd say, "Give that guy a CD," or "give this guy a CD." So, I passed out a lot of CDs. That's how I was able to book a tour for myself for the next year and the year after. All because Rock Bottom believed in me.

He was loved and respected not just by us in the Tampa Bay area and across the US, but by so many other people in other countries, especially Norway. The NBU, Norsk Bluesunion, loved Rock. There was a blues club in Oslo called "Muddy Waters." Rock played there many times. When he passed, they opened another one in the basement of the building and called it "Rock Bottom." When you walked down the stairs, there was a big poster of Rock holding his harmonica hanging above the staircase.

Rock always said, "You have got to give something back." And he did. Not just for me, but for some others as well. Vidar Busk was discovered by Rock on tour in Norway when he was 16. That's another story for a later edition. Another one will be about his shows with and support for Diamond Teeth Mary in her later years, the benefits he played for causes he believed in, and the stories. Oh, the stories! There are so many Rock Bottom stories to tell. Rock was a great storyteller. Anyone who's heard of "Rock's Talking Blues" knows that. He was an amazing entertainer, musician, harp master, and a good man. RIP Rock Bottom, aka "The Godfather of Tampa Bay Blues." You are not forgotten. You live on in the music you left us and the memories we have of you. There will never be another Rock Bottom. - Sandy Atkinson