One for the Road
George Fletcher & the Handsome Men
Recorded Live at McGillicuddy's
Thursday Night - April 27th, 2001
Story by Kevin Robinson
Photos by Ellie Apuzzo
Thursday
nights at
McGillicuddy's
in New Paltz has become a Hudson Valley
tradition. It's Open Mic night, and if you want to catch a glimpse of
area up-and-comers, there's no place else to be. George Fletcher
(Editor and publisher of
Rhythm and News Magazine,
weekly columnist
for the Poughkeepsie Journal, and on-air host of
WRRV's "On Stage"
every Sunday night at 9:00 p.m.) is the ever-gracious host, and he
and his band, the Handsome Men, always kick off the evening with a
bang. On this particular night, the opening set was recorded live,
and several regular Thursday night favorites joined the band to lay
down a tune.
George Fletcher
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Rick Mullen
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The occasion was a bitter sweet one. Fletcher's friend and bass
player, Rick Mullen has been a Handsome Man since day one. Oh, he
gets called away on weekends by the likes of Commander Cody & the Lost
Planet Airmen, but on Thursday nights, you'll almost always find him
at George Fletcher's side. Many fine drummers have come and gone, but
something just clicked when Dennis Cotton came onboard. He and Rick
just fell into step, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better rhythm
section anywhere in the country. There are basically two kinds of
drummers. Most, in my opinion, are like Animal the Muppet. They
crash and bang their way through each tune; and, to be fair, many do
so very effectively. A few drummers, however, seem to flow. Their
every movement is fluid...poetry in motion and in sound. Dennis
Cotton is definitely the later, and everybody seemed to realize that
the Handsome Men had reached a new level. Fan's quickly dubbed the
newcomer "100% Pure Cotton," and even Fletcher's performance reflected
the new energy. Both covers and original songs that I have always
loved were suddenly being delivered with a polish one reserves for
national touring acts.
Dennis Cotton
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Ok, so that was the sweet part. And speaking of national touring
acts, the party on this Thursday night was graciously thrown to
celebrate the fact that Rick Mullen and Dennis Cotton have recently
been hired by none other than blues guitarist, Kim Simmonds, and his
legendary band, Savoy Brown. They'll be on the road for most of
summer, and the bash at McGillicuddy's was arranged in their honor by
the guy who would miss them the most...everybody's musical pal, George
Fletcher.
Joining the Handsome Men on stage were: McGillicuddy's head
bartender, John "J.D." Devine performing several great opening
numbers on the blues harp, vocalist Albert Rogers with a soulful
rendition of Bill Wither's big hit "Use Me Up," blueswoman Chrissie
O'Dell belting out the classic "Pitch a Wang, Dang, Doodle," and
Thursday night favorite, Bob Gioia, singing "Kansas City."
J.D. Devine |
Chrissie O'Dell |
Albert Rogers |
I'm a sucker for a "moment-in-time" like Fletcher provided on this
occasion. Sure, Mullen and Cotton will return in the fall, and
George's "bench" is as talented as it is deep (Look for Albert Rogers
filling in on bass.), so the Open Mic will go on; but as one of my
writing mentors, mystery novelist Lawrence Block, once advised:
"Celebrate every acceptance...even if it's only with a trip to
MacDonald's." George Fletcher did that concept one better...and he
did it, as is his wont, with class.
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Kevin Robinson
is a freelance writer/photographer, and
the author of three "Stick Foster" hardback mystery novels.
A former syndicated columnist for
the Detroit Free Press, his byline has appeared over 100 times in
national and regional periodicals. Kevin is a partner at
No Bull Productions,
and his PR credits include promotion and
booking work for several of Kansas City's top blues bands. Kevin can
be reached at nobull@NoBullProductions.com.
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Ellie Apuzzo owns and operates
Ellie's Consider It Done.
She provides
"on-site oversight for absentee owners" here in the Florida
Keys; and so far, this lifelong New Yorker just can't seem to
get into "Keys time!" Ellie can be reached at
ellie@elliesconsideritdone.com.
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Posted on May 1, 2001
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