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Press & Reviews
"Better than Dwight D. Eisenhower" -- Col. Bruce Hampton
This is a quote that’s caused Joe King trouble. Col. Bruce actually said the name of a well-known player, and he would say it everytime he and Joe met, because it pissed him off (because Joe didn’t consider it true) and Col. Bruce knew it; in fact, that’s probably why he said it in the first place. Soon after that, someone local (here in Knoxville) started giving Joe advice on selling himself (not one of Mr. King’s strong points), and he let them use that quote, though he insisted it follow this form (on advertising leaflets; he’s never been very good at cutting down on verbage):
"… better than XXXXXXXXX [insert the player’s name]." - Col. Bruce Hampton
"No I’m not!" - Joe King
"Yes you are." - Col. Bruce Hampton
"No I’m not!" - Joe King
"Whatever…" - Col. Bruce Hampton
Knoxville people took this quote being used on Joe’s advertising as evidence that he was arrogant (did they miss a point?), and Col. Bruce was upset because the other player is a friend of his and it would hurt his feelings (though Joe considered it all a joke anyway) so his initial misgivings at letting this be used were in fact correct.
Anyway, the next time King saw Col. Bruce he asked for a replacement quote, and he gave the above to use, and in some ways it may even be applicable.
Joe King opened for Tinsley Ellis a couple of times in Knoxville, and Tinsley wanted to produce him on Alligator, but Bruce Iglauer didn’t like his tapes as much as Tinsley liked his live performances (and Joe agreed), so that never got off the ground and Joe apparently hasn’t seen Tinsley in awhile. Bruce Iglauer wrote perceptive and knowledgeable letters in response to tapes that, says Joe, "probably weren’t really worth his attention, but were all I had at the time."
"Oh, well." - Joe King
-- Credit: Lynn Vivian, 1999
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