The Gus That Was: I was recently invited to a memorial gathering for Gus Dudgeon, who died last year along with his wife, Sheila (with him at right), in a car crash. Although I am sadly unable to attend—it's in England—the invitation made me go through some of my old e-mail from Gus, whom I met at the Zombies-box record-release bash and with whom I corresponded for a while afterwards. I was especially touched by the two paragraphs that I've copied below.
The first paragraph came after I'd asked him how he and his wife had managed to sustain a relationship for so long. He was so generous with his advice. Reading it, I wish very much that I could talk to him now.
As for the Glyn Johns story, you can tell that, for someone whose productions had sold over 100 million copies, he was remarkably unaffected. No wonder his friends are gathering for a second time since his death. I'm sure they all miss having his sympathic and understanding ear, not to mention his delicious wit.
How's your lurve affair going...swimmingly I hope. As to your question about Sheila and me....well it's a very involved business. Suffice to say [....] the fact is that I'm Damn glad I married her, 'cos all the others were airheads in one way or another...and although we drive each other totally BONKO every now and again, she's still the only one I could have lived with all this time. I have absolutely no idea exactly what love is, (which doesn't help you much I'm afraid), but....I do love her dearly. It's something to do with caring, sharing, and always wanting to make it work, however bizarre the circumstances. Get it? I'm not sure I do.
And, from another e-mail:
Don't be concerned about the Lennon thing. Why on earth should I expectyou to know that I had worked with him? If it makes you feel any better, I ran into Glyn Johns awhile back, and we were sharing a table at a bistro. For some reason the name Bill Wyman came up and I was telling
him what a great bloke Bill is, and then asked Glyn if he'd ever met him!!!! Stupid boy Dudgeon...for Chrissakes, Glyn used to produce The Stones!!! We all drop boobs at times....cheers....Gus.
4:38 PM
