From One Awesome Derek To Another
Johnny Damon’s been out with a strained right calf. Hideki Matsui pulled his hammy trying to beat out a grounder. Chris Ray plunked Bobby Abreu in the knee before A-Rod’s mammoth walk-off grand slam into the Stadium’s famed black seats (sorry, African-American seats). So the crowd couldn’t help but chant when it saw Miguel Cairo trotting out to left field: “We Want Bernie” and “Bring Back Bernie.”
Where have you gone Bernie Williams? A ballclub turns its lonely eyes to you. The former centerfielder has now been spotted, though it wasn’t a clubhouse visit. Bernie sat in with the Allman Brothers Band at the second-to-last Beacon show last night, ripping up Who’s Been Talkin’. That’s right, Bernie Fucking Williams.
The awesome citizen that uploaded these videos to YouTube decided to disable the embedding mechanism, so please click the following links for fantastic video footage of this classic sit-in: Part I of Who’s Been Talking and Part II of WBT, with Bernie’s lead.
Just surreal, mindfucking shit. I could not even imagine being in the crowd for that particular brand of tomfoolery. Whether you’re a diehard fan of the Yankees or a classic Yankeehater, that’s a bizarrely unreal sit-in that everyone in attendance will remember for the rest of their music-going lives. Was anyone there? Huge “Ber-nie” chants? Did he misjudge the length of some notes like fly balls? Fill us in with details.
Bring back Bernie, indeed. To the Beacon!
- Previously on Hidden Track: Allmans Beat Out the Gators, Not Quite Peakin’ at Beacon, and the HT Baseball Preview
[...] Here is a great link that includes a story and video. [...]
What, nobody wanted to call me in to play drums? Assholes.
That african american comment was really offensive and racist.
[...] The Week That Was Tiger loses wearing Championship Red, A-Rod’s the paragon of clutch and Bernie Williams jams with the Allmans. Wait, that all sounds wrong. But that’s what happened on the weekend was that, and five nights after I stood second row, the Beacon got a shot of #51. Trucks to Haynes to Chance. [...]
[...] Ahhh man, if the Yanks could bring back Bernie… [...]
How is a joke about language racist? It makes fun of liberal white guilt a lot more than it does black people.
This comment basically prove the joke. People are so filth flarn hyper-sensitive about race these days that they’ll jump in to make everything PC and toned down, so that when someone says “the black seats,” someone else may jump in and say, “No, those are called African-American seats now.” It has absolutely zero to do with race, it’s a play on society and language. I’m truly sorry we disagree, but I strongly disagree with your assessment.
Explain to me why you it’s racist, though. Seriously, I’d love to know exactly how that’s offensive and on what grounds. Not trying to be a dick, I’m just re-reading the line over and over and I just don’t see it.
Yes, the Beacon fans were hooting, “Bernie! Bernie!,” apparently totally forgetting that this was a concert, not a ballgame; could he play? Irrelevant– its BERNIE!!!
But as those Youtube vids show, he acquitted himself quite well on a challenging tune (no “Statesboro Blues” or “Southbound” for this gentleman)– “Who’s Been Talkin’ Allman style is an exercize in restraint, and Bernie played with taste and style, enriching, never stepping on the song.
Less successful: Tom Seaver’s sit-in on “Dreams.”
Last night of the run– your man Vivino is back for a couple tunes, David Sanborn sits in on a pair, Ravi Coltrane joins for second-set opener “In a Silent Way,” and Johnny Winter sits in for a 3-song stint to close the first set that we’ll be charitable and call, “a really nice thing the band did for him.”
Oh, and some fella named Taylor Hisks on an encore of “One Way Out,” blowing a mean harp; the people sitting near me say he was on some TV show.
No drum/bass solo, and still the show runs till about midnight; an extremely generous offering, it felt like a big “thank you” to the hard core fans. No, thank YOU.
Thanks for that, Josh…I read on last night’s setlist that John Jaha sat in on One Way Out. No?
[...] By The Numbers: Allmans at the Beacon The Allman Brothers Band last night concluded another epic run at the Beacon Theater. And just when you thought they had run out of possible guests, they bring out a former baseball player and a certified blues legend. [...]