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As I mentioned, one of my duties at Guild was to handle artist relations. I had an unforunate and brief dealing with Billy Rush, the guitarist of Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. Being a Jersey band, they were easy to get to. I decided to approach Billy Rush for an endorsement on the S-300. I took one over to the House of Music, a now-defunct recording studio in West Orange where The Jukes were recording. Billy looked it over and tried it out. He seemed to like it. Here's what went down:
Billy-Do you have a Guild catalog I could look through?
Bob-Sure, here you go.
Billy-(Flips through the catalog quickly)-I want one of these, one of these, one of these, one of these, one of these, one of these and a bass...all for free. Then, I'll endorse that electric. That's the deal. (He walks away and I am dumbstruck at his nerve, asking for seven guitars free of charge. There was no way Neil would go along with that.)
I go back to the office and Neil agrees to give him a solidbody and an acoustic of his choice, but that's it. Neil's comment was, "he's fu***** crazy if he thinks we're giving him seven guitars!"
I went back to HOM a few days later and conferred with the band's manager, who said, "Well, Billy thinks it's going to be a very big year for him, what with this new album coming out soon, so we want seven guitars or no deal."
"He'll get an electric and an acoustic and that's it. No offense to you or Billy, but he's not exactly a major name at this point and we think he has a lot of a nerve demanding a deal like that. Even major names don't get unlimited freebies with Guild. In our experience, we've had endorsers put guitars up for sale immediately after getting them...just days after they arrive. Two guitars is our offer."
They turned it down, much to our relief. Billy Rush probably would have been a bear to deal with. I just did a Google search on him. He's mentioned as The Jukes guitarist/songwriter, but that's it. I guess his "big year" wasn't so big after all. He's seemingly disappeared off the musical map and hasn't been heard from in years. He missed his chance to be associated with Guild for lack of humility and an abundance of greed.
The best endorsers where the biggest names. No hassles, no BS, no problems.
Next time: Peter Frampton.
Billy-Do you have a Guild catalog I could look through?
Bob-Sure, here you go.
Billy-(Flips through the catalog quickly)-I want one of these, one of these, one of these, one of these, one of these, one of these and a bass...all for free. Then, I'll endorse that electric. That's the deal. (He walks away and I am dumbstruck at his nerve, asking for seven guitars free of charge. There was no way Neil would go along with that.)
I go back to the office and Neil agrees to give him a solidbody and an acoustic of his choice, but that's it. Neil's comment was, "he's fu***** crazy if he thinks we're giving him seven guitars!"
I went back to HOM a few days later and conferred with the band's manager, who said, "Well, Billy thinks it's going to be a very big year for him, what with this new album coming out soon, so we want seven guitars or no deal."
"He'll get an electric and an acoustic and that's it. No offense to you or Billy, but he's not exactly a major name at this point and we think he has a lot of a nerve demanding a deal like that. Even major names don't get unlimited freebies with Guild. In our experience, we've had endorsers put guitars up for sale immediately after getting them...just days after they arrive. Two guitars is our offer."
They turned it down, much to our relief. Billy Rush probably would have been a bear to deal with. I just did a Google search on him. He's mentioned as The Jukes guitarist/songwriter, but that's it. I guess his "big year" wasn't so big after all. He's seemingly disappeared off the musical map and hasn't been heard from in years. He missed his chance to be associated with Guild for lack of humility and an abundance of greed.
The best endorsers where the biggest names. No hassles, no BS, no problems.
Next time: Peter Frampton.