Thorogood Vs. Mellencamp

I went to the George Thorogood / Brian Setzer co-headlining tour stop in New York City last night; both put on a great show. Autograph-wise, I was hoping to get Brian's signature on the two Stray Cats LPs that I have signed by Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker already. Alas, that didn't happen—apparently he split as soon as his opening set was done—but I did get George, and it was really well-handled by his people.

Standing by the back door of the Beacon Theatre, there were about 10-12 people after the show. We stood for only about 10 minutes when a security guard-type came out and said to us in a very friendly, conversational way, "I'm going to bring out George in a few minutes, and he's going to go straight to the bus. If you saw the show [acknowledging that yeah, some of the people waiting hadn't—in fact, the guy next to me, apparently an autograph dealer, had been downtown at Barnes & Noble getting Pete Townsend's autograph at a CD signing], you know he leaves it all on stage, so he's too beat to stop for photos and things. BUT, after he's on the bus, I'll come back and gather up your items and he'll sign them."

He paused and added to one person, "However, I have to tell you, he will not sign that album." The album in question was Better Than The Rest. "My job is to keep George happy and I have to tell you, all real George Thorogood albums feature George on the cover. Is George on that cover?" She said, "Well, no." "Exactly, and George is not and has never been an MCA recording artist. It upsets him that the album exists and he will not sign it. Accordingly, I will not be bringing that album in for him to sign." As the woman was there with the autograph dealer, he just handed her a different album, so this was not a big deal.

Moments later, George sped right by us in a snakeskin jacket, not saying a word, got on the bus and was visible from the lounge window. The guard came back, gathered up our records, and then turned to some of the others who had been waiting, hoping to get a photo with Thorogood. "Have anything you want signed?" he asked, and they sadly shook their heads no. "How about your ticket stubs? Still got those?" The fans' faces lit up—"Yes! Yes, I do!" They handed over the tickets and the guard climbed on to the bus. We all agreed it was cool that the Thorogood team would go out of their way to ensure fans had some kind of memento of the evening.

In full view through the bus lounge window—clearly on purpose—George signed everything and waved to the small crowd. The autograph dealer next to me was impressed, sharing, "That's the right thing to do, man. When Mellencamp was here, they took stuff to get signed on the bus, and they must've just handed albums to whoever was in there, 'cause when the albums came back, I had four records with four completely different Mellencamp signatures. If you don't want to sign them, that's cool, don't sign them—but don't be a jerk."

The guard came back out, handed everyone's stuff back, we all went on our merry ways and George got some peace and quiet. Strikes me as a win-win for everyone.

Tags: Beacon, Brian, Cougar, George, John, Mellencamp, Setzer, Theatre, Thorogood

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Comment by Ian Baldock on May 30, 2015 at 5:54pm: One of the good guys. Nice story.

Comment by Coachgd on May 30, 2015 at 7:31pm: Good George story. I wish they were coming to Cleveland. So the autograph dealer was mad that Mellencamp signed his stuff? I don't get those guys. When I got Mellencamp earlier this year, his assistant came out and gathered our stuff and brought it to his trailer. Yes, some of the autographs were a little rushed, and they weren't all exactly the same- but they are authentic. I also got him after the show, and he was very nice as he put down the window of his SUV and signed for everyone. My 2 items look exactly the same as the one's I got before the show.

So to me, Mellencamp was not a jerk in my experience. I guess unless you see them signed right in front of you, you can never be 100% certain. However, my belief is that he did sign those items before the show.

Comment by Brian Burger on May 31, 2015 at 5:33pm: This going right to bus is standard procedure for George as he did the same thing here in Orlando a couple years ago and even waived out the front bus window at the 10-12 who were waiting to get his autograph. My buddy who had gotten him in the past says he goes right to the bus and either security or his tour manager gathers up material to signed and takes it on the bus and several asked about pictures with and my buddy stated he will not take pictures with and especially not with female fans because in the past there are instance where pictures have ended on facebook or other places with false statements about the picture like "I spent the night with George and here my pic" so he declines requests for pictures. George signed everything and it was brought out to everyone about 10 minutes after he jumped on the bus. My buddy had the same problem with the exact same album and he got into with Georges tour manager over the album about 8 years ago. Mellencamp refused to sign for fans here in Orlando in March and I heard he even did the same thing in Jacksonville a couple of days prior to his show here. I have always heard he is generous and loves the fans so maybe he just had bad day or two here in Florida. My buddy contacted his website the next day and they made the standard John is nice guy pitch and they said for my buddy to send John his stuff to the fan mail address listed on the website and John signs fan stuff twice a week when he's not on tour but I think he's on tour until August. This has been my only attempt at John Mellencamp since he rarely plays Florida. I think it's been twice in 30 years if I recall.

Comment by Josh Board on June 1, 2015 at 11:30pm: I met George once. He wouldn't sign, and me and my friend were the only two there. Good news was...he was selling signed CDs at the show for $25. I bought one. I don't know why more artists don't do this. We'd all buy them, right??

Mellencamp I met once. He climbed over bushes, almost fell down, and then a railing...just to come over to me and 5 other fans. SIgned our stuff. Super nice. His signature looked different on each album we all had, and we all saw him signed!!! I wouldn't sweat that. The autograph dealers do, because those guys know they don't have as much resale value (if any). Us fans...we're happy, and really...isn't that all that matters?

That being said...thanks for sharing this story. It's nice to know George has gotten better about this over the years.

Comment by Clive Young on June 3, 2015 at 11:28am: I have no issues with Mellencamp; I was just sharing someone else's story. I've often noticed when signing off on invoices for my job how my signature changes in the space of just 5 minutes, and that's just taking my time. I'm sure it's more pronounced if you're rushing to take care of as many people as you can.

Comment by Surfin82 on June 5, 2015 at 7:51pm: Wanted to share that I "met" John Mellencamp 2 nights ago. I live in a small town (no pun intended), and the security acted like the president was there. Barricades were set-up around John's "smoking trailer." A few fans hung out by his SUV where he usually signs from before he leaves. About 30 minutes after the concert, there were about 40 people around the barricades. One of John's people walked around and gathered memorabilia and took it to John to sign. I was able to get an album signed. If you were to see his autograph without seeing the album, you would not be able to identify a single letter, let alone the name. But, I was still happy to get it signed. He waved as he went to his SUV and took off. A guy even yelled "John, can you please take a picture with my kids (he had a young son and daughter with him), but John just waved and ignored the request. I really can't say anything bad, though. He didn't have to sign or do anything at all.

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