two about that anyway. Well, when I was boxing I was beating pretty good fighters. And I got rated at # 29 in the world. Roberto Duran was looking for some- one to fight. And I got to fight him on TV. I gave a pretty good account of myself but at the end of the sixth round they stopped it be- cause I had a horrific cut on my lip and my eye was split open. So they stopped the fight. He was definitely the better man, but I
have a memory that I got to get in the ring and fight one of the greatest fighters who ever lived. And the reason he was so popular was because he was great.He was one of the most gifted and most incredible boxers of all time. You know I’ve got a hell of a scrap book and memories cuz I got to do something that very few people ever got to do. Even though I lost I still have a great sense of pride that I made it that far.
How many rounds did you say it went? It was scheduled for ten and I was doing quite well in the fight but he hit me and cut me re- ally bad, and as the rounds went on, the cut kept getting worse. So at the end of the sixth round, the doctor wouldn’t let me come out for the seventh. But it was like, you’ve heard these stories about women pulling cars off their children because of the adrenaline. My face was cut really bad, but I swear I didn’t even know I was cut, until I looked in the mir- ror. It took about 30 stitches to sew it up. It was pretty bad.
You know one of the things about you that some people may not know is that you’re a heck of a folk artist, a painter. I love your work. You’ve done a lot of your own album covers and all. Did you ever think of that or lean toward that as a possible career choice, as an artist. You know what I’ve learned about art? You
could draw the greatest picture ever drawn. You could draw the Mona Lisa. But if people don’t know anything about the artist, they don’t care. A lot of people will buy art, not be- cause the art is good, but because of the per- son who created the art. You could draw a great picture and put up an art show, and no- body would buy anything. But Johnny Cash could draw a stick figure and sell it for $10,000. You see what I’m saying?
Yeah, for sure, I’ve seen that. There is great art, but you really have a profile it seems like to me. You have to have a story about the artist himself to entice the buyer. People want to know about the artist. Over the course of my career as I’ve gotten more well know, what I charge for my art has went up. And it’s not because it’s any greater than somebody else’s, it’s because people know who I am and they want a piece of me. It’s not even about the art. You know what I mean?
Yeah. It’s something you created. I’ve seen people come up to musicians I know and ask them for things – a shirt, a lock of hair or just crazy stuff. With that, it’s a little bit different. One of these days when I become a multi-mil- lionaire, I’m going to get me a piece of your art, too. I really like it because of knowing you, but I really like the style a lot. You know. Do you remember Rev. Howard Fenster? I’m going to tell you something. Howard Fen- ster sang in my wedding.
(Laughs.) Really!? I didn’t know he was a singer. Let me tell you something. I got to know Howard before he died and he is actually the person who got me started doing my art. I started seriously doing my art in 1998 and it
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