WP Yeah. When he got out we kind of kept it a secret from the band because we wanted to surprise everybody. I knew that he was get- ting out and we were going to bring him to a show just to have him appear in front of the band and flip everybody out.
JW So how did it ultimately occur?
had to be done with precision or he would go nuts. For example if the promoter was five minutes late he would get upset. If there were supposed to be six cases of beer and there were only five and a half or even if there were seven he had trouble dealing with it. He had all kinds of stipulations. For example, at out- door gigs he had a sunlight clause. The stage had to be situated so that if we were playing in the afternoon the sun wouldn't be in Dickey Betts' eyes. A couple of times out on the road he almost freaked out again. And eventually he went on and worked with Dixie Dreggs. There were still some pretty intense times with the band out on the road after he came back. At times he would want to go home. I would sit down and talk to him. I can always remember telling Twiggs that " We live in an imperfect world full of imperfect people and if you can't adjust to that it's going to drive you nuts". Maybe eventually it did drive him nuts.
Willie Perkins and Red Dog Campbell.
WP It was in New Orleans and I believe it was in late 1971. I think it was the Warehouse show we played in New Orleans in September of 1971. He was basically confined for around a year. He went from the jail to the mental in- stitution. When he got out there was some question as to whether he would jump right back in and go back to work for the band. I talked to Phil Walden about the possibility of Twiggs being a special projects guy and suggested that he not jump back into the wear and tear of being on the road. But eventually he did hit the road again, and it did get to him.
JW In what way? WP Well ,Twiggs just had a hard time dealing with human imperfection. As soon as he would decide the way a job was supposed to be done by the rider and the time the guys were to arrive at a gig to set up, everything
JW Well at least Twiggs died doing one of the things he really had a passion for which was parachute jumping. WP Yeah, in a place called Duanesburg, New York I believe. I always have had questions about the incident.
JW Duane always insisted that the Road Crew get paid first. Red Dog's monthly government check often helped the band to eat in the early days. One night the band played a con- cert and only ten people showed up to watch the gig. Duane was able to scrape together ten one-dollar bills and he gave this to the roadies. Red Dog could- n't understand why he was being paid and Duane said that the crew always had to work and set up even if no-one shows up to watch the show. Can you comment on this or add anything? WP When the band first got together and
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