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Cutter Brandenburg
aka Mr. Cee , writer of the book,
You Can't Stop a Comet
Interview with Cutter Brandenburg by Szibilla MB. for RockinforM Magazin. A shorter
version published nationwide in Hungary in the 2011 May issue. (No.183)
You were born in Greenville Mississippi in 1950. How you got into music? Was it in
your family?
– My brother and my sisters were all older then I, and so I was always listening to their
music. The oldest , My brother Garry was listening to early rock and roll, and black music,
and I remember listening to Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, and all these guys, and all the
music of the 50s, and I got intot the music my brother was listening to, and I was singing
and dancing. We had fun, and I learned a lot from my sisters and brothers. My family
always enjoyed music, and it was something that was passed to me through my sisters and
brother really.
Later you went to California and bought a van, and saw Jimi Hendrix many times.
– I saw him eighteen times. The minute I graduated from high school, I knew becuse I had
polio on my left leg when I was young that I was not going to Vietnam. I started chasing
Jimi Hendrix, and I chased him all over the United States. But once I started chasing Jimi, I
started chasing everybody else also in the music industry, and I started meeting people , and
I've found out what a roadie does, you know and I was the head of the band, I knew where
they will be playing before they did, and I'd be at the next stop before they would be at the
next show.
There was a gig in San Marcus back then and you forgot your hat on a table and
Stevie started using it.
– It helped him to find that look that he was looking for. I don't wanna take too much credit
for it, I mean it was really Chris Layton's idea to buy a hat for Stevie at Texas Hatters, but he
picked out that hat. That hat became a thing that helped him find himself, and I think he felt
comfortable with that hat.
Am I right making the statement that you're the only one who knew Stevie as a
friend and wrote a book about him.
– Right! I think that's true. You know Keri Leigh was a frustrated musician in Austin, and
she wrote the book Soul o Soul, and Stevie actually gave her a written autobiography, and
he gave her rights to write his autobiography. She didn't really make it when Stevie was
alive, but when Stevie died she went around and interviewed a lot of people and then she
got this book out pretty quickly and she got so many dates wrong, and you know most
people didn't even give her much credit. Because she was given a great opportunity by
Stevie, but she never took adventage of it, but when he died then she jumped on the projekt
to make money. She made up stuff while trying to make it done. She had plenty of time
while Stevie was alive,
If Stevie would know of your book, he would have gave a his amen to it i think.
– Well I hope so. I wrote it because I wanted to share my memories of him with those who
loved him as much as I did. I wanted to share the memories that I had, and for years I tried
to figure out how to write a book, because I didn't know how to write. But when I opened
my club, I would stand there and people would say, 'Tell me a story Cee!', and I would tell a
story, and I got so easy talking about this or that that I thought, well, once I close my club, I
said, then if I can write this book, and make enough money to reopen the club down in
Austin, then it's worth doing it. You know once I did the book, I think I had Stevie helping
me through it, because I think he wanted me to say some things.
And you know Stevie's gear very much. How long you worked for Stevie?
– I worked for him over fifteen years. And then I exit, and I would work for somebody else,
and then come back. I think it was about twenty years I worked with him on and off with
him. I left him right when they were being successful. In 1984. We already had Texas Flood
out, and I thought that they don't need me anymore, and so I thought they're gonna be fine.
But I never knew that there will be only four albums before we lost him ..
You were roadie for ZZ Top, Johnny Winter, The Bee Gees, and Tom Petty too. What
would you say about them?
– They are all greats. But you know the music I enjoyed the most was Stevie's style. Just
three piece, very simple. Johnny Winter-type thing, you know just very simple, straight,
'white boy playing the blues'. That was amazing for me.
http://www.mrceecutter.com