Getting to know famous people can be disappointing — but it also can lead to some wonderful experiences
Never meet your heroes.
That’s often good advice. I have come across a few people I admired over the years, and sometimes I wished I had not. Willie Mays is the best baseball player who ever lived, but my brief encounter with him in downtown Reno in 1983 resulted in me staring and pointing like a fool.
“It’s Willie Mays!” I shouted to him as we met on a crosswalk.
He knew who he was, and he also knew he had just lost a lot of money playing craps at Harrah’s Reno, the casino where I dealt 21. He gave me an angry look and stormed past.
Still, Willie Mays up close. Cool.
George McGovern was a truly historic figure. He served 22 years in Congress, ran for president three times and was the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee. I interviewed him many, many times over the years, and got to know him quite well when I was the assistant editor of The Mitchell Daily Republic during his final years.
McGovern was brilliant, thoughtful and witty. He also was a complex figure, and very human. He told me stories and shared personal information I never expected to learn about him or anyone else who was not a relative or close friend.
I was proud on Labor Day 2012 — the last time we met — when George told me that former campaign workers were reading a series I wrote on the 40th anniversary of his 1972 presidential run. They liked it, he said. It was a wonderful final moment with a great man, arguably the greatest South Dakotan ever.
Jimmy Buffett was, as I have written a few times, a delightfully friendly and warm guy when I met him in Texas almost four decades ago. I had been a fan of his music and his laid-back personality for years and he was very much like his image.
Over the years, I have been very fortunate to meet a lot of politicians, athletes, musicians and other magnetic personalities. Most of the interactions were fleeting, with them using me to get their message across and me using them to get a story or column.
But sometimes, you get to know someone a bit better. That’s one of the perks of this job. It almost makes up for endless budget hearings and late nights and weekends in the office.
I have been a fan of Hank Harris (seen above in an image from his Facebook page) for nearly as long as he has been a professional musician. Hank is an outstanding songwriter, singer and guitarist who is best-known for his years with The Red Willow Band.
Red Willow was South Dakota’s top band in the mid- to late 1970s when I was a student at SDSU. I saw them play many times in Brookings, and like thousands of other fans, I was dazzled by their talent and creativity.
The first concert I attended was at Frost Arena on the SDSU campus in the spring of 1977. Cosmic cowboy Jerry Jeff Walker, famous for his songs “Mr. Bojangles,” “L.A. Freeway” and “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother,” was the headliner.
Walker was partying hard in those days — he sobered up a few years later and lived to be 78 — and his performance was slightly curtailed when he fell off the stage. His backing group, the Lost Gonzo Band, finished the show. They’d likely been there before.
That was quite a start to my concert-going experiences, but equally memorable was the outstanding opening act — The Red Willow Band. The group was in prime shape, razor-honed from years of touring.
I briefly chatted with ace fiddler Kenny Putnam at The Lantern bar in Brookings around 1980. Kenny was, then and now, polite, friendly and decent. Otherwise, I never talked with any members of Red Willow. They were stars, and I was just a college kid.
Hank has told me I missed some epic parties after the bars closed. I try not to think about that.
That changed almost two decades ago when I was the editor of The Rapid City Weekly News. We did quite a few music stories, and I got to know many of the best musicians in the Black Hills.
That included a few more discussions with Putnam, still boyishly young and friendly after all the years and shows, and Harris. Hank and I have talked during breaks in his shows, for stories about upcoming shows and records, and sometimes just to catch up.
I admit it is still cool to realize I am talking with him and other South Dakota music legends like Putnam, Darla Drew and Don Lerdal from DD & The Fayrohs and other stars I have been lucky enough to meet.
Hank and I have been in contact lately, as I wrote a story about him for The Black Hills Pioneer. That meant a long phone that drifted away from the topic, as well as email and text exchanges. Hank is always friendly and helpful, with no ego evident from this three-time inductee in the South Dakota Rock & Rollers Hall of Fame.
His latest CD, “Beautiful Planet,” will be released on Thursday, July 11. The first single, also called “Beautiful Planet,” is out today (Friday, June 7). It will be available on his website, www.hankharrismusic.com, and on his Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/hankharrismusic/?ref=ts
Do yourself a favor and check out “Beautiful Planet.” It was recorded in 2023-24, with Harris working out of a home studio and with drummer, engineer and musician Jimmy Goings, a three-time inductee to the South Dakota rock hall.
Goings played with the group Santa Esmerelda in the 1970s and early ‘80s and has worked with some prominent musicians. He now operates his own production and publishing companies and has hooked Harris up with a talented crew of performers, including guitarists Tony Baker and Mike Miller, drummer T. Moran, horn player Steffen Kuehn, keyboardist Peter Nuessmann and singers Genevieve Goings, his daughter, and Gwyneth Forrester.
“I’m very, very lucky to have met these people and have them interested enough to play on my stuff,” Harris said.
Inside the CD is a collection of photos he took. Hank, a quiet, almost shy man, is as talented with a camera as he is with a guitar. I have urged him to hold shows featuring his work.
That’s just a friendly piece of advice.
Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states and contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets. Reprint with permission.
