Rolling Stone Australia — July 2017

whenifirststarteddoingmusicmany

yearsago,IneverthoughtIwouldbeappreci-

ated enough to where someone would ask for

my autograph. When recognisability became

partofmylife,itwasmostlybad.Theideaof

famewasequivalenttosellingout.Onenight

afterashow,Iwaswalkingthroughthepark-

ing lot of the venue with Joey Ramone. A girl

cameuptohimandyelled,

“Rockstar,Idon’twanna

knowYOU!”Joeykeptwalk-

ing.Thesignalswere,atbest,

mixed. Punk rock instructs

metospeaktowhomisspeak-

ingtome.Idon’tpretendI

didn’t hear them. I always did

my best to answer every ques-

tion and sign every item put in front of me.

Somewhere in the 1990s, I was signing auto-

graphs on records, fl yers, shirts, and I got used

to it. I never questioned what the guy who had

me sign fi ve copies of one record was going to do

with them because I didn’t think anything could

be done. All that changed.

Starting in the early 2000s and ever increas-

ingly to now, perhaps with the advent of online

commerce and bidding sites, autograph seek-

ers wait for me all over. They meet me in hotel

lobbies, airports, train stations, the parking lots

of venues. They usually have the same photo-

graphs, downloaded from the internet. They

will put a bunch in front of me and ask me to

sign them for all their friends who couldn’t make

it. I used to sign one per person until some of

these people started getting aggressive with me.

Then I started signing none. A guy in Los An-

geles got mad at me for not signing and wrote

“I hate niggers” on the photos, and underneath

that,signedmyname. He put them under the

windshield wipers of cars next

to the venue.

Sometimes people send me

pictures of records that are

said to have my autograph

and those of others in bands

I have been in to check for au-

thenticity. Often they are fake

and I’m glad to have saved

them the trouble.

I understand a hustle and that there’s many

ways to make a buck, so none of this bends me

out of shape. The thing I am having a diffi cult

time with these days is when someone asks me

to sign their arm or something and then they

get it tattooed. I will occasionally comply, but

mostly just talk them out of it. If they are on

any stimulant, I will refuse.

Being a “public” person, if you will, requires

a lot of understanding, patience and genu-

ine aff ection for others. It’s a balance of being

cool and not getting walked on. I cannot rec-

ommend it.

July, 2017 RollingStoneAus.com | Rolling Stone | 25

In celebration of his 50th

anniversary as a record-

ing artist, Diamond is

hitting the road this year

for a world tour.

Lonnie Donegan

“Rock Island Line”

I first heard this when

I started playing guitar.

It was a combination of

folk and rock & roll, and it

angled me into the world

of Woody Guthrie.

TheEverlyBrothers

“Bye Bye Love”

If you were a teenager

into music at this time,

you loved the Everly

Brothers. Anybody could

do harmonies, but no-

body had their sound.

Peter, Paul and Mary

“Blowin’ in the Wind”

This actually talked about

current events. It spoke

about an issue that

had been boiling for

years and was ready to

make itself known.

The Rolling Stones

“Satisfaction”

This had a black groove,

not only by white people

but non-American white

people. They were as

responsible as the Beatles

for the British Invasion.

Ritchie Valens

“La Bamba”

It had the most infectious

rhythm, with a certain

magic that you hope for

when you make a record.

It was also fresh, with a

great groove.

MY LIST

Five Songs That

Infl uenced Me

Neil

Diamond

HENRY ROLLINS ON PROFESSIONAL AUTOGRAPH HUNTERS

AFan’sNotes

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL WELDON; GETTY IMAGES

“Autograph seekers

wait for me all over.

Lobbies, airports,

train stations.”