There's a couple of stories about why Bryan left The Cramps....He , himself , claimed he was getting more into stuff like The Clash and PIL and further away from their musical roots.
The top story , with Lux's verification , as to why Bryan left was , was that he simply took off with a band vehicle , loaded with their equpment , and never came back. After he died , though , Lux and Ivy cited his Heroin habit as the main thing making their relationship with Bryan crumble. Gregory did turn up , unannounced , at a Cramps gig in the 90's to make peace with Lux and Ivy . They forgave him. So much time had elapsed.....But , I speak from experience , these first wave Cleveland Punks hold on to a grudge like they'll turn to stone if they let go.
Of course , the most popular story is that Gregory joined a Devil Cult......Well......His Girlfriend , Ardella , was an Occult practitioner(They later formed the awful Goth - Rock BAND , Beast , together. ), AND , REPORTEDLY, the two joined a coven , practicing White magic , but , not Satanism as such.
dave said:
Whoo, ya done good!! The Cramps were one of the best shows I've ever seen, w/ Candy and Nick. They embody all that's great about rock and roll!
'Ja ever hear why Brian left the band? Bad trip? Anxiety?
Kinky's always good for a laugh, wish he'd won the election in Tejas. Be a better gun'nor, that's for sure.
Keep up the good karma,
Dave
GattyGoon said:The first show I remember is seeing Freddy Fender at a rodeo in El Paso, Texas.
The first punk show was in DC to see The Cramps, Tex Rubinowitz and the Teen Idles (Ian Mackaye pre- Minor Threat / Fugazi. The Cramps had to cancel because Brian Gregory wigged out and left the band. So I saw the other two bands.
The best shows were Cramps and Link Wray shows.
Although always great, some of the Cramps shows that stand out more.
The night my good friend (Stephen Blickenstaff) and I went backstage and Stephen presented Lux and Ivy with his artwork that became the famous "Bad Music For Bad People" cover art. After that we got in to their shows on the guest lists.
Another time we traveled to Pittsburg and were on the guest list (Thanks Stephen!) Reverend Horton Heat was opening for them. Backstage after the show Lux, Jim Heath and I stood around talking about serieal killers.
RHH's drummer asked if I wanted to go party and play music with them after the show. I declined as I had to drive back early the next day.
Good thing too, because It turned out - unknown to us - that The Cramps were staying in the same motel as we were. Lux came to our room to hang out.
He was wearing black pajamas with glow in the dark skeletons. He went into our bathroom and turned out the light so we could see them glow. He picked up my glow in the dark toothbrush and pretended to brush his teeth.
Ivy was tired and did not join us but she sent Stephen a gift. She had rinsed out the fringed outfit she had worn on stage that evening and layed it out on a motel towel to dry. Some of the black dye had stained the towel with a perfect image of her outfit in a shroud of turin sort of way. Lux gave the towel to Stephen and said that Ivy wanted him to have it.
The next morning as we were leaving town we stopped at a record store. After a few minutes the Cramps walked in too. So I got to spend thirty minutes or so talking about guitars and comic books with Ivy.
And a differnt show we headed to a local bar after they played and I got to sit, chat and drink with Harry Drumdini.
Link Wray was always great. Once at the Wax Museum in D.C. I was up at the front of the stage and this lady tapped me on my shoulder and asked if I would help her onto the stage which was about six feet off of the floor. She said that she was Link's wife. So I gave a boost and she was. Link was happy and gave me a smile and a nod.
