Chet-isms and Chet stories

[Dale See]

It was great to see Steve Wariner at CAAS this year and hear him tell stories about Chet. That is probably my favorite part of going to CAAS each year - hearing first hand stories about our hero. Paul has also told many wonderful stories and I just can't get enough of it.

If this has been done before, please forgive me, but with all the Chet knowledge on this forum I would love to see you guys add your favorite Chet-isms to this thread - sayings or stories Chet liked to tell. For example: the story of the guy who told Chet how great his guitar sounds and Chet set it down and said " how's it sound now? "

Another example is when Chet would finish a performance and turn to the band and say "we fooled em again."

Chet seemed to have been blessed with a quick wit. His dry sense of humor and his way of saying things was priceless.
If there is any interest out there in doing this, please jump onto this thread.

Best Regards,
Dale

[cgprnd]

Dale, this topic was covered in the past but maybe it has been a while. I can tell you a few that I've witnessed personally.

1) I met Chet backstage after a concert in Atlanta in 1969 while I was in the Army and asked him if he read music? I
didn't and I wanted to get a feeling from him how important it was. He responded "Not enough to hurt my playing".
I've read since then that he has used this line a number of times but it was a first for me.

2) During a concert he told everyone that his success allowed for him and his wife to carpet the bathroom. He then
followed with "...and we liked it so much that we decided to run it on into the house".

3) At a CAAS event in the 90's he told us about his adaptation to bifocals. He described standing at a urinal in
a restroom "I looked down and was admiring the big one while the little one peed on my shoe".


I'm sure there are many others, and I've read a few, but these I witnessed personally.


Rande

[David Elliott]

Hi Rande,

Yes, Chet had a great 'dry' sense of humor (which is usually the funniest kind of all)!

I liked his line about Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, (famous televangelists of some years ago.)

If you'll recall, Jim was sent to prison for embezzlement of church funds, but Tammy Faye continued on with their 'ministry' for some time, even though it was pretty obvious she was as guilty as he was...

Chet used to say that Tammy Faye "stuck by Jim through thick"...

[cgprnd]

Hi David,

I also saw Chet use that line when he brought his wife Leona on stage at one of the CAAS meetings years ago. "This is my wife Leona and she has stuck with me through thick". I loved that.

Rande

[bill_h]

Onme of my favorites is the time Buster B. fixed the antenna on Chet's car. I heard Thom Bresh tell the story at one of the Chet Conventions. Unfortunately it won't be as funny with me typing it as it was with Thom telling the story and imitating Chet but here goes.

Buster was staying with Bresh in Nashville and one Sat. afternoon Chet stopped by and sometime or other mentioned that the antenna was broke on his car. Buster, being a mechanic/carpenter ended up fixing the antenna for Chet. Word for word, the best I can remember ( which means it won't be word for word but pretty close ) Chet said " You always were mighty handy at these kind of things. I seen some gal over at Vandyland this morning leaning up against my car while she was talking to someone.. I was afraid something like this might happen but I couldn't hardly say nothin' cause she 'uz a big ole thing! Thanks Buster for fixing my antenna so it'll go up and down again."