Posted by Dave Usher on March 14, 103 at 02:25:53:
I would like to share a bit of history with folks for biographical purposes. My parents, Alex and Rich Usher played Gaslight Square in St. Louis frequently when I was a kid. At that time, John desperately wanted to play music as a career. But his father (the real family name was Harford), wanted him to be a doctor like he was. John was greatly torn by this. One night he visited my parents and asked them what he should do. They told him that if he though he would kick himself for the rest of his life if he didn't become a musician, then he might want to do it. John did.
I saw him several times as I grew up. He picked a lot with the Road Apples when he was in St. Louis. I wasn't that good at mandolin yet, so I chickened out on those private jams. I will never forgive myself.
I jammed with him at tut and vassar out in the woods at fox hollow in the late 60's and early 70's, where we literally played all night. He did a workshop at fox hollow one day. Some bozo out in the audience hollered "Play Foggy Mountain Breakdown". John paused and mumbled, "Well, break my fingers", and played Cripple Creek instead. What a scream!! I have several recordings of those shows, which were made right before they recorded the Aereo Plane album.
He always remembered my mother, and twice picked her out of large audiences to give her a nod. John never forgot their advice.
In June 2001, I hired his band to play a fundraiser at the Missouri Botanical gardens. John gave a fabulous show. It was amazing because he conserved all his energy just for playing, and was so efficient at it that you couldn't even see his fingers move. His sense of humor was better than ever, despite the illness, and we were in stitches the whole time when we went out for dinner at Outback after the show. Little did I know, it would be his last concert in St. Louis. I guy has a DAT recording of it, which I could get if it were wanted.
If anybody is doing a biography on John, please feel free to contact me. I can put you in touch with my mom and dad, who have some great stories to tell from his youthful days. We all still live in St. Louis, where the Mississippi is still too thick to navigate, and still too thin to plough.