Heroes

Sicher jeder kennt Sass Jordan, eine Ausnahmekünstlerin und eine meiner Lieblinge aus früheren Zeiten.

Sie gibt hier zwei Geschichten preis, die ihr Leben zwar nicht gerade total änderten aber sie ihren Heroes doch definitiv näher brachte. Aber lest selber.


Heroes

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when John Lennon was shot. I was room-mates with Martin, at 7 Burton in Montreal. Vicky and David were there. Vicky and I were listening to music in the basement, and David was upstairs watching tv .. suddenly he yelled down the stairs to us 'John Lennon has just been shot in NYC" .. we raced up the stairs in shock to see what was going on - watched the news for about an hour or so .. with no real updates .. so we eventually just went back downstairs .. and a little while later, David opened the door and said 'he's dead'. I can still recall the feeling of being stunned, shocked beyond words and in tears .. the first time in my young life that something so utterly momentous, so curiously personal ... so completely senseless and seemingly random, had occurred. I had no relationship with the man known as John Lennon, other than my whole life had been indelibly imprinted by his very existence. He was IMPORTANT to me, in ways that people I had a personal relationship had never been. His influence was extreme and powerful to me ... and now I finally understand the importance of heroes .. because of him. Heroes are mythical characters .. they cannot be people with whom we have personal relationships, because then they become human .. and that is not easy to forgive. It is the very idea of these heroes .. the attributes that we project onto them ... the best parts of ourselves ... that MAKES them heroes.

Many years later, I was playing in Europe, and a number of the dates were opening for Aerosmith, starring another of my heroes, Steven Tyler. Steven was one of the few heroes that I have actually met that was as big a character in real life as he was in my imagination. He was mesmerizing, charismatic beyond belief, kind, generous and funny as hell. And he gave a shit about ME! He watched my whole show from the side of the stage at that gig in Germany. And he carried my suitcases through customs in Italy ... and when my boyfriend dumped me and I was in tears .. he grabbed my face and told me 'this too shall pass' ... and when I was in extreme pain, backstage in Finland, he found me aspirin, and hugged me, and told me I would be ok. Best of all .. he sang to me, from the stage .... Last Child.

I want to say thank you to my heroes ... the ones I knew, and the ones I never knew ... and to all the amazing people who are 'everyday ordinary working people' who do things we will never hear about, and yet who inspire and influence their families and their communities, and in doing so, affect all of us ... Blessings to all, and Happy Holidays ... I give thanks for all my friends ...

Peace and Respect,
Sass

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Sass Jordan has an awesome vocal presence. Her 1992 album, Racine, went to #2 in Billboard and the follow-up, Rats, reached #5. The respected guitarist, Colin Linden, who joins her here on guitar, produced her latest cd, Get What You Give