In June of 1969, a band called the Rockin Foo played a show at an L.A. club owned by a friend of guitarist Jimi Hendrix. During their set, Hendrix himself took the stage to jam, followed by his Band of Gypsies’ drummer Buddy Miles, who hit his kick drum so hard it flew about a foot downstage every time he hit it.
So the Foo’s dedicated stoner/surferboy/chick-magnet roadie rushed out, “got on his knees, and held the instrument in place for the song’s duration,” his “shaggy hair” flopping around as the guitar legend wailed just feet from him.
The roadie in question was future “SNL” cast member Phil Hartman, who would go on to create an array of impersonations and original characters — from takes on Frank Sinatra and Bill Clinton that captured the essence of their bawdy and raw qualities, to his hilariously insufferable Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer and Anal Retentive Chef — that made him perhaps the most versatile actor in the show’s history. Just this week, visitors to the website Grantland voted Hartman the second-best cast member ever, behind only Will Ferrell.
