Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen Shows Up to Jam with Whitey Morgan
On Thursday, September 13th, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s played a show at The Apollo near Rockford, Illinois when they had an unexpected visitor stop by in the form of Cheap Trick Rick, a.k.a. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Rick Nielsen. “Apparently he is a fan,” Whitey Morgan tells Saving Country Music. “He’s a great dude.”
Before the show, Rick Nielsen went backstage to meet the band, and brought along a vintage 1953 Gibson Les Paul gold top to show off. Nielsen is known for his vast collection of electric guitars, including the infamous five-necked guitar he sometimes performs with. But that wasn’t all. Nielsen stuck around for the show, and sauntered up on stage to participate in an epic, 7 1/2-minute rendition of the bluesy Johnny Paycheck classic “11 Months and 29 Days” (see video below). Faces were melted in the capacity crowd.
Rick Nielsen is from the Rockford, Illinois area, which is about an hour west of Chicago. Rick’s parents owned a music store in Rockford when he was growing up, and he is active in the Rockford community. Nielsen has displayed his vast guitar collection in multiple museums in the town to attract interest, and does charity work regularly along with supporting the local music and arts scene. Though Nielsen is mostly known for Cheap Trick’s rock and power pop sound, he’s collaborated with country artists in the past, including Glen Campbell.
Whitey Morgan and the 78’s are known for their deadly tight and energetic live shows, and for being country music heroes for their insistence on sticking to the roots of the music and a hard, honky-tonk sound. An Upper Midwesterner himself, Whitey is originally from Flint, Michigan, and now lives in Northern California. Most Whitey Morgan live shows are memorable. But his show at The Apollo Thursday night will be one for the books.
Cody
December 15, 2019 @ 9:20 am
You should post something about Shooter Jennings producing the next American Aquarium album
Trigger
December 15, 2019 @ 9:33 am
Bit of a non sequitur 🙂
I’m sure I’ll have something about it when we have a few more details, like track list, cover art, release date, etc. Quotes from BJ about how personal of a record it is. All that stuff.
Scott
December 15, 2019 @ 9:50 am
Dammit and I couldn’t make it!
OMFS88
December 15, 2019 @ 10:01 am
Rick also owns (some portion of) Piece Pizza in Chicago and it’s a must visit brewery/pizzarea if you are into that sort of thing.
JB-Chicago
December 15, 2019 @ 12:29 pm
I was there, I was going to say something but I didn’t know where to post it. Rick lives very close to The Apollo Theater. Crowd loved it, all the phones came out to shoot pics/vids. Many in attendance grew up on Cheap Trick. I’ve seen many many shows over the years. Made the 45 minute drive north to a very cool venue with a comfortable crowd of 250. One thing about Whitey is he plays everywhere including small town cool theaters and bars most artists don’t. Always a great show!
Trigger
December 15, 2019 @ 12:44 pm
Was wondering if you were in attendance.
JB-Chicago
December 15, 2019 @ 1:44 pm
Yeah ya know ironically David Allan Coe was playing 10 minutes away right up the street that night at The Brauerhouse where I’ve seen Whitey twice but I just had a taste for Whitey and a venue I’d never been. On top of the fact I knew I’d be going to The BHouse last night to see Dan Whitaker and The Shinebenders who actually blew me away. Had a nice little weekend after having to sit through Country music hemorrhoid Hardy’s acoustic set Thursday night just to see Carly Pearce at our Toys For Tots Christmas show. She’s always a pleasure to watch….err..I mean listen to…lol
Thoroughbred
December 15, 2019 @ 8:54 pm
Best rhythm guitarist not named Keef
LeeHolverson
December 16, 2019 @ 6:37 am
I was also there. Great show. I wondered right away if this would show up on SCM.
Also a side note, I was impressed with the diversity of the crowd. A lot more people my age (30’s) than I would’ve guessed.
Moe
December 16, 2019 @ 9:29 am
Starting to sound like a trend but i was there too. I only live 4 blocks from the Apollo so it was a short walk for me. I agree it was a very diverse crowd, though i was probably near the top agewise at 64. I saw a teaser on Facebook before the show saying Rick may show so i wasn’t surprised. I grew up with Cheap Trick, living in the Chicago area, and saw them many times in local bars in their early years. Whitey put on a great show!
Bear
December 16, 2019 @ 10:39 pm
IK just remarking you don’t get that kind of reverence (both ways) in much mainstream music. Certainly not at awards shows.
The best I’ve seen is Springsteen. Every time he has another musicians up on stage from another band he almost always seems in awe he’ playing with them. Not to mention he piratically hands over his band and the stage.
Damn this was so balls to wall. This is why love music so much people feel it and get the pocket and just DRIVE because they can do nothing else!