The version I heard of the joke posted by @ieales goes:
Q: "What do you call an unemployed drummer?"
A: "A drummer."
Both are very hurtful ;-) .
Today I watched a number of videos on YouTube of interviews with and instructional talks by guitarist Robben Ford. In them he describes himself as self-taught (good teacher ;-), and freely "confesses" he doesn’t read musical notation. He’s done pretty well for an illiterate.
When Robben and his two brothers left Ukiah California (in a band named The Charles Ford Band, in honor of their father), they stopped in San Jose, moving into a rental house near the corner of Stevens Creek Blvd. and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road. The bassist of my senior year high school band snagged the bass gig in the Ford Band, and I saw them live many times.
All the guitarists in San Jose had their abilities put into perspective when they saw Robben play. Seeing and hearing a talent like Robben is a humbling experience. He don’t need no sheet music! It didn’t stop him from getting work with Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, and George Harrison (another non-reader who did pretty well for himself).
