he was tough as an ox but there on the floor he died
next to a 40. and a hot plate
next to the sound of a band rehearsing through the walls of a rehearsal space
butch was always there and yet we took him for granted
butch was a cool cat from another planet
we though he'd last like a piece of granite
on your grandmother's kitchen cabinet
we thought he'd always be there like the stars and the moon
but we're all gonna end up ashes in an urn or bones under a tomb
he'd watch over us down there in the tl
he'd watch us rock out to our music and was always supportive as hell
he worked for fishbone and george clinton when he was younger
to be around music butch had an insatiable hunger
butch could show you respect and uplift your spirit
butch could lay down the law and make you fear him
butch could make you laugh and smile if you earned it
butch had that sunny stare down if you deserved it
i remember thanksgiving out at my house just a few years ago with caroline and butch and nathan. we watched drugstore cowboy and butch gave caroline tips on how to cook a turkey. she thought butch was charming and sweet and he really took to her too. matt dillon's character in drugstore cowboy was after dilaudid
the holy grail of pharmaceuticals. butch knew what dilaudid was. he was older than me so there were things you didn't have to explain to butch. there were things he just got and understood. when someone is older than you always take the time to listen to them. a person older than you knows something that you don't. at the very least butch knew what it meant to be black and born in 1952. do you? because i don't know shit about that. i remember the wood burning stove and the heat was really cranking in the living room. nathan kept getting up to remove himself from the heat and to have a smoke outside. but butch didn't budge unless he needed to go to the bathroom. butch wasn't the agile mother fucker he used to be and he needed a damn good reason to get up off of that cozy chair. butch's favorite part of the turkey was the drumstick and when they left
at around midnight or so
butch took almost all the leftovers with him. that was butch. if he was in your backstage area forget it. he had a relentless hunger and thirst and he cleaned your backstage area out
butch makes sure no one stole no microphones
butch makes sure that safely
you return home
butch makes sure no one stole your keys to your car or your wallet
butch makes you clean your own fucking piss off the toilet
there's no fucking around with butch
he'd shake you down
he'd put you in check until you felt like a fucking clown
every day he'd watch the pigeons flutter
he saw the bums sleeping in the gutter
and san francisco's tenderloin
he walked the streets but i couldn't say if he felt joy
and when my time comes for me to die
i hope i see butch again and to pass some time
i'm sorry man i didn't get a chance to say goodbye
but i hope you like my little butch lullaby
i'm sorry man that i didn't get a chance to say goodbye
but i hope you like my little butch lullaby
this one's for you
this one's for you
this one's for you
this little lullaby
butch was the resident mayor of the tenderloin
butch was into red hot chili peppers funky monks video
butch threatened a guy with a machete who was messing with equipto
butch was there when i cut old ramon in the studio
may 28th
12: 58 am
2016
i'm just back from butch's memorial. i stopped and got a bouquet of poppies along the way. it was a sparse attendance when i first showed up but it filled up pretty quickly. i stayed out back for a while in the alley with a handful of people sharing stories about butch almost directly under the room where he died. stories ranged from butch chasing people with sickles
to his times with george clinton
to his always entertaining mood swings people encountered over the years. i asked a friend when it was exactly that butch began working at hyde street and he said that butch turned up with george clinton's entourage about 20 years ago or so. that he just never left. he said that there were several times he wanted to strangle butch but that he had an unexplainable affection for him that kept him around. everyone had a lot of love for butch
but seemed to have experienced some kind of confrontation with him except for me. all of my experiences with him over the years were pleasant and i asked someone why that was