Eric Barrett: Behind The Scenes With Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, & Madonna

**Adam Carolla** (0:00)
Well, in this episode, Eric Barrett joins us. He was the road manager for Jimi Hendrix, traveled with him for years. Really great stories, and as well as David Bowie and everyone else. Some really crazy, cool stories.
Stuff you never thought of. You're gonna hear all about that. Also, we got the news with Andrew, and we'll do all that right after this.

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**Dawson** (1:49)
From Carolla One Studios in Glendale, California, this is the Adam Carolla Show. Adam's guest today, Jimi Hendrix's former road manager, Eric Barrett, plus the news with Andrew Hobson.
And now, Adam Carolla.

**Adam Carolla** (2:05)
Yeah, get it on. Got to get it on. No choice but to get on the mandate. You get it on. Thanks for tuning in. Thanks to telling friends. Saw the ratings went up last month. Nice.
Eric Barrett is here. Good to see you, Eric.

**Eric Barrett** (2:19)
You too, Adam. Pleasure. Thank you for having me.

**Adam Carolla** (2:22)
Road manager for not only Jimi Hendrix, but Bowie, George Michael, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, George Harrison, one of my favorites, Lenny Kravitz, one of my least favorites, Madonna, Aerosmith, Billy Idol, Don Hanley. In the book, Experienced, On the Road with Jimi Hendrix and Beyond, which is out now as we speak. So you were his road manager during the sort of superstar rise from 68 to 70?

**Eric Barrett** (2:55)
That makes it as if I had a title. I was a roadie. I drove the trucks, I humped the gear, and eventually got to travel just with the band, but I had to work for a couple of years before I got there.

**Adam Carolla** (3:08)
You hail from where originally?

**Eric Barrett** (3:10)
About 10 miles outside of Glasgow, Scotland.

**Adam Carolla** (3:13)
And how did, I guess roadie, I was a construction laborer, and you don't really, it's not really a job. I mean, it's what you do when you don't have an education and your parents don't have money and there's nothing else to do.

**Eric Barrett** (3:26)
You're absolutely correct.

**Adam Carolla** (3:27)
You're just labor. Yeah, yeah. It's a sort of, it's a version of working at McDonald's. It's just, you show up, you have no qualifications, you got a strong back, good attitude, and next thing you know, you're on the road. How old were you when you started as a roadie?

**Eric Barrett** (3:42)
19

**Adam Carolla** (3:44)
Yeah, so just not going to college and just kind of work in class.

**Eric Barrett** (3:49)
They threw me out at 15 and a half. They said, we'd like you to leave.

**Adam Carolla** (3:53)
Out of high school?

**Eric Barrett** (3:54)
Yeah.

**Adam Carolla** (3:55)
For acting out?

**Eric Barrett** (3:58)
For truancy.

**Adam Carolla** (3:59)
Oh, truancy.

**Eric Barrett** (4:00)
I hated going to school. Yeah. It was very strict. It was very Catholic.

**Adam Carolla** (4:04)
Yeah. It's not a format that fits young men.

**Eric Barrett** (4:09)
No.

**Adam Carolla** (4:10)
I just sat in hot classes and stared out the window and just dreamed of being running around, playing some sports or tackling someone or doing something. All I wanted to be was outside, anywhere but trapped in this box.

**Eric Barrett** (4:23)
Yeah.

**Adam Carolla** (4:25)
So you end up being a roadie. I guess in a weird way, you could say that Jimi Hendrix would have an agent, a manager, maybe a lawyer, maybe wife, girlfriend, whatever. But when you're on the road and you're in cramped quarters and you're waiting in hotel lobbies, and you're sitting after the show having a drink, it really becomes that person that gets to know the person the best.