Greetings Ark-I,
My name is Donovan Collins. I am over at my good friends house , using his computer to tell you some truths that you may not want to hear or believe, but that does not change the reality. I toured with Mr. Joseph Hill and Culture as the keyboard player from 1992 thru 1995 and first I must tell you that I have the deepest respect for Joseph. He was a wonderful human being who inspired, loved, and entertained literally millions of people with his music and his vibrant personality. But, I must also share with you an insight that I myself had soon into my touring with Joseph, and that was this: Joseph was a vessel, not a source. Joseph had a gift that few human beings are given. His ability to channel his vision into music is unique. But at the end of the day, and at the begining, Joseph was just a man. That fact was not lost on him. Others tried to say he was this or that, a prophet or whatever.....but Joseph knew what he was, and wasn't.. He faced many of the same challenges that we all face every day and many times he was exemplary, but many times he also fell short. He would often loose his temper with people and sometimes be quite rude, but he realized what he had done, and I trust he regretted it later. He ate very poorly on the road, as did all of us.....I don't know if you have ever toured with a band or not but life on the road is unforgiving to say the least. Once when we toured France, we played 28 shows in 30 days!!!! Brutal...up @ 9 a.m., hit the road, drive till 5 p.m., soundcheck, back to the hotel, a few hours rest, back to the clubvenue, play till 1 a.m., leave the club at 2 or 3 a.m., sleep till 8 a.m. and then get up and do it all over again.....for a month(or 2 or 3) I personally saw Joseph eat at Kentucky Fried Chicken at least 20 or 30 times...and I must add that they loved it!!!! He and his wife Pauline(all respect due) would yell at the driver to stop at the next spinning bucket!!!!
I'm sorry if this clashes with your impression of Joseph as all-pure but that is the fact of the matter....I saw where you quote Joseph's lyrics in defense of this impression, but many men and women don't actually allways live up to what they preach in public....I must again say that I have nothing but love and respect for Joseph and his family...we spent many good times together and his music still moves me to this day...the first time I ever saw Joseph, my band was opening the show, I was moved to tears with his singing of the song "Wings of a Dove"...literally moved to tears....and my good friend Don Kodzai , the guitar player in that band, does in fact still live in the same town as I.......go figure.... My full name is Donovan Collins and my e-mail is madkeys70@hotmail.com and phone # is 704-905-2476 ...I welcome your comments .....and to quote Joseph himself "Dog was made to bark and bite, Man was made to f*#^ and fight" Respect
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