Joy Ryder at Johnny Thunders Tribute, CBGB 4/23/01, Photo © 2001 NY Rock, more photos

As it turned out, a couple of bands wound up asking me to sit in with them so, that night, on April 23rd, in the spirit of Johnny, I slapped an extra glob of Mega Gel in my hair and headed downtown to CBGB.

Caught Charm School's great set of Johnny classics and then went onstage myself with Joy Ryder around 10:30 p.m. Since there were something in the order of two or three thousand bands slated to play that night, the organizers wound up rushing the musicians on and off like cars at the Indy 500. As the set began, I realized I didn't know who half the other people on the stage were but they all seemed to be doing something purposeful like singing, dancing or having a smoke. I also noticed that due to time constraints, I never really got a chance to tune my guitar, but it was only the G that was out and who needs that nasty string in the middle anyway.

NY Dolls' sax man Buddy Bowser CBGB, NYC, 4/23/01, Photo © 2001 NY Rock

Chaos was the order of the day. But something tells me that Johnny would have liked it just fine that way. Joy Ryder's set, which included "Do You Love Me?" and "Great Big Kiss," turned out, in fact, to be one well-heeled extravaganza. Her phenomenal velvet-whisky voice was in prime condition. Joy kept the joint bobbing and weaving with some help from her rag-tag backup band which comprised myself, saxophonist Buddy Bowser (of NY Dolls fame), drummer Dave Dawson, bassist Sly Geralds, Avis Davis, the east and west chapters of the Dock Workers Union, a couple of local bowling clubs, the entire population of Sudan, and about 20 or 30 other folks.

When I got off, I was asked by a few people to stop sweating so profusely on them so, at this point, I decided to step out for a minute. I figured some transcendental meditation mixed with a few cold Heinekens at a corner bar might be just the ticket to allow me to shift to a lower gear. I'm sorry that, as a result, I missed Bobby Steele but unfortunately I was busy reaching a state of deep inner peace around the time of his set.

Mick Brown of L.E.S. Stitches CBGB, 4/23/01, Photo © 2001 NY Rock

I arrived back in time to catch Mad Juana, the Incorrigibles and Avis Davis. During Avis's set, I noticed that there was a free Marshall onstage, so I decided to hop back up and plug in. I mean, why not? The worst they could do is throw you off and, at this point, I probably would have just bounced away pleasantly. Fortunately, I was well received by the band, God bless 'em, and was even given an extended solo – which was an ultimately rewarding experience because, by then, I finally had my instrument in tune.

Around midnight, Lenny Kaye arrived to grace us with a rousing version of "Gloria" that included a great eulogy to Johnny, delivered with true heart and brilliance. After Lenny's set, I sat in with old friends Didi Delicious and Shove It. And as if the crowd hadn't already had enough of my ass, at about 1:30 a.m., Stevie Vayne (formerly of Johnny's warm-up band, the Dead Vaynes) asked me to join him for a 15-minute send-up during which he managed to squeeze in "Pills," "Green Onions," "Too Much Junkie Business" and "Gloria" (the sequel). Thank you, Stevie, it was a blast.

At this point, I was pretty sure that the crowd had just about enough of the likes of me, so I gathered the few pieces of equipment I hadn't managed to lose along the way and made for the exit. I spent a few remaining minutes watching the well-executed punk of L.E.S. Stitches and then hit the Bowery at around 3:00 a.m. On the street, I could have sworn I saw the ghost of Johnny stroll by. He had his hair spiked to the nines and was smoking a cigarette, or maybe it was a big, fat joint. Either way, I could tell he was pleased to see that his spirit was being kept alive by a few good folks at CBGB on a balmy spring night.