Donald Fuller
» Location: Spokane, Washington
» Favorite Album: Mahogany Rush IV
Greetings Frank!
My best bud told me about this website, and I see he's already posted an entry in this guestbook (Tony Sexton).
I still remember my introduction to Mahogany Rush. It was the spring of 1977 and I was stationed in the US Navy at the time. Our ship (USS Forrestal) was in drydock, so some friends of mine rented a beach house in Virginia Beach while the ship was undergoing an overhaul. One weekend they had a party at the beach house. To say the least, we all got completely wasted. I sat down in an easy chair in the living room and one of the guys who was renting the place put on "IV." I still vividly remember being completely and utterly blown away! To this day, "IV" is one of my all-time favorite albums. I still listen to it (along with your other albums from the 70s and early 80s) to this day.
The first time I saw you play live was the same show Tony Sexton mentioned in his post. July 3, 1977 in Memphis. In fact, Tony and I went to the show together along with a couple of other friends, if my feeble memory serves me well. You were utterly amazing, easily outperforming Ted Nugent and Foreigner that night. I saw you three more times after that first show: February 26, 1978 in Jacksonville, Florida (you were on the bill with Nazareth and Sammy Hagar); April 14, 1979 at the Florrida World Music Festival in Orlando (on the bill with Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick, Brownsville Station, and Blackfoot); and then finally on March 27, 1980 in Memphis (with Humble Pie, Mothers Finest, and Angel). All four shows were incredible. You have an amazing talent. I hope to see you in the Pacific Northwest in the near future!
Incidentally, it wasn't very much longer after the last time I saw you in concert that I became a huge fan of another band with "Rush" in its name (in fact, it's the only name they have!). I've been a Rush fan now for nearly 25 years.
Keep on rockin'! Your music is definitely an integral part of the soundtrack to my life!