Barry Fey was a 'character',

who loved to put up 'tough guy' front. At first, I was, like everyone else, a bit intimidated by him. But, as time went on, I could get him to smile and laugh occasionally. I remember one time, for some reason our paychecks got delayed, and Gary needed the money, so Barry said to come on up to his office and he'd personally pay us. A lot of it was in cash those days, which was fine with everyone. We went downtown, to the Brooks Towers, where Barry had his office on the top floor, and walked in while Barry was 'negotiating' with Z Z Top's agent for an upcoming show. He had a large electric frying pan full of BBQ beef cooking on his desk and was talking into a speaker phone. I remember him saying things like, "I only want you for one night, not the whole f'ing week." and "There's only 3 of 'em" At one point, he knocked the phone on the floor, and continued the conversation as he walked past it, stomping and yelling, all the while grinning at us and sampling his lunch. He was talking numbers all the while, don't remember how much, and finally said something like, "You ain't the only band available that night, I'll get back to you, maybe...", and hung up. He then offered us a sandwich, (very good), and said it was just all part of the game, getting the best price. In those days he always wore Converse All Star, white, high top tennis shoes and had a 1-2 week growth on his face. I ran into him a few years ago at a show he was doing in Boulder, and as he walked past me scowling, tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Smile Barry, you got a full house, you're makin' lots of money." He finally recognized me, asked how I was doing, (didn't remember my name {surprise}), then went off and started yelling again. A true legend in the world of Rock n Roll, who made a ton of money, and lost most of it gambling.