by Rbcsoup » Fri Aug 10, 2012 6:30 am
Another perspective on this from one who was there, Bob Bowers--who played the bass and arranged with The Big 3---
<<<<
I worked often with Judy Henske and her guitarist John Forshay (sp?) Judy provided her own percussion by stomping on the plywood stage in her high-heel boots. The soundman/electrician/carpenter John Gibbs had to replace the panel every couple of days due to the holes Henske drilled into it.
The only way Judy influenced Cass, as far as I know, was not musical. It was Henske's song intros: usually quite long, intricate, convoluted, filled with non sequiturs and always witty and hysterically funny. e.g. For the intro to Lord Richard, he and his lady went on a picnic in a glade down by a stream, where (before she "offed" him) they dined on delicacies such as "fruit jars filled with mayonnaise and garbanzo beans." In an other, she had people seated on chairs of "unborn Naugahyde."
Jim and Tim could rarely afford new strings, so often had well-used handoffs from other guitar players. Tim was an especially aggressive player, and rarely managed to finish any song without breaking at least one string. Restringing a guitar and managing to keep it in tune is very time consuming. So instead of waiting for this to be accomplished with a lot of "dead air," Cass would improvise a story ala Henske. Since these moments were regular and often, Cass became very adept at it.
>>>