Maybe the only thing The Poncho is not as cool as is that vest that Burt Reynolds wears, sans shirt, in Deliverance. However, Bono tried to work that Look and failed miserably, so maybe Stills’ Poncho is the coolest of rock’s unfulfilled fashion ideas.
Around 1991, I found a Poncho in a thrift store and snagged it. Conveniently, I was playing in a faux, third-rate British Invasion band that sometimes performed “re-creations” of shows from its “Festival Era.” I got to wear The Poncho in concert for at least one of these shows, and I felt a great sense of pride and responsibility. Unlike the suede fringed jacket, there’s less worry about obstruction, and if it’s not already hot enough on stage, The Pancho will help you work up a lather.
Maybe the allure of The Pancho ties into the Native American thing. There are lots of Cowboys in rock but few willing to play Indians. Speaking of which, I did a quick search of photos of the old band Redbone and found none with a band member wearing a pancho.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVqArOogY-c
Dig Jerry Gacia working the pancho Look while chatting with Hugh Hefner and then sitting down to play a very nice acoustic version of Mountains of the Moon. He’s still wearing it when he stands up to play St. Stephen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49gY_qC_OjY
The Hopi Look is definitely the way to go, if you’re going to get a pancho. When I was in grad school in soggy baton Rouge with only a bicycle to get around, i got an orange plastic rain pancho, which was significantly less cool.
I gotta say, I think this is one of those fashion trends that did not survive the end of the hippie era, and for a reason!
I don’t know where exactly I stand on the poncho, and I bet the Eagles have worn them at some point, but I do really like Stephen Stills’ younger Look – back when he had a neck and hadn’t yet turned into Jim Belushi. Either in his poncho or coat-and-hat gear, he had a sort of ‘70s movie Texas ranger vibe. Maybe Stills was the Scott Glenn of rock.
I think it was important for him to have that role in CSN. His Look seems to have established him as the leader of the band, which helped balance out Crosby’s shaky hippie persona and Nash’s reedy, polite British guy vibe. Somebody had to be their Moe Howard, and Stills was the perfect guy for the job.
How about David Crosby’s cape that he wore the first couple of years of the Byrds?
The cape was pretty cool, but was it technically a pancho? I don’t think so. Very close, I’ll grant you. It had the same “slimming” properties, didn’t it?
I don’t think you can ever go wrong with a cape.
Hey, Mod — you can bust me for my Johnny Winter/Peter Green lovin’ ways, but *don’t* lump me in with the Stevie Ray crowd. He’s proof positive that too much of a good thing is bad for you.
Hrrundi, that’s the best news I’ve heard from you since you launched your studio. No joke! I’m much relieved.
When I was in grad school in soggy baton Rouge with only a bicycle to get around, i got an orange plastic rain pancho, which was significantly less cool.
Less cool, yeah. Significantly so? No way.
I’m glad I’ve never seen Keith Richards in a poncho. Mick has worn enough silly things for the whole band. The poncho just doesn’t do it for me.
the only time I’ve ever thought it would be cool to wear a poncho is watching Clint Eastwood.