History WesternAnimation / TalesFromTheTourBus

** Donnie Lytle's second stage name, after Donny Young, was a deliberate attempt to compete with the many successful "Johnnies" currently singing in Nashville, most notably Johnny Cash and then-rising rockabilly artist Johnny Dollar.[[note]]Dollar himself sometimes traded off the success of the radio show ''Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar'', billing himself as "Mr. Action-Packed" after the program's tagline.[[/note]] Remembering a obscure journeyman boxer named Johnny Paychek who'd once fought Joe Louis, Donnie's manager anglicized the surname to "Paycheck", fitting in with the money theme.

* MushroomSamba: Quite often. Aside from the aforementioned incident with James Brown, there's also Bootsy Collins taking so much acid that he thought his bass neck was a snake (which is what led to Brown firing him); George Clinton accidentally driving through the set of ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead'' while tripping, which caused him to [[BringMeMyBrownPants piss himself]]; and Billy Joe Shaver [[ItMakesSenseInContext ingesting a large quantity of acid-laced toilet paper]] given to him by Music/TheGratefulDead, which led to him lying motionless in a parking lot for a full day, not noticing that he was being repeatedly ''bitten by a brown recluse spider''.

** For unknown reasons, George Jones once threw a whiskey bottle from the audience at Don Adams, narrowly missing him, after Don introduced him on stage, and later took a swing at him in the parking lot (he missed both times, and Don knocked him out). Years later, George would confront Porter Wagoner in the urinals of the Grand Ol' Opry, grabbing and painfully twisting his penis just on the suspicion that he and Tammy were having an affair. The incident that finally ended their marriage was when George's abuse turned physical, and he attempted to punch Tammy before firing at her with a rifle; the police led him away in a straitjacket. He even allegedly attempted to kill his best friend Peanutt Montgomery in cold blood, though Peanutt declined to press charges because he didn't want George to spend the rest of his life in jail.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: A small and justified example -- after the "burning piano" stunt, Jerry Lee Lewis walked offstage, and (as Jerry Phillips tells it) said to Chuck Berry, "follow that, [[PrecisionFStrike motherfucker]]". Allegedly, what Lewis actually said was a racial slur, though he himself remembers it as even milder and jokier ("okay, Chuck, it’s your turn").

** As James Brown's career began to lose momentum and his dominance of the charts gave way to new, younger artists, he began to consciously chase the disco trend, starting in the mid-'70s with ''Sex Machine Today'' (featuring an updated version of a song which by then wasn't even five years old). It arguably reached its nadir with "The Original Disco Man", a song alleging that since the new genre came out of R&B and funk, and Brown was the original pioneering King of both, [[WereStillRelevantDammit he was in fact MORE hip and with-it than anybody else when it came to disco]][[invoked]]... in other words, the original disco man.

* CourtroomAntic:

** Billy Joe Shaver's similar aggravated assault trial hit a snag because Billy Joe had given his friend Dale Weston permission to write a ballad about it, and the song had been receiving local airplay, making it harder for the defense to challenge the evidence against him.[[note]]The song claimed that Shaver told the man "where do you want it" before firing, despite Billy Joe's own shocked denial, but multiple witnesses also all claimed the same thing -- meaning Weston either picked it up while researching the case, or Billy Joe told Dale himself that he said it, then ''forgot'' what really happened, which wasn't out of the question.[[/note]] At another point, when asked by the prosecutor if he could've just walked away from the fight and not taken the man's bait, he replied, "[[EverythingIsBigInTexas Ma'am, I'm from Texas]] -- [[HonorBeforeReason I ain't no chickenshit]]." Amazingly, unlike Paycheck, Shaver got off not guilty.

* [[Music/PrincesAssociates Morris Day & The Time]]

** Joanne [=McDuffie=] claims this wasn't the idea behind Rick James spinning off his backup singers, the Mary Jane Girls, into an all-girl act to compete with Prince, as both he and his nemesis had intended to create their own female groups for a while (Prince being inspired by ''Film/AStarIsBorn1976''), and Rick actually might've provoked Prince to beat him to the punch with Vanity / Apollonia 6. It was, however, ''very'' much the case with Process and the Doo Rags, Rick's answer to The Time.[[note]]Ironically, what doesn't get mentioned in the show is that after leaving The Time behind, a newly independent Morris Day signed Cheri Wells, formerly of the MJG, to sing lead vocals in The Day Z's, the short-lived girl group ''he'' was producing, bringing it full-circle.[[/note]]

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In-universe, Levi Ruffin tells a story that he acknowledges might make some people upset -- after calling up Rick James and instantly being able to tell he was in really bad shape, he nervously joked to his bandmates that he hoped Rick wouldn't die before their scheduled tour. The phone call took place "in August", meaning it was less than a ''few days'' before Rick's impending heart attack.

--->Ben Greenman is a former ''New York Times'' reporter, who helped George write the book... [''said as haltingly as possible''] '[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8slJm0YEvNg Brothas Be, Yo, Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You]]'?

* DeadpanSnarker: Mike Judge's flat delivery is used to great effect, particularly in the funk episodes where every other character has a ludicrous nickname.
-->Ben Greenman is a former ''New York Times'' reporter, who helped George write the book... [''said as haltingly as possible''] 'Brothas Be, Yo, Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You?

Season 1 focused on the legends of country, both those from the "Outlaw" movement and its greatest unaffiliated outlaws:

* BadassMoustache: Blaze Foley. James Brown's moustache was also quite nice, but marked the beginning of a DorkAge[[invoked]] for his music (specifically, dabbling in disco).

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: A small and justified example -- after the "burning piano" stunt, Jerry Lee Lewis walked offstage, and (as Jerry Phillips tells it) said to Chuck Berry, "follow that, [[PrecisionFStrike motherfucker]]". What Lewis actually said was, allegedly, much more harsh.

** A rare double-subversion in Waylon Jennings. One night before a gig in Fresno, Hoss handed his drummer Richie Albright two separate, nearly identical packets, one with white powder and one with grayish powder, and told him to keep them safe; unable to see much distinction and thinking it was unnecessary to use two baggies, Richie put them together, not knowing he'd just mixed "Atlanta Dog" (PCP and heroin) with Peruvian cocaine. After they both took a few bumps in Fresno and hit the stage, Albright was soon all over the place, hallucinating his drumsticks were "Z"-shaped, and Jennings was lying down on a table in his dressing room, not knowing what he was reacting to and scared he was having a heart attack. As soon as his son told him ''what'' he'd taken, however, he quickly regained his composure, stood up, staggered out on stage again... [[RealityEnsues and proceeded to play one of the worst shows of his career, because he was still incredibly high on three different, conflicting drugs]].

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: A small and justified example -- after the "burning piano" stunt, Jerry Lee Lewis walked offstage, and (as Jerry Phillips tells it) said to Chuck Berry, "follow that, [[PrecisionFStrike motherfucker]]". What Lewis actually said was, allegedly, [[NWordPrivileges much more harsh]].

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/talesfromthetourbus_6.jpg]]

* AchievementsInIgnorance: As told by George Clinton himself, "Atomic Dog", one of the if not the biggest hits he ever came out with, came about when a high on crack George heard the sound engineer rewinding the track and mistakenly began singing to it.

** Miles Davis divorced Betty and moved on after only a single tumultuous year of marriage[[note]]The reason why isn't discussed in the episode, but Miles's autobiography states that he all but knew Betty was cheating on him with Jimi Hendrix, confronted her, and ordered her to sign the papers.[[/note]]; still, he believed strongly in her talent and encouraged her solo career, even consulting with the band a few times over the phone about which chord progressions they could use on the debut album. This connection, along with Betty keeping her married name, would soon cause her a lot of grief from those dismissing her as [[{{Nepotism}} riding Miles's coattails]].

-->'''Billy Joe Shaver:''' ...I hit him right between a mother and a fucker.

-->"Ben Greenman is a former New York Times reporter, who helped George write the book... ''[Said as haltingly as possible]'' 'Brothas Be, Yo, Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You?'."

* {{Determinator}}: Nothing will stop Jerry Lee Lewis from getting to a gig, even if it means driving ''90 miles on a flat tire at top speed''.

-->'''Mike Judge:''' ''[On Billy Joe Shaver]'' ...And, like almost everyone else in this series so far, he shot a guy.

-->'''Tony Cook:''' He said, ''[Imitating Brown]'' "Tony and Melvin [Parker], I want you to play that disco beat -- play it on ''everything!'' Play it here, this -- ''[Mimes disco drum pattern]'' -- play it on EVERYTHING!" So, that's what we tried to do. Of course, that didn't work out so well, you know.

* InsufferableGenius: Does it even need to be said that Prince was shining example of this?

* MushroomSamba: Quite often. Aside from the aforementioned incident with James Brown, there's also Bootsy Collins taking so much acid that he thought his bass neck was a snake (which is what led to Brown firing him), George Clinton accidentally driving through the set of Film/NightOfTheLivingDead while tripping, which caused him to [[BringMeMyBrownPants piss himself]] and Billy Joe Shaver [[ItMakesSenseInContext ingesting a large quantity of acid-laced toilet paper]] given to him by Music/TheGratefulDead, which led to him lying motionless in a parking lot for a full day, not noticing that he was being repeatedly ''bitten by a brown recluse spider''.

-->"Dick [=DeGuerin=] also represented Bobby Durst, who, uh, [[Film/TheJinx cut the guy's head off in Waco]]. Bobby Durst and I were co-best men at Chinga Chavin's wedding in Las Vegas -- Chinga Chavin, the guy who wrote 'Proud to Be an Asshole from El Paso', and also, 'Cum Stains on the Pillow (Where Your Sweet Head Used to Be)'. Um, at any rate, Dick [=DeGuerin=], he says, 'never put a woman on a jury whose lips resemble a chicken's asshole'."

-->'''Troupe:''' I hate to say this, but Miles loved the word "bitch". ''(Laughs)'' And whether that's good or not, you know, Miles -- LOVED -- the word -- "bitch". I heard him say it so many time -- to women, to all kind of people. ''(Imitating Davis)'' "Bitch, bring your ass over here." I said, "Miles, you can't say that!" "Fuck you. Shit, I can say what I want." ''(Beat)'' "Bitch!"

** Of course, even relatively recent events are subject to this. Such as Billy Joe Shaver's 2007 shooting incident, which was only a decade or so old at the time of his episode. When recalling the story, Shaver claims the man he popped had a gun and shot at him 3 times. Judge quickly cuts in to state the police report, several eyewitnesses and the legal arguments later all showed he only had a knife.

** Christian [=McBride=] recounts how he, a young James Brown superfan, would go to his concerts whenever he got a chance and wrote fan letters to Brown in prison; while establishing his music career, he cultivated a friendship with Martha High -- who was sort of the den mother of the organization -- over a few years, and eventually got invited up to James' house for his 1996 Christmas party. At dinner, James let Christian pitch his idea for a jazz-funk collaboration album, praised him for knowing his stuff, said he loved his work, and told everybody that he'd been bragging about being friends with "the great Christian [=McBride=]". Three hours later, right before taking Christmas pictures, Brown took [=McBride=] aside for a devastating private conversation -- he "knew" Christian was trying to take Martha High away from him (in what may have been PCP-induced paranoia), he didn't "collaborate" with ''anybody'' and any album they made together would be headlined by him, and he'd listened to Christian's albums, but thought they were shit.

** Miles Davis divorced Betty and moved on after only a single tumultuous year of marriage[[note]]The reason why isn't discussed in the episode, but Miles's autobiography states that he all but knew Betty was cheating on him with Jimi Hendrix, confronted her, and ordered her to sign the papers.[[/note]]; still, he believed strongly in her talent and encouraged her solo career, even consulting with the band a few times over the phone about which chord progressions they could use on the debut album. This connection, along with Betty keeping her married name, would soon cause her a lot of grief from those dismissing her as [[{{Nepotism}] riding Miles's coattails]].

** Miles Davis divorced Betty and moved on after only a single tumultuous year of marriage[[note]]The reason why isn't discussed in the episode, but Miles's autobiography states that he all but knew Betty was cheating on him with Jimi Hendrix, confronted her, and ordered her to sign the papers.[[note]]; still, he believed strongly in her talent and encouraged her solo career, even consulting with the band a few times over the phone about which chord progressions they could use on the debut album. This connection, along with Betty keeping her married name, would soon cause her a lot of grief from those dismissing her as [[{{Nepotism}] riding Miles's coattails]].

* AmicableExes: George Jones and Tammy Wynette, which is surprising considering [[DomesticAbuse what he put her through]].

* YankTheDogsChain: Christian [=McBride=] recounts how he, a young James Brown superfan, would go to his concerts whenever he got a chance and wrote fan letters to Brown in prison; while establishing his music career, he cultivated a friendship with Martha High -- who was sort of the den mother of the organization -- over a few years, and eventually got invited up to James' house for his 1996 Christmas party. At dinner, James let Christian pitch his idea for a jazz-funk collaboration album, praised him for knowing his stuff, said he loved his work, and told everybody that he'd been bragging about being friends with "the great Christian [=McBride=]". Three hours later, right before taking Christmas pictures, Brown took [=McBride=] aside for a devastating private conversation -- he "knew" Christian was trying to take Martha High away from him (in what may have been PCP-induced paranoia), he didn't "collaborate" with ''anybody'' and any album they made together would be headlined by him, and he'd listened to Christian's albums, but thought they were shit.

** Billy Joe Shaver's similar aggravated assault trial hit a snag because Billy Joe had given his friend Dale Weston permission to write a ballad about it, and the song had been receiving local airplay, making it harder for the defense to challenge the evidence against him.[[note]]Multiple witnesses also all claimed Shaver told the man "where do you want it" before firing, despite Billy Joe's own shocked denial -- so Weston either picked it up while researching the case, or Billy Joe told Dale himself, then ''forgot'' he said it, which wasn't out of the question.[[/note]] At another point, when asked by the prosecutor if he could've just walked away from the fight and not taken the man's bait, he replied, "[[EverythingIsBigInTexas Ma'am, I'm from Texas]] -- [[HonorBeforeReason I ain't no chickenshit]]." Amazingly, unlike Paycheck, Shaver got off not guilty.

** Joanne [=McDuffie=] claims this wasn't the idea behind Rick James spinning off his backup singers, the Mary Jane Girls, into an all-girl act to compete with Prince, as both he and his nemesis had intended to create their own female groups for a while and actually might've inspired Prince to beat him to the punch with Vanity / Apollonia 6. It was, however, ''very'' much the case with Process and the Doo Rags, Rick's answer to The Time.[[note]]Ironically, what doesn't get mentioned in the show is that after leaving The Time behind, a newly independent Morris Day signed Cheri Wells, formerly of the MJG, to sing lead vocals in The Day Z's, the short-lived girl group ''he'' was producing, bringing it full-circle.[[/note]]

* TheDissTrack: At the height of James Brown and rival soul singer Joe Tex's public feud, Brown charmed Tex's backup singer and ex-wife Bea Ford to join his band and become ''his'' girlfriend solely as a power move, later sending a letter to Joe explaining that he could have Ford back and that he was done with her. Tex, in response, recorded the scathing "You Keep Her" -- calling out James and his letter by name in the very first verse, claiming that he'd made Bea the woman she was, and that "man, she belongs to you" now (essentially, saying 'you deserve each other'). Brown, now absolutely furious, armed himself with twin shotguns, burst into a gig Tex was opening for Otis Redding, and began blasting into the walls and ceiling, terrifying everyone... except Joe Tex, who had already finished his set and left by then.[[note]]Rather than a straight A-to-B path like the recreation indicates, Joe Tex had also parodied Brown's "Please, Please, Please" cape routine that night, getting tangled up in a moth-eaten blanket and yelling "Please, please get me out of this thing!". Accounts vary as to whether Brown heard about it from someone at the club and drove over, or was ''in the audience'' at the time and left to go get his guns -- but either way, [[ItsPersonal Joe making fun of Brown as a performer and showman, hitting him in his ego, was a bridge too far]].[[/note]]

* DuctTapeForEverything: Blaze Foley apparently believed in this and then some.

** A rare double-subversion in Waylon Jennings. One night before a gig in Fresno, Hoss handed his drummer Richie Albright two separate, nearly identical packets, one with white powder and one with grayish powder, and told him to keep them safe; unable to see much distinction and thinking it was unnecessary to use two baggies, Richie put them together, not knowing he'd just mixed "Atlanta Dog" (PCP and heroin) with Peruvian cocaine. After they both took a few bumps in Fresno and hit the stage, Albright was soon all over the place, hallucinating his drumsticks were "Z"-shaped, and Jennings was lying down on a table in his dressing room, not knowing what he was reacting to and scared he was having a heart attack. As soon as his son told him ''what'' he'd taken, however, he quickly regained his composure, stood up, staggered out on stage again... [[RealityEnsues and proceeded to play one of the worse shows of his career, because he was still incredibly high on three different, conflicting drugs]].

** A rare double-subversion in Waylon Jennings. One night before a gig in Fresno, Hoss handed his drummer Richie Albright two separate, nearly identical packets, one with white powder and one with grayish powder, and told them to keep safe; unable to see much distinction and thinking it was unnecessary to use two baggies, Richie put them together, not knowing he'd just mixed "Atlanta Dog" (PCP and heroin) with Peruvian cocaine. After they both took a few bumps in Fresno and hit the stage, Albright was soon all over the place, hallucinating his drumsticks were "Z"-shaped, and Jennings was lying down on a table in his dressing room, not knowing what he was reacting to and scared he was having a heart attack. As soon as his son told him ''what'' he'd taken, however, he quickly regained his composure, stood up, staggered out on stage again... [[RealityEnsues and proceeded to play one of the worse shows of his career, because he was still incredibly high on three different, conflicting drugs]].

* IntoxicationEnsues: As James Brown was a strict disciplinarian and didn't allow his band to get high before shows, Bootsy and the guys would crush up two or three tablets of Orange Sunshine (which was pretty potent as far as LSD went) and dissolve them in a smoothie, then pass it around taking a sip each to hide the fact that they were using; one night, James suddenly came in, innocently asked Bootsie to give him the cup, and ''drank the whole thing'' before going on stage. Brown spent the entire set [[MushroomSamba high as a kite]], including inventing a new "dance" called "The Moon" (putting your arms up over your head in a circle, then slowly and deliberately turning your head from side to side).

* BadassMoustache: Blaze Foley. James Brown's moustache was also quite nice, but marked the beginning of a DorkAge for his music (specifically, dabbling in disco).

* UnreliableNarrator: Every episode opens with a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer that the stories being told happened decades ago, and that most of the people recounting them were at the time partaking in "illicit and controlled substances" that have since made the memories "hazy".

* GrievousBottleyHarm: While he and his crew were partying in a hotel bar down South, one of the locals "let off the N-word" while looking at Rick James, if not addressing him; tempers flared, words were had, and suddenly Rick grabs a bottle and tries to break it off into a stabbing weapon. Because beer bottles are a lot more solid in real life than the movies, it stays completely intact.

* TheNapoleon: Prince. Since most of the anecdotes featuring him at parties or social events occur before 1986, he's [[FunnyBackgroundEvent always shown being flanked by his bodyguard at the time]] -- "Big Chick", a 6-foot-6 (1.6m) goliath with long, permed platinum-blonde hair and beard.