R.E.M.'s Pete Buck outside his home in Athens 1980s. Photo I took.

I took this photo of Pete Buck outside his home in Athens GA. A friend of mine and I had gone to see him to deliver some rare Bob Dylan albums my friend had for him. His record collection was so fast that it lined the edges of the floor of his home. He made us some sort of nice treat and we hung out for awhile talking about music and other things. I was just a teen then and a fan of the band so this was a really fun.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• R.E.M. R. E. M.
• Peter Buck
• Pete Buck
• Athens
• Georgia
• Alternative College Rock
• the 40 Watt
• music
• 1980s
• Document
• I am Superman

[arizonabay15]

Around 1993 i travelled a long way by train to see Peter play guitar for Robyn Hitchcock. I met him outside the venue and he signed the first R.E.M. fan club single for me. Being young i barely managed a "can you sign this please Peter?" He sensed i was star struck, and just placed a hand on my shoulder as if to say "It's OK" What a cool guy he is. I'll never forget that.

[fanofaestallings]

@arizonabay15. I always thought they were nice guys who loved to play music. I lilted that they would have friend 's bands open for them and didn't seem to do all the outlandish antics other rockets needed to make them feel famous. I remember talking to a friend of mine who was close to Pete Buck the night Pet was writing the linernotes for Deadletter Office (a cool compilation LP of B sides) and he would ask my non rock star pal what he thought about his writing.

[fanofaestallings]

This same visit we also went to see and photograph the first places REM practiced as a band that were still around in the mid 80s. Not sure if they are still up. What made it fun was they were still these broken down empty buildings that any Athens band could have still played in... I have this old viseo called Athens inside out. Ort I later met.

[fanofaestallings]

Thanks for the kids correction... I was going by memory vs. Checking whose kids they would have been. It could not have been Peter's kids as I think he was still with the girl from the 40 watt then... I will see if I have photos with labels. They could have been extra kids ... it was mid 80s ... they were all really nice guys. Thanks to them I got to visit and meet howard finster before he died.

[WillieWallace92]

Cool. My mom met R.E.M. before they really took off. My mom's roommate at the time was dating a guy who supposedly worked with them and he brought them up to their dorm to introduce them. According to my mom, they were pretty tall guys.

[fanofaestallings]

You are right... I didn't check it out before I typed. I don't know who the kids were... it was mid to late 80s. I went to see them so many times I don't even recall which show I was thinking about... thanks for the help. Are you a big fan?

[Ersmarker]

Nah, there were no kids on Bill Berry's part while he was in the band. It must either have been Peter's twin girls or  Mike's son.

[fanofaestallings]

I didn't mean to imply he was rude. He is a still southern and that just goes against the natural grain per se.

I was around him quite abit at all sorts of events and times where really no one was around and he was always pretty quiet. Quiet in regards to the rest of the band. Quiet is good I think if you are known. You get in less trouble that way.

[unclealbert72]

It would seem kind of hard to time Michael's mood.

But I don't think he'd really be the type that would be rude.

It all depends on how you simply approach people.

How fun to be able to spend time with these down to earth people.

[fanofaestallings]

circa 1985