Huckabee Talks Music in Motown
DETROIT -- A student submitted a question for Mike Huckabee after his speech at the Detroit Economic Club. Beatles or Rolling Stones?
"Now you're getting into real tough territory," Huckabee remarked.
"The Beatles were the greatest innovators because they really started it all. But the Rolling Stones have had the lasting power because even after all these years - Keith Richards has probably been dead for several years and doesn't know it - they continue to make the greatest music and put on the most amazing shows." The audience cracked up.
Huckabee retold the story of how, as governor of Arkansas, he erased from Keith Richards' record a reckless driving offense committed over three decades before. In 1975, Richards was put in jail for weaving on the road (no drugs were ever found).
"'Oh mate, could you really do that, could you really do that, it would be awesome, mate,'" Huckabee said in his best Keith Richards impression. "At least that's what I think he said, I really don't know."
At the end of the press conference that followed, a reporter yelled, "Governor, Beatles are great, Rolling Stones are great. What about the Tower of Power?"
"The Tower of Power, absolutely great, but I gotta tell you – and it's not just because I'm in Michigan – as far as simply laying down the track, nobody has ever been as good as the Funk Brothers. I mean – James Jamerson on bass guitar, one of my idols, and that's why we are going to go to Motown to pay tribute at the shrine."
Later, as he approached the entrance of the Motown museum, Huckabee's eyes brightened. He turned around to reporters, and asked, "Do you know how cool this is?"