GOP and ‘The Prez’ Get Down With the Blues

WASHINGTON —  Yes, that was the new leader of the Free World, George Bush, in his black tuxedo and shiny black shoes, bending over his gleaming white electric guitar and picking a few notes on stage Saturday night as 8,500 fans gaped and squealed.

Yes, that was the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, Lee Atwater, next to Bush, recovered from the splits he had done minutes before while dancing and, guitar in hand, intent on hitting some licks with the boss.

These Republicans are not known to wail an electric guitar duet, or at least not to publicize it. But on Saturday night, at the climax of four days of inaugural festivities, even the top Republican was in a mood to let go.

The Atwater Show

The festivities at the Washington Convention Center were formally known as the Celebration for Young Americans, but to most it was simply Atwater’s rhythm-and-blues dream-come-true.

When not orchestrating presidential campaigns, the 37-year-old Atwater is a serious guitar-playing blues aficionado, and gathered around him at his invitation Saturday night were some of the biggest names in the genre--among them Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon, Chuck Jackson, Sam Moore and Percy Sledge, with whom Atwater played in a pre-politics stint as a professional guitarist 20 years ago.

Bush brought the crowd to its feet midway through the show when he walked in with his wife, Barbara, to see his former campaign chairman don a guitar and sing a long, loud version of “High Heeled Sneakers.” Before that, Atwater--this week confirmed as national committee chairman--had done the splits in a response to the Sam and Dave hit, “Soul Man.”

“I taught Lee everything he knows about that kind of dancing,” Bush deadpanned.

As Bush tried his turn with the guitar--a model emblazoned with “The Prez” that was given to him when he mounted the stage--the First Lady danced on stage with their son, Marvin.

Atwater promised that the show would be nonpolitical, and his vow was largely kept, despite the “Reelect President Bush 1992” button on his lapel.