Lee Greenwood may be proud to be an American, but a bunch of his former fans think he should be ashamed of himself.
Country music’s patriotism poster child was to perform here Saturday in a musical finale to a day-long tribute to the military, police and firefighters.
But instead of walking onstage at the Teikyo Loretto Heights Theater, the two-time Country Music Association vocalist of the year walked out of the building without singing a note.
On that, everyone agrees. As for exactly why that happened, that’s another matter.
Jerry Bentley, Greenwood’s manager, said concert organizer Frank Young didn’t come up with the $20,000 in cash he had promised.
Young, who organized the concert and the preceding Colorado State Parade of Honor, said that he had $18,000 but that Greenwood’s road manager refused to take a $2,000 check from the Knights of Columbus for the balance.
The truth, Bentley said, will have to be sorted out by lawyers. “We’ll just see what they recommend.”
If they advise suing Young, so be it, Bentley said. “He breached his contract.”
But many who paid $20 to see Greenwood – theater manager Ron Maranian said the crowd numbered up to 850 – have already rendered judgment.
When the two parties couldn’t reach an agreement, concert organizer Young “went up on stage and pretty much laid it out,” explaining what happened, said Jeff Alumbaugh, owner of Fastway Signs, the Arvada company that provided the parade’s banners.
Young “broke down in tears,” Alumbaugh said. “He told everyone, if you want your money back, we’ll give it to you, and the entire crowd said no, which says a lot about the crowd.”
Kia Ritland of Denver was part of that crowd.
“We couldn’t believe it,” she said. “We all just looked at each other and said, ‘This is the patriot, the man who’s made millions off of us being patriotic?”‘
Then, Ritland said, “we all joined hands and sang ‘God Bless America.”‘
That’s ‘God Bless America,’ the song Irving Berlin composed while in the Army in 1918 and revised in 1938. Definitely not, Ritland said, Greenwood’s signature tune, “God Bless the USA.”
“I don’t ever want to hear another song of his,” she said. “I had bought two of his CDs for this occasion because I loved the man. I’m going to either burn those CDs or send them back to him.”
Greenwood’s performance – or lack thereof – also didn’t sit well with some veterans, said Rob Lougee, Disabled American Veterans’ area supervisor.
“I talked to a couple people who had thrown away their Lee Greenwood CDs,” he said.
The main disagreement is over how much Young and his organization, housed in the converted lobby of a former West Colfax Avenue hotel, paid Greenwood, and how much was owed Saturday.
Young says he wired $14,000 to a booking agent’s account weeks ago and that he has copies of the records.
Bentley says only $10,000 showed up and that it will remain there until the issue is resolved.
Young says he brought $4,000 in cash to the theater Saturday, and the Knights of Columbus had a check for the remaining $2,000. Bentley says Young had only the $2,000 and that the contract forbade checks.
Theater manager Maranian said cash-only stipulations aren’t unheard of. But like many in Saturday’s audience, he questioned why Greenwood couldn’t just go ahead and perform.
“We don’t do business that way,” Bentley said. “No pay, no play. We’re not in the business to do freebies year ’round.”
Greenwood does plenty of concerts that he doesn’t get paid for, Bentley said.
“This in no way has any bearing on what Lee has done and what he continues to do in support of the active military.”
But it may have a bearing on how often Greenwood’s voice is heard at the Denver theater.
New citizens are sworn in there regularly, Maranian said. “They always play Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA.”‘
Maranian said he’s not taking sides in the controversy.
Still, he said, he’ll be talking to those who organize the ceremonies.
“I’m going to tell them what happened.”
Staff writer Karen Augé can be reached at 303-954-1733 or kauge@denverpost.com.
