Alice Cooper: What am I gonna do? Go fishing?

Alice Cooper is one of he lucky ones. Just about everyone can see that – it’s not a revelation by any stretch of the imagination. The fame, the fans, the money, yeah, that’s something most of us cannot relate to.

The luck I’m talking about goes a bit deeper. The kind of luck – if you want to call it that – that eluded some of Cooper’s legendary rock contemporaries. Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Keith Moon. All might be considered victims of their own success. Something that not everyone can deal with, and can lead to the excesses that are suddenly so accessible, if not encouraged or even expected.

Alice Cooper was one of the gang. He indulged in his share of excess, but for reasons he may not understand himself, was able to climb out of that dark place he found himself trapped in, not knowing where the rock star ended and the regular guy started.

“A long time ago, there was that gray area when I used to drink, where I didn’t know where Alice began and I ended. As soon as I quit drinking, I made that a very black and white thing,” Cooper says.

After being told by his doctor that he had a choice between continuing his drinking and ending up dead, Cooper chose to remain among the living. Kind of ironic considering how many times he has “died” on stage as part of his enduring shock rock performances.

There’s little question about what plans Cooper has for the foreseeable future. He obviously loves his work and has no plans to fade away. “I could have retired 25 years ago. But isn’t writing songs and performing what I like to do? It’s what I’ve done for 45 years. Why would I stop now? What am I gonna do? Go fishing?”

With so many years of success and the wind still at his back, Cooper seems to be enjoying himself as much as ever, if not more. Referring back to the early part of his career, he talks about having to listen to a lot of people, perhaps compromising on issues he would rather not have had to compromise on.

Now, according to Cooper, nobody tells him what he can or cannot do. Perhaps that’s another reason he keeps on doing what he’s doing. He’s doing it his way.

More on Alice Cooper can be found at WBRZ News.