Here's a really, really great video on Richard Manuel (and oh yeah, The Band).
News of Richard’s suicide in 1986 is the only music-related death that brought me to tears. As does this video. It also makes me laugh.
Levon Helm stated The Band considered Richard their lead singer, and hearing him in this video reinforces my opinion that he is the white Ray Charles, head and shoulders above all his contemporaries. If you consider that dissing them, I can live with that. For a special treat, listen to Richard and Van Morrison (the best of the British singers) dueting on "4% Pantomime" (on The Band’s Cahoots album).
Just a little over a half hour in length, this video is well worth your time to watch. It may give some of you a better understanding of why The Band are held in such high regard by the best musicians, singers, and songwriters in Rock ’n’ Roll.
https://youtu.be/7r2w5ioGgqE?si=nuyCwE0qUFd6kAb-
It’s definitely a crazy world and a shame that drugs are such an integral part of the music business. I’m glad that you (and a lot of other people) managed to not fall into the trap. I think it was Charlie Musselwhite who had a similar experience to yours. I read an interview where he said he tried heroin once and it was so good that he knew that there would be a heavy price to pay for using it, so he never did it again. |
Musselwhite was wiser than his contemporary, Paul Butterfield. Paul got in tight with the Woodstock guys, doing a lot of playing with Levon Helm and Rick Danko in particular. He died of an overdose at age 44. The debut Paul Butterfield Blues Band album was the first "real" Blues music I heard. It opened the eyes of my teenage suburban bandmates and I as to how bad most of the British bands performed the music (the exceptions being John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac).
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@bdp24 - "The debut Paul Butterfield Blues Band album was the first "real" Blues music I heard." We must be close in age because my friends and I had a similar experience. I was a nascent guitarist who was totally bowled over by Mike Bloomfield’s skill. His sound and approach was widely admired and emulated. Early electric Jerry Garcia owes a debt to Bloomfield. The "thin wild mercury" sound of Bob Dylan wouldn’t have existed without Bloomfield (and Robbie Robertson). And of course, Bloomfield was someone else whose life was cut short because of drug abuse. In the late 1970’s, The Lone Star Cafe, in NYC hosted Richard, Rick and Paul on a fairly regular rotation. Along with Dr. John, you could see "roots" music for a $10 ticket and two beers. |
@wharfy: I turn 75 in June. Damn, where’d the time go?! In three years I’ll be the age my Pa was when he croaked. Colon cancer. But I never smoked, drank only moderately, ate sensibly, and got plenty of exercise hauling band equipment in and out of vans, up and down stairs, etc. Did you get to see Bloomfield in The Electric Flag live? Fan-f*cking-tastic! Buddy Miles made Keith Moon look like a wimp.
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You're still a young man! Cleanish living and you definitely got your exercise. Now, the gym has replaced working-man-full-body-workouts. Doing pretty well, myself, at 72. Saw The Flag at Cafe Au Go Go in Winter, 1968. Rumors were Hendrix was jamming with them, and would play with them during this run. Didn't happen. But, they did play together a few months later at the Fillmore East. The Flag had chops! round this time, after Bloomfield quit/was fired, Super Session was released. Stephen Stills, Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield and members of The Flag. I still play that one. Later was Bloomfield/Kooper at the Fillmore, with the classic "Hey Jude/Mr. Fantasy" pairing. |
