Jim White’s tribute to David Johansen who died the day before yesterday, with a clip from the BBC documentary mentioned below.
“Sad news on the passing of legendary New York Dolls singer David Johansen. He appeared in Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus, that BBC documentary that I also had a role in.
This song, recorded live in a dive motel room in rural West Virginia with Larry Salzman on guitar, highlights the profound, elegant soulfulness that DJ displayed as a vocalist.
I stood at the doorway of the room, watching the scene unfold while this song was being recorded, just marveling at his flawless tone and presentation. The day outside was cold and grey and the forlorn landscape seemed to be asking for such a sonic accompaniment.
Afterwards DJ and I spoke a bit, and before too long he was inviting me to come stay with him up in New York City. I was stunned at his welcoming disposition. Then a short time later I heard him make the same offer to a member of the BBC film crew. I guess that’s just how he conducted his life—with an open door.
DJ’s appearance in the BBC doc was a fragment of a larger, truly magical improvisation that he did, talking about his memories of Alan Lomax and Lomax’s means of collecting of those songs that appear on that seminal Smithsonian American Folkways recording.
I found it quite astonishing that DJ apparently knew Lomax and listened with awe as he spoke at length about the near otherworldly gatherings that he attended with Lomax.
In the end the monologue about Lomax was mostly cut in favor of the musical performance.
Some folks are just born to live at the crossroads of meaning as magic swirls around them. DJ seemed to be one such soul. I wish him peace and a fine journey beyond this finite realm that we call our earthly home.”
30th June, 1989,
The night before my final Ear, Nose & Throat medical exams, Pere Ubu, avantgarde group extraordinaire, play one of Dublin’s iconic venues ‘Midnight at the Olympia’
Ab.So.Lute.Ly FAB!
(… and I passed my exams the next day despite slight hearing loss)
RIP David Thomas (singer/only constant member)
Jon Gordon passed away May 5, 2025. He played guitar on Suzanne Vega’s hit song Luka. I knew nothing about him until Suzanne posted the news earlier today. I certainly remember the song, one of those songs that resonated with me in my teenage years.
I am so sad about this. My mother loved funk and I listened to his music as i was a child. I was just listened to his music 2 nights ago. He was the king of rythem. Very sad
I dont know why this bothers me so much. I think its because when my mother wanted me to play trumpet and I resisted at first because I didn’t want to be a band geek. Im not sure if it was this exact one but it was one of the Sly and the Family Stone at Woodstock videos and she showed me how playing trumpet can be way more than that. Get good and then you can play anything and be part of a movment. I was in 5th grade
Damn, that’s terrible news. When I was a kid we had Woodstock Diaries (an outtakes version of the official movie) on VHS and their spot has been one of my favourites, both for the music and their crazy outfits:
They had so many great songs, these are some of my favourite ones:
He was famous for not showing up for scheduled concerts. In 1970, he scheduled a free concert in Chicago’s Grant Park to make up for past no-shows in Chicago. A huge crowd gathered. Once again, Sly was a no-show, and a riot ensued.
I was away in Viet Nam at the time, but my girlfriend (now my wife of 53 years) was there. She got tear gassed while trying to get away from the melee. She doesn’t think of him as a cool dude.
I am sure it was awful at the time. But it does sound like a cool story. Yeah can tell the little ones, “your mom/ grandmom/ aunt was a bit of a rebel herself back in the day, she was gassed by the Chicago PD back in 1970 for wanting to listening to funkadelic blues.” I mean thats right out of the Blues Brothers.
That actually happened to me at a Smashing Pumpkin show I was never really a fan in the first place. I just disliked Billy Corrigan after that.
In all seriousness the early 70 was a tough time for a lot of people. Especially the enlisted, the fresh vets and families.
I stayed up way late last nice teanscribing this song and trying to work on it. I really needed to be working on BLIM. But there it is’ such a great tune.
It is indeed a good song. As far as transcribing is concerned, I managed to crack the riff of Sing a Simple Song some time ago. I play it with single notes although on film footages Freddie Stone seems to be playing some chords… but that was in a band context. A somewhat long-term plan is to use it as a springboard for trying to pick out some of the riffing from Right Off on Miles’ Jack Johnson album.
I also made some baby steps in slapping by playing along to Thank You for Talkin’ to Me Africa (linked above) - it’s mostly just 2 notes but I still have to work a lot on my technique.
That’s a sad story. I think Sly’s life, or at least the last 50 or so years, is a textbook example of why (large quantities of) narcotics are not good in the long run (if a long run is granted to an addict). He started out as a sort of musical child prodigy, created cutting edge (pop) music for 5 years or so, then all that was thrown out the window and never regained. To me, the motto of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas seems very apt: “He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man”. But that lack of pain has an exorbitant price.
When I was a teenager in the mid-70s, the Beach Boys were not considered cool at all, and I shared that opinion. It was only later in life that I did a deep dive into Pet Sounds and discovered for myself the wonder of Brian Wilson.
