Old Folkies Home

[Godot 149]

I guess they have been mentioned elsewhere but what remains of the Dubliners is worth watching. Luke Kelly and Ciaran Bourke have already gone and Ronnie Drew, another one of the originals is still going (as is the band, still touring too). At around 72, that is positively ancient for a Dubliner.

[Godot 149]

Have just seen a mention on the web of Roger Whittaker. He's 70 this year and has not been too clever, nothing too serious but all that hell rasin' on stage is beginning to catch up with him.

 

http://www.rogerwhittaker.com/letters.html

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

Be warned people, the link above is Roger Whittaker's newsletter written by his wife and so turgid and twee it could see off the unwary who'll fall asleep at the computer never to see daylight again.

 

It's more like a letter to a few friends. How many people - exactly - turn out to see RW on stage these days?

[Godot 149]

Be warned people, the link above is Roger Whittaker's newsletter written by his wife and so turgid and twee it could see off the unwary who'll fall asleep at the computer never to see daylight again.

 

It's more like a letter to a few friends. How many people - exactly - turn out to see RW on stage these days?

 

About the same who go to see Val Doonican I would guess and , oddly, mostly German it seems.

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

So if Rog's British audiences are on the dwindle - death seeing off a goodly proportion of late I'd wager - maybe we could book him into a smaller venue. I'll have a word in the Miner's Arms, Prospect, they've booked a few turns over the years.

[Phantom 2,533]

Earl Scruggs is still going I think, must be 90something by now.

 

Earl Scruggs still picking

 

He is still around, however his wife died earlier this year.

[The Four Horsemen 26]

Pete Seeger is 87 today - no health update though

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

Bet he's planning to live long enough to spend some of that lovely money Bruce Springsteen is generating for him at the moment.

[Canadian Paul 97]

Bet he's planning to live long enough to spend some of that lovely money Bruce Springsteen is generating for him at the moment.

 

But if Bruce Springsteen was covering some of your songs, wouldn't you want to die of shame?

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

No....but he would.

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

It is generally accepted that he also became addicted to drugs in the 1960s: see Colin Harper's book, referenced below, for details. First-hand accounts of Graham's concerts at this time agree that his performances, which were sometimes brilliant, were on other occasions marred by symptoms consistent with cocaine addiction. In an interview published in The Guardian (see below), he recalled taking a bottle of LSD with him on a ship from Barcelona and shooting up opium in Istanbul, before describing the 10,000 ladybirds he saw on his window that morning. Certainly he reached a point where he ceased to work and entered a period of obscurity and comparative poverty: in this respect, he is often compared with other musicians, such as Syd Barrett and Peter Green who were victims of drug addiction. Nevertheless, he continued to teach the guitar, although (again according to The Guardian article) a lesson with him might consist of his turning on a record and leaving his student to listen to it whilst he went to the pub.

 

The above from the Wiki page on Davy Graham who'll be a mere 66 in November. Heard him play a session and talk on 6 Music's Freak Zone last weekend. He sounds like a well weathered drink n drug case, though he's still playing quite well. Might have stacked up some vital organ damage that'll take him sooner than he expects.

[Banshees Scream 110]

Now 87 years old. A very respected musician, but does he make the list?

 

 

(Pete Seeger, For next year?) atj.

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

Deffo on fame, not sure on health grounds. The scrawny protest singer seems to have some good genes. Should we - mebbe - merge this query into the Old Folkies Home thread?

 

 

 

TA DA! (ATJ)

[Anubis the Jackal 77]

Although he's back on the road, touring his classic 'Solid Air' album, legendary folk mumbler John Martyn may be worth an outside shot. Heroically managed to be both a junkie and alchoholic for many years, punched Sid Vicious' lights out during one of his gigs, has recently (2003) had a leg amputated.

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

Martyn's STILL an alchie as far as I can make out, rambling and incoherent on a recent radio session when interviewed, played okay mind.

 

His body has taken a fair pounding over the years and he's unlikely to see very old age. Oddly, in his worst days he gigged superbly, I'll vouch for seeing him on top form. These days he's a pretty mediocre show and the latest tour is an attempt to generate some interest from a fan base proving less and less willing to pay cash to see him.

[Anubis the Jackal 77]

Agreed, he's fairly useless at the moment.

I went to a festival this year, looking forward to seeing him play the 'Solid Air' album. As I was wandering through the usual festival tat stalls, I said to my companion "What's this awful plodding sub-Phil-Collins-80's rock-dirge they're playing over the PA.?" (or words to that effect.)The answer, sadly, was that the mumbling monoped was live on stage. I found my entertainment elsewhere.

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

mumbling monoped

 

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

After spying Wizz Jones on the You Tube footage recently pasted into the Cliff Mitchelmore thread herabouts - he's the long haired one singing with the guitar on the beach - I managed to encounter the man in person this week. Very chipper and still gigging and showing a fair burst of energy for a 68 year old. Nowt doing there for a while I reckon.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

Eric von Schmidt, a pioneering figure in the folk music explosion of the late 1950s and early 1960s, whose works influenced Bob Dylan and Joan Baez died on Friday at the age of 75.

[The Pooka 26]

Now 87 years old. A very respected musician, but does he make the list?

 

 

(Pete Seeger, For next year?) atj.

Interview with Pete Seeger in this month's Mojo magazine. He looks good for another 10 years

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

The aforementioned Tommy Makem, who some discerning deadpoolers have picked for the DDP ( ), isn't doing too well.

 

He's been too unwell to preform at some recent concerts, upon investigation I have found that his lung cancer has spread to his liver.

 

"He was in the hospital, but he was so distressed that they let him go home. There he got so uncomfortable that they put him back where he could be cared for properly."

 

The end is surely nigh. And I can't see Tommy Makem lasting much longer either.

[Phantom 2,533]

The aforementioned Tommy Makem, who some discerning deadpoolers have picked for the DDP ( ), isn't doing too well.

 

He's been too unwell to preform at some recent concerts, upon investigation I have found that his lung cancer has spread to his liver.

 

"He was in the hospital, but he was so distressed that they let him go home. There he got so uncomfortable that they put him back where he could be cared for properly."

 

The end is surely nigh. And I can't see Tommy Makem lasting much longer either.

as long as he lasts until next year, I'll be happy

[Anubis the Jackal 77]

as long as he lasts until next year, I'll be happy

 

 

 

 

Selfish Git!

 

 

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

Tommy Makem has died.

[Phantom 2,533]

Tommy Makem has died.

 

oh crap!!! i spoke too soon