Anybody else have blues musicians that have left a void in your heart with their passing?

Well, ... the artists that truly are close to my heart are often those that were taken way too soon (and often under tragic circumstances.)

I think of Stevie Ray, Buddy Holly, Jimi ... and many others. I think that rising stars dying early often earn almost instantaneous martyr status - if only through empathy.

Those last performances of Stevie's in Alpine Valley had him playing with a handful of great guitarists. Which one were you referring to as the greatest: SRV? Clapton? Buddy Guy? Robert Cray? or Jimmie Vaughan?

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Originally posted by Slim Lively:
Hmmmm . . .

Of course the survivors all joined in England for two years running in shows featuring Clapton and they brought along harp ace Jerry Portnoy, too. And some of this was released on CD.

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Slim, are you saying there exsists a CD of these shows that includes the Robert Cray Band??? I have everything RCB - and am not familiar with such a recording - was RC part of the mix? Help!

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Luther Allison, Johnny Adams, Junior Wells, Jimmy Rogers, Lonnie Pitchford, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Champion Jack Dupree, Lowell Fulson, Charles Brown, Johnny Copeland, Katie Webster.
Slim[/B]

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Slim, I would concur with everyone on your short list. The first two that come to my mind are Otis - what a shame he left us so early, I think he was going to do soooo much more and take his music in additional directions. Another I miss because I would have loved to see him live is Overton Vertis Wright - as I know of no other vocalist that shares the pain and passion as well as him.

More to come....

Well, I may have stretched a little here. The players all gathered in London for two consecutive years. I know that Cray appeared on Clapton's "24 Nights" (1991), along with Albert Collins, Buddy Guy and Johnny Johnson. And I may be wrong, but there was a recent compilation of blues material put out by Clapton that I thought had some of this live material from the same shows. "24 Nights" by the way is available on CD, VHS and DVD.

I think it's always more depressing to think about what artist xyz could have been... if only given the chance.

You look at artists like BB, Buddy and the like, and we consider them living legends. One only can dream of what some of the others such as SRV, Otis, Jimi could have been.

Makes you also think about the butterfly effect - what would the impact on music have been should artists such as SRV et al. had lived to hone their talent, and truly develop their full potential?

eBuddha

I think it's always more depressing to think about what artist xyz could have been... if only given the chance.

Exactly!! Thus is the case with Lonnie Pitchford. Only one album plus a handful of sides on a Robert Johnson tribute show and video captured on "Deep Blues." I do not think there's much more. But the skills this man possessed with a guitar, not to mention being able to mesmerize me with his playing a diddley-bow!! It has been said that Lonnie could produce more sound out of a one-string diddley-bow than many could put out with six. And I'm telling you I believe it! I saw him at a post-Handy jam session at BB King's back in 1995 on-stage with Debbie Davies and Joe Louis Walker and he certainly held his own with these two exceptionally skilled guitarists. If it wasn't for being felled by AIDS in his early 40s, there's no telling how far he could've gone. A brilliantly gifted artist.