OBIT
John 'Marmaduke' Dawson dies at 64; founder of New Riders of the Purple Sage
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-john-dawson26-2009jul26,0,3544803.story
'The original psychedelic cowboy band' was the Grateful Dead's
opening act from 1969 to 1971, then became successful touring on its own.
By Valerie J. Nelson
July 26, 2009
John "Marmaduke" Dawson had original tunes in his pocket and a guitar
in his hand in 1969 when a buddy just learning to play pedal steel
guitar often joined his weekly gig at the Underground, a Bay Area
hofbrau house.
The friend was Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, and those sessions
set the stage for the New Riders of the Purple Sage, a group they
considered "the original psychedelic cowboy band."
Dawson, 64, died Tuesday of stomach cancer in San Miguel de Allende,
Mexico, said Buddy Cage, who has played pedal steel guitar with the
group since Garcia left in 1971.
The New Riders initially gave Garcia and two other members of the
Grateful Dead -- Mickey Hart on drums and Phil Lesh on bass guitar --
a way to further indulge their taste for country music. But Dawson's
songwriting skills quickly helped the offshoot band develop an
independent country-rock identity.
Rob Bleetstein, archivist for the New Riders, wrote in an e-mail,
"Dawson's songwriting brought an incredible vision of classic
Americana to light with songs like 'Glendale Train' and 'Last Lonely Eagle.' "
With that material and such other "wonderful" Dawson songs as "Garden
of Eden" and "Henry," the band "simply had to become a reality,"
Dennis McNally, a Grateful Dead publicist, said last week on Relix
magazine's website.
They were the Grateful Dead's opening act from 1969 to 1971, then
became successful touring on their own, Bleetstein said.
In 1974, the New Riders played a free concert for an estimated 50,000
fans in New York City's Central Park.
According to the "Encyclopedia of Popular Music" (1998), their first,
self-titled release "blended country rock with hippie idealism, yet
emerged as a worthy companion to the parent act's lauded 'American Beauty.' "
Dawson had written every one of the album's tracks.
With Dawson as the lead singer, the New Riders released eight albums
on Columbia Records from 1971 to 1976. Among their most popular
releases was 1973's "The Adventures of Panama Red." The title track,
written by Peter Rowan, was one of the New Riders' biggest hits.
The band's lineup changed over the years, but Dawson and another
founding member, singer-guitarist David Nelson, stayed with the group
until it essentially broke up in 1982. Dawson continued performing
with a band built around the name New Riders of the Purple Sage until
the mid-1990s.
Saying he was tired of life on the road, Dawson retired to the
Mexican artists haven of San Miguel de Allende with his wife, Elana,
a model he met while touring Europe with the Grateful Dead in 1972, Cage said.
Four years ago, the New Riders of the Purple Sage returned, with
longtime members Nelson and Cage, to present "a virtual renaissance
of John's tunes," Cage said.
"His songs inspired us in so many ways," the band said in a statement
on its website. "His energy, passion and commitment to the New Riders
brought us all so much joy over the years."
A son of privilege, John Collins Dawson IV was born in 1945 in San Francisco.
At the home of his guitar teacher -- who was his best friend's mother
-- Dawson met Garcia around 1959, Dawson recalled in a history on the
band's website.
Later, he often ran into Garcia at a Palo Alto music shop where
Garcia rented space to give music lessons.
Dawson attended the Millbrook School in New York as a teenager and
later enrolled at Foothill College in the Bay Area and at Occidental College.
In 1965, he was hanging out with friends when one of them dubbed him
Marmaduke, for no apparent reason. The nickname stuck, but Garcia
later shortened it to "McDuke," Dawson wrote, because he could "talk
like Donald Duck."
Dawson's wife died about five years ago. He is survived by his
mother, Ruth Bioletti of Hood River, Ore.; a sister, Mary of Cabo San
Lucas, Mexico; and two brothers, Richard of Fremont, Calif., and
Bruce of Tucson.
--
--------
Country rock musician John Dawson dies
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/24/BAUD18UMH6.DTL
Aidin Vaziri, Chronicle Pop Music Critic
Saturday, July 25, 2009
John Dawson, co-founder of the psychedelic country rock band New
Riders of the Purple Sage and a longtime Grateful Dead collaborator,
died Tuesday at his home San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, after a
lengthy battle with stomach cancer. He was 64.
Mr. Dawson, nicknamed "Marmaduke," will be remembered as the man who
started New Riders in 1969, the group in which Jerry Garcia was able
to showcase his pedal-steel guitar playing, and Grateful Dead bassist
Phil Lesh and drummer Mickey Hart briefly sat in, soaking in the
front man's fervor for country music.
Named after Zane Grey's 1912 novel "Riders of the Purple Sage" and
stimulated by the "acid tests" thrown by Ken Kesey and his Merry
Pranksters, Mr. Dawson's band released eight albums on Columbia from
1971 to 1976, including the gold-certified 1973 release "The
Adventures of Panama Red." The title track, written by bluegrass
musician Peter Rowan, became a major radio hit.
Even though the band often served as the Dead's support act on the
road, in 1974, the New Riders were popular enough to play for 50,000
fans at a free concert in New York's Central Park.
Apart from the classic songs he penned for the band, such as
"Glendale Train" and "Last Lonely Eagle," Mr. Dawson also co-wrote
several songs for the Grateful Dead, including the classic "Friend of
the Devil." The singer-guitarist also appeared as a guest musician on
three Grateful Dead albums - "Aoxomoxoa," "Workingman's Dead" and
"American Beauty."
Born in Detroit, Mr. Dawson moved to the Bay Area in the mid-'60s,
immersing himself in the burgeoning folk scene in Palo Alto and
befriending Garcia and his first band, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions.
"His songs inspired us in so many ways," the surviving members of the
New Riders said in a statement on their Web site. "His energy,
passion and commitment to the New Riders brought us all so much joy
over the years."
Through various lineup changes, the band continued releasing music
and touring until 1997, after which Mr. Dawson retired to Mexico and
became an English teacher.
He returned to California in 2002 for a one-off appearance with the
New Riders when they were given a lifetime achievement award by High
Times magazine. He passed on the opportunity to continue playing with
a new version of the group, even though he gave the project his
blessing. He also played with the band two years ago at the 40th
anniversary Summer of Love concert in Golden Gate Park.
Mr. Dawson is survived by his mother, Ruth Dawson of Hood River,
Ore.; sister, Mary Dawson of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; and brothers,
Richard Dawson of Fremont and Bruce Dawson of Tucson.
--
E-mail Aidin Vaziri at avaziri@sfchronicle.com.
.
0 comments:
Post a Comment