I remember reading in Rolling Stone about Jesse WInchester — the singer-singwriter who moved to Canada to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War. I never really sought out his music, but I did hear his song "Biloxi" as covered by Jimmy Buffett and then later by Ted Hawkins. And then a few years ago I saw him on Elvis Costello's short-lived TV series, "Spectacle," in which he performed a devastatingly beautiful version of "Sham-a-Ling-Dong-Ding" (note Neko Case being moved to tears and then Costello's comment after the song). That led me deep into WInchester's songbook, going back to "Biloxi" on his debut album, which was produced by Robbie Robertson and engineered by Todd Rundgren. On WInchester's next album, Rundgren produced three songs, including the lovely "Glory to the Day." Winchester died Friday at the age of 69. Read the NY Times obit by Jon Pareles here and enjoy the video and songs below.
Comments