Every April, I think about Richard Manuel, born on April 3, 1943, in Stratford, Ontario. I still remember where I was in March 1986, when I heard that he had taken his own life — the magazine art department of The Observer newspaper. I remember feeling unmoored for days, which seems too much of a reaction for someone I hadn’t met or known personally, but The Band had been such an important musical influence on my life. They were my equivalent of another generation’s Louis Armstrong or Hank Williams or Charlie Parker. When Sam and Ann Charters came through London on their way to live in Sweden in 1971, Sam had brought me five of his favourite albums as a gift. One of them was Music From Big Pink. He sat me down (I was fifteen at the time) and played me his favourite song, Richard’s “In A Station”. It sounded like nothing else I’d ever heard. It still sounds like nothing else I’ve ever heard.
Richard was one of my favourite singers, songwriters and drummers. He wrote incandescent, sui generis songs for The Band — “Whispering Pines”, “When You Awake”, “Sleeping”, “We Can Talk About It Now”, and “Lonesome Susie” — as well as putting the funereal music to Bob Dylan’s lyrics for “Tears of Rage”. There’s a lot of great writing about Richard’s extraordinary qualities, and a quick web search turns most of them up — or you can go to Jan Hoiberg’s excellent site on The Band, its history, songs and members. (https://theband.hiof.no/about_this_site.html)
I wrote this song in the 2010, a meditation on his tragic death, which happened at a time when the Robbie Robertson-less group were touring places that were, in reality, beneath them. When I came to the point in the song where there’s usually a solo, I remembered a lovely version of “Georgia On My Mind” that my pal Mark had worked on as he figured out how to record in Garageband, and I dropped the mp3 in the track. The song was a favourite of Richard’s (highlighting his love of Ray Charles), to which I added the sound of a disinterested supper club. So here’s my song for Richard, that Stratford star, because there “must be some way to repay you / Out of all the good you gave…”
Five Things I Saw & Heard This Week 
That damn black dog ..
You’ve heard this too many times already, John! Begone Black Dog!
Thank you Martin, first of all for the reminder about the great quality of the songs that Richard composed; that special feeling in his singing voice that drew us in and felt so human in terms of frailties. Yearning. Soulful. Stunning. You describe it very well. Could it be said that his voice actually reflected the torments of his life. So sad. Also, thanks for your song..lyrically beautiful and heartfelt.
Thank you, Charlie, for the kind words, and Richard, yes, so essentially human…
That is a damn fine song, Martin. But don’t forget I have a black and white dog if ever you need your mood lightening.
Thanks, Kevin, and I know that dog, and she will definitely lift the mood…
Martin
can you put a link to Jan Hoiberg’s site on here or in your TAG Cloud.
thanks
David
Good thought, will do
April is the cruellest month. This is a lovely, eerie tribute. My indelible first contact with the late great Richard Manuel was the opening of Tears of Rage, the opening track of Music from Big Pink. Thudding cardiac drum sound and Richard’s high wailing voice. “We carried you in our arms / on Independence Day”. The promise and the loneliness of American culture in one line.
Such an unusual opening for a debut album…