"a city with my name on, i will enter in disguise"~ Jackie Leven.
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| Jackie Leven playing Hebden Bridge Trades Club,August 2010.Phil The -Ex-Fireman lends an ear ,far left of the photo. |
Jackie Leven [wikipedia] died from Prostrate Cancer on Monday night at 8pm.
[In a Shivering Blaze by Jackie Leven] Usually ,media announcements of death leave me cold.To mourn a passing you must,i think, have some physical connection.Only friends & family have the right of grief.
Look .I like Bob Dylan.I have seen him play often.But when he dies i doubt if I should really care.I have never had a wish meet him.[I suspect he's as mad as a bucket of frogs]
I will mourn Bob's back catalogue.I will mourn the fact that it indicates my own mortality.But, Bob's Pulse itself doesn't really touch me individually .
In the middle 80's i was introduced to a cd by Jackie.I was attracted by the Leven /Fife connection.My Mum had lived as a child in Leven.It was only later I realised Jackie was the Voice of Doll by Doll....so it goes...
My first Jackie Leven cd had contributions from the likes of Robert Bly & the whole Mens Movement thing.
At this time I was having all sorts of Stress & Depression Problems with my teaching career . Jackie helped me find my balls again.
[Defending Ancient Springs by Jackie Leven]
From then on I was hooked.I saw him play live 5 times at The Hebden Bridge Trades Club & once at The Bury Met.It was at Bury in 2008,with Cathy,Don& Margaret, I saw Jackie play the week between my Mum Dying & My Burying Her.
'Elegy for Jackie Leven'-Interview(+LivePerformance)Kirkcaldy Acoustic Music Club Oct 09 by Harknessian on Mixcloud
Twice I talked to him in The Hebden Bridge Trades.Once ,just a simple "Good Gig Jackie".The other time, we talked about how Jackie had had a "dodgy curry in Bradford" the night before...and his fear of having to leave the stage midstream to go to the bog..........(a conversation held appropriately ,during the Interval,in The Trades Club toilets)
God Speed Dear Jackie.I Love You but,for fuck sake, say well away from that Jimmy Savile! X
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Der Tagesspiegel:Obituary
*a 2nd,amusing,Obituary in The Independent
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Below another of my photos of dear sweet Jackie in Hebden Bridge...........
*a 2nd,amusing,Obituary in The Independent
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| Jackie with Princess Di.She was the patron of the CORE TRUST that he help set up for addiction.She was one person who encouraged him to return to singing+performing after he got his throat cut. |
Below another of my photos of dear sweet Jackie in Hebden Bridge...........
Comments
But there are a select few that do become a part of us.
there are a few that will miss because of their touches on my life...
And Jackie has a voice that touches something deep inside... but I often think that of voices from across the pond..!
http://youtu.be/2pOzwNYFIgo
I am sorry for your loss. ~Mary
I'm sorry to read that he has passed, but he certainly left us a great gift by his presence.
Excellent post.
xoxo
I hadn't heard Jimmy Saville's name in years, or known that he had recently died. That brings back memories of long, long ago when I used to watch him hosting 'Top of the Pops'!
But also - I regret not cottoning on to Jackie till a couple of years ago, but I'm glad I eventually managed it.
Such a great warm performer.
Since you've shared a couple of your meetings with him, I will too.
The first time was at the Rhythm Festival near Bedford. I'd gone specifically to see him. All the others I might have gone with dropped out. We had a chat after his set. I bought a CD. I told him how much I had enjoyed his set. No surprises. He was very charming and low key. Shambling, with no air or graces. Bit on that here http://blackwatertown.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/still-got-it/
Later on I wanted to send a copy of the same CD to a bereaved friend. It had such beautiful songs and warm stories in between - and dealt with death and loss in a way that I thought might be useful. But that particular CD was nowhere to be found - not through the record label, nor on Amazon, ebay or anywhere else. Given how highly I thought of Jackie it would have felt low class to have ripped off a copy. And I didn't want to lose my own. (And to be fair, it had been shifting around in my car and was no longer in the best nick.) So what to do? The agency that purported to represent Jackie didn't give me great hope when I tried to get in touch with him - they assumed that Jackie must be a "she". I managed to track his manager down abroad and then get through to the man himself. Fire away, said he, copy at will. That CD had been a limited run sideline - no more were available from him or anywhere else. So I did. This time he was perhaps a little bemused as well as charming - probably thinking who was this oddd guy hassling him.
Then just before he died, up went the Twitter status - Alive Alive-O.
But not for long.
Like you - I find myself disproportionately upset. But then I think of the story of the Irish-Canadienne transexual contract killer Shannon Doyle - and that cheers me up.
There's another of his characteristic interjections here http://blackwatertown.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/the-romans-were-they-italian/
But also - I regret not cottoning on to Jackie till a couple of years ago, but I'm glad I eventually managed it.
Such a great warm performer.
Since you've shared a couple of your meetings with him, I will too.
The first time was at the Rhythm Festival near Bedford. I'd gone specifically to see him. All the others I might have gone with dropped out. We had a chat after his set. I bought a CD. I told him how much I had enjoyed his set. No surprises. He was very charming and low key. Shambling, with no air or graces. Bit on that here http://blackwatertown.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/still-got-it/
Later on I wanted to send a copy of the same CD to a bereaved friend. It had such beautiful songs and warm stories in between - and dealt with death and loss in a way that I thought might be useful. But that particular CD was nowhere to be found - not through the record label, nor on Amazon, ebay or anywhere else. Given how highly I thought of Jackie it would have felt low class to have ripped off a copy. And I didn't want to lose my own. (And to be fair, it had been shifting around in my car and was no longer in the best nick.) So what to do? The agency that purported to represent Jackie didn't give me great hope when I tried to get in touch with him - they assumed that Jackie must be a "she". I managed to track his manager down abroad and then get through to the man himself. Fire away, said he, copy at will. That CD had been a limited run sideline - no more were available from him or anywhere else. So I did. This time he was perhaps a little bemused as well as charming - probably thinking who was this oddd guy hassling him.
Then just before he died, up went the Twitter status - Alive Alive-O.
But not for long.
Like you - I find myself disproportionately upset. But then I think of the story of the Irish-Canadienne transexual contract killer Shannon Doyle - and that cheers me up.
There's another of his characteristic interjections here http://blackwatertown.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/the-romans-were-they-italian/