Said David Bromberg, about Paul Siebel, quoted in "Paul Siebel, Singer Whose Career Was Notable but Brief, Dies at 84/He arrived on the Greenwich Village folk scene in the mid-1960s and drew comparisons to Dylan. But he left the music business not long after" (NYT).
After Mr. Siebel walked away from the music business, he became a bread baker for a restaurant and a county park worker in Maryland. He leaves no immediate survivors.
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I saw David Bromberg freshman year of college when he performed for free at the school. I saw him again a few years back when he performed for free at a nearby town. He had certainly changed a lot. I kind of liked the first concert. I wasn't that into the second, but had all these cosmic feelings about time and the universe because of the 40 or so year gap between the two experiences.
I hope he had a happy life. Whenever I see that someone has died without leaving behind any family, it makes me a bit sad.
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Try".......LOL
I was hoping for a funny song with that title but alas it's just a typo.
"I was hoping for a funny song with that title but alas it's just a typo."
LOL
"I hope he had a happy life. Whenever I see that someone has died without leaving behind any family, it makes me a bit sad."
When I read that, I said "he might have enjoyed life as a baker and park worker."
You have someone who apparently wanted a low profile in this world, and those choices suggest to me that he found a small and beautiful life that fit his emotional style.
I saw David Bromberg at The Headliners club in Madison, back in the early 80's. David Bromberg is the reason why God put strings on musical instruments.
"Louise" is, by a large margin, the saddest song I've ever heard.
"he might have enjoyed life as a baker and park worker."
Why not? He probably had some checks coming in the mail. And maybe he still wrote.
Tommy Duncan, I agree. Like "Faded Love", eh?
My guess is that stage fright and social anxiety are two sides of the same coin. Most successful solo musicians either have huge egos or started performing at a young age (or both), so they don't experience it as something anxiety-provoking.
I assume it's a typo on the playlist -- "I'm So Lonesome I Could Try" -- but, if it was a song, it would pretty much sum up my college Freshman year.
I certainly think he could have built a happy life from the baking and the park work. I'm not reacting to the fact that he didn't hit the big time. It's that there weren't any spouse, partner, kids, or siblings in the picture at the end. I hope he had some human connection sustaining him.
I once saw Leo Kottke do "Louise" at a concert, and in his intro before the song he told a story about how he met the guy who wrote the song, and how he was curled up in a ball with stage fright. I didn't remember it was Paul Siebel.
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