Jackson Browne Mourns ‘Genius’ Guitarist David Lindley – Tikmusics

Following the death of acclaimed Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist David Lindley at the age of 78 on March 3, his longtime collaborator Jackson Browne shared his thoughts in a heartbreaking statement he shared with Billboard.

The talented musician, whose guitar and violin skills made him a regular collaborator with icons such as Brown, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart and more, has been ill for months. Los Angeles Times. The cause of death was not specified.

Read Brown Lindley’s full dedication below in his own words as he recalls the story of their wonderful personal and professional relationship, and the qualities he will always remember in his late friend.

David Lindley, the guitarist, guitarist and violinist who inspired many of my songs, passed away on March 3rd. The outpouring of love and the widespread recognition of his skill was very touching. I want to join the loud chorus of appreciation for his gifts, but everything I write seems good enough. Words were never enough to describe what David Lindley brought to the song.

I first played with David in the dressing room of the Troubadour in 1969. My friend Jimmy Fadden from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band brought him in to say hello and pointed out that David had a violin with him, saying he would probably sit down if I asked him to. I already knew him from the band Kaleidoscope, whose first album Side Trips was one of my favorite albums.

We started playing my song These Days and my world changed. His playing was so emotional and direct – it captivated me and everyone present. It doesn’t matter that he’s never heard this song before. The fact that he played made him more emotional and more real than ever in the years that I played alone.

David was in England playing with Terry Reed when I made my first album. When he came back, I tried to put together a tour band with him, but it wasn’t as good as the two of us. I decided that we were going to tour just like a duo, despite the fact that a single on the charts requires drums, bass and conga to play properly. We didn’t even play it. We played a lot of songs that I had written by then, some old songs that we both knew and songs written by friends. After all, I had a band with him, and it was a rich and varied musical environment. We headlined a national tour with Bonnie Wright. It was the band on my third album Late For The Sky.

David is a very big part of me, who I have become and who I remain. Nobody has ever played like him. In my later bands, after David left to form El Rayo-X, we would play the structure of the songs more or less based on what he played, but that was and still is today for musicians to call their own. Lindley nature. Good luck! This is a very good idea. He didn’t play the same thing every time. He was always researching, always hearing something new. Always in the moment.

David’s musical interests were so vast and his genius so obvious that he attracted and played with many of the great artists of our day. Ry Cooder, Linda Ronstadt, Graham Nash and David Crosby, Warren Zevon, Bonnie Wright, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen. But it was his band, El Rayo-X, that provided that rich and fertile environment that gave him free rein to develop and blend his influences and create a unique synthesis that would henceforth and forever be known as David Lindley.

Together with Henry Kaiser, David continued his exploration of world music, which he began in Kaleidoscope. I am grateful to Henry for publishing his Requiem for David Lindley, and for all the other posts and clips on the internet that testify to the many different cultures that David traveled, weaving them into one world.

My own world is destroyed by David’s death. He was my friend and my teacher. It was with great pleasure and confidence that I revisited our special bond over the years. I guess I thought he’d always be there.

For the past two weeks, I have struggled to write and publish something. It was hard to start and probably hard to finish because I don’t want to let him go. David was kind to everyone and so funny. Unable to utter a dishonest word or play a dishonest note. There will be tribute concerts and, of course, a documentary about him. We will have ways to continue celebrating his life. And we all know there will never be another David Lindley.