Acclaimed blues-rock musician Barry Goldberg, who was a part of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band when it backed Bob Dylan throughout his legendary electrical outing on the otherwise-acoustic Newport Folks Pageant in 1965, died on Jan. 22.
He was 83.
Goldberg, who additionally carried out/recorded with Steve Miller, Muddy Waters, Leonard Cohen, Stephen Stills and plenty of different famed musicians, “died in hospice care after a 10-year struggle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma,” in accordance publicist Bob Merlis. “Gail Goldberg, his wife of 53 years, and son Aram were at this bedside.”
The super blues-rock keyboardist, who was additionally a bandleader, songwriter and producer, was born on Christmas Day of 1942 and grew up in Chicago, the place he’d nurture his love of music and shortly rise by the ranks of Windy Metropolis keyboardists. Because the story goes, Goldberg was nonetheless a youngster when he shared the stage with such Chicago blues legends as Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Howlin’ Wolf.
Goldberg was additionally nonetheless a excessive schooler when he’d meet and befriend ace guitarist Mike Bloomfield and the 2 aspiring artists quickly made names for themselves on the Chicago blues scene. They’d finally be part of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which might assist shock the people music world — and a goodly a part of the remainder of the globe — after they backed Bob Dylan when he went electrical on the 1965 Newport Folks Pageant.
That electrical second, which is now extensively thought of to be one of the well-known/notorious performances in widespread music historical past, is prominently featured within the Oscar-nominated Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown.”
Goldberg would go on to co-produce albums/songs for Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, the Textones and even Dylan himself. An achieved songwriter, Goldberg wrote songs that have been later recorded by Rod Stewart, Gladys Knight, Joe Cocker, Steve Miller, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Gram Parsons, B. J. Thomas and others.
Regardless of his many alternative roles within the music enterprise over the a long time, Goldberg remained, initially, a Chicago bluesman. As such, he was the perfect alternative to assist lead the Chicago Blues Reunion, a gaggle that additionally featured Sam Lay, Nick Gravenites, Harvey Mandel, Corky Siegel, Tracy Nelson, Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmy Vivino, Marcy Levy and different artists through the years.
In lieu of flowers, Goldberg’s household is asking that donation be made within the acclaimed musician’s identify to The Bear League by way of savebears.org.
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