| John "Marmaduke"
Dawson, a founding member of the seminal Country Rock band the New
Riders of the Purple Sage, lost his life to stomach cancer yesterday
(7-21)
in Mexico, where he had been living for the past several years. The New
Riders grew out of a casual side gig Dawson and Jerry Garcia
struck up in 1969 so the Grateful Dead guitarist could play
more pedal steel guitar. Mickey Hart and Phil Lesh
also did stints in NRPS, and Bill Kreutzmann and
Donna Jean Godchaux appear on NRPS albums. The
communal relationship of the bands carried over to touring, with
the Riders opening numerous Dead shows from the summer of
'69-'73.
Garcia made way for pedal steel specialist Buddy Cage after
the first group's self-titled debut album, but played banjo
in recording sessions after parting ways.
Dawson left the band in the early 90's, retiring to the
land of Panama Red. David Nelson and Buddy Cage revived the band a few years ago with Dawson's
blessing.
Nrpsmusic.com |
