Barry Goldberg, blues keyboardist, made rock history with Bob Dylan, but he also played with other big names.
Summer 1965. When he sat at the organ behind Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, Barry Goldberg didn't know what was going to happen. “ At first it was just a concerthe told WECB in 2013. Bob said to me, “Do you want to play with me tonight?” I wasn't a folk artist and I didn't know how serious these people were. We started doing our thing, playing this song ('Like a WECB'). At the end, there were boos, but also cheers. They felt betrayed. But Bob was creating a new type of music, and once we were done, everyone knew how special it was. »
Barry Goldberg, a discreet musician who specialized in writing blues songs and playing the keyboard, a reference for many big names in rock and pop, died Wednesday at the age of 83 from complications of lymphoma. Hodgkinian. His death was announced by his friend and publicist, Bob Merlis.
As keyboardist for Electric Flag, he was a member of one of the first interracial blues groups. With lyricist Gerry Goffin, he co-wrote “ I've Got to Use My Imagination », the success of Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1974, and it is his organ which appears on the garage anthem of Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels « Devil with a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly », a number 4 in 1966. (Bruce Springsteen covered this song during concerts No Nukes 1979 at Madison Square Garden).
Goldberg's keyboard playing or writing has also been heard on albums by the Flying Burrito Brothers (he and Gram Parsons co-wrote ” Do You Know How It Feels ” on The Gilded Palace of Sin), by Leonard Cohen (Death of a Ladies' Man), the Ramones (End of the Century), among others. Goldberg was also a member of the Rides, a blues-rock band formed in 2012 with Stephen Stills and guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
“ You don't always hear his name, but he was present at many pivotal moments in rock & roll historysays Kenny Wayne Shepherd. He left a considerable mark. He was there and did everything. We could make a film about his life. »
Born on Christmas Day 1941 (his uncle Arthur Goldberg was a U.S. Supreme Court justice), Goldberg grew up with music; his mother was a boogie woogie pianist. “ At 13 or 14 years old, I listened to my little transistor radio and I was passionate about rock & roll: Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richardhe tells RS. But one night, at midnight, I heard an amazing (DJ) who said to me: “I'm going to take you down to the basement: turn on a blue light, we're going to listen to blues”. The reverb and the harmonica turned me around. It was supernatural music. It cast a spell on me. I couldn't talk to any of my classmates about it: “What are the blues?” They liked rock. Rock & roll is great, but it was a different feeling of freedom in my little room, and it took me into another world. »
Along with other local talents like harpist Paul Butterfield and guitarist Michael Bloomfield, Barry Goldberg began to immerse himself in music. It was Bloomfield (who also accompanied Dylan to Newport) who inspired Goldberg to venture into some of the intimidating blues clubs of Chicago's northern suburbs. “ Michael said to me, “You should come play with me.”Goldberg tells RS. I thought it was incredible, it was such a bold move. No one has ever crossed those lines in Chicago. It was dangerous, let’s put it that way. There were gangs. But Michael borrowed his mother's car and we went to a club called Silvio. It was the power of the blues that pushed us. We wanted to learn so much from the masters. We walked in and it was like that scene in Animal House: “Wait until Otis sees us!” Howlin' Wolf saw us in the club and there was silence. It was really weird. There we were, two little white people. “What do these kids want? What are they doing here?” But Wolf invited us and we played.”Killing Floor”, and my fate was sealed. »
Through Bloomfield, Goldberg was quickly hired to accompany Dylan in Newport, after which he formed a blues band with fellow Chicagoan Steve Miller. When Miller moved to San Francisco to find fame, Goldberg released an album, Blowing My Mind, with the Barry Goldberg Blues Band. In 1967, he and Bloomfield were founding members of Electric Flag, which pioneered the blend of blues, rock and roll, pop and brass, particularly on its debut album, A Long Time Comin'. The group's performance at the Monterey International Pop Festival that year is widely considered one of its highlights.
The group didn't last long, but Goldberg's career continued. At Dylan's request, he made a solo album in 1974, which Dylan produced himself (the only time Dylan produced another artist) but Goldberg always seemed more comfortable in the background. He and Goffin also wrote “ It's Not the Spotlight », a hit covered by Rod Stewart.
Goldberg later served as the keyboardist and co-writer for the Rides, who recorded two albums, and he also toured with the group. He is one of the central figures in the recent documentary Born in Chicago and also fronts the Chicago Blues Reunion, a group that includes other scene veterans including singer Nick Gravenites, former Butterfield drummer Sam Lay, harpist Charlie Musselwhite and Corky Siegel.
Of his career, Goldberg said: “ We stayed true to our roots, we played that kind of music, and then we continued to play rock, and we took the blues with us. He gave rock more feeling and soul. He added more depth, more realism to the music. Whatever difficulties you have faced in your family, the blues are your therapy. »
