R.I.P. Mark Lanegan

Not someone I followed closely but I know he was highly respected.

[twitter.com]

Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland.  A beloved singer, songwriter, author and musician he was 57 and is survived by his wife Shelley.  No other information is available at this time. We ask Please respect the family privacy

What the actual fuck?

I've followed his music (both with Screaming Trees and solo) off and on over the years, but after reading his rather harrowing autobiography, I got back into his music in a big way. I'm really shocked about this. He seemed to have finally found peace.

Too soon. One of the last lineages to SST.

Goddamn it. Longer story here, but no real details.

CNN mentions that he nearly died from Covid.

It's beginning to look as if CoVid had something to do with it.

Not a fan of Screaming Trees, but I saw his "Somebody's Knocking" album from 2019 on a few "year-end best of" lists and decided to check it out. It's excellent! I later listened to the follow-up, which I think coincided with the release of his book, and didn't enjoy it so much (very different sounding album). I've been meaning to dig deeper into his catalog to see if there is more that I like...just haven't done it yet. Regardless, his death is sad news. As Michael said, he finally seemed to get it together these past few years.

Somebody's Knocking is indeed one of his best. He'd been on kind of a roll the last few years, starting with Blues Funeral. I'm also fond of his first three records on Sub Pop, particularly Scraps at Midnight.

Straight Songs of Sorrow is a challenge, but, as a companion to his memoir, I think it's meant to be. I wish it had a little more variety to it, but I like the intimacy and the focus of it. It's definitely not the one I'd recommend someone start with, though.

Looks like they’re looking for Screaming Trees tapes that were once owned by Lanegan - details and contact info here:

[www.facebook.com]

For any of you who do the podcast thing, Marc maron just re-posted his 2017 WTF interview with him today.

Nick Cave on Mark Lanegan, from his newsletter/agony aunt column/whatever it is The Red Hand Files:

Dear Anton and everyone who has written to me about Mark,

I encountered Mark many times over the years — we engaged in some extremely dubious escapades back in the ’90s; he sang ‘White Light/White Heat’ and ‘Fire and Brimstone’ with Warren and me on the Lawless soundtrack; he recorded my favourite ever Nick Cave cover — an astonishing version of ‘Brompton Oratory’; we did something together for the Jeffrey Lee Pierce record, I think; and he toured and hung out with us on The Bad Seeds' 2013 Australian tour.

Go online and watch Mark sing Blixa’s ‘father’ part with me in ‘The Weeping Song’ on that tour. As a frontman, I move around a lot on stage, I can’t help it, it is a habitual nervous thing, a kind of neurotic compensation for a voice I have never felt that comfortable with. But watch Mark, watch how he walks onto the stage, plants himself at the mic stand, one tattooed fist halfway down the stand, the other resting on top of the mic, immobile, massive, male. When the time comes to sing, he simply opens his mouth and releases a blues, a blues lived deeply and utterly earned, and that voice tears right through you, his sheer force on stage absolutely humbling. A greatness, Mark, a greatness — a true singer, a superb writer and beautiful soul, loved by all.